What You Need to Know

The National Defense Authorization Act authorized federal employees to carryover an additional 25% of annual leave into 2021. Employees who had forfeited annual leave in 2020 will have that leave automatically re-credited to their 2021 annual leave balance.

Most federal employees are authorized to carry over 240 annual leave hours each year. With the 25% carryover, this allows up to 300 hours of annual leave to be carried over into 2021.

A small number of federal employees are authorized to normally carry over above 240 annual leave hours. These employees will be allowed to carry over 25% of their annual leave balance into 2021.

The act re-credited annual leave has the following restrictions:

• Must be used by Jan. 1, 2022
• Any unused balance is forfeited at the end of the 2021 leave year and may not be restored
• May not be donated or paid out as part of the annual leave lump sum payment when an employee separates or retires from the agency

What You Need to Do

Employees do not need to take any action to have 2020 forfeited annual leave re-credited to their 2021 annual leave balance.

We appreciate your patience while we work towards re-crediting annual leave balances based upon the act authorization.

Help is available

Open an HR Help case:

• Call: 1-877-372-7248, Press 2
• Email: hrm_contact_center@usda.gov
• Self-Service: ConnectHR > HR Help link

For detailed instructions, visit the HR Help How-to Add a Case Guide.