The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), in consultation with the Office of Management and Budget, has established the Emergency Leave Transfer Program (ELTP) to assist employees affected by the Hurricane Ida. The ELTP allows employees to apply for the program or to donate annual leave to Forest Service employees or employees in other agencies who are adversely affected by Hurricane Ida.    

How to donate leave
Employees who would like to donate unused annual leave:

• Complete OPM Form 1638 and contact the HRM Contact Center to submit the form.
• May donate between 1–104 hours of annual leave. (An employee may donate to the ELTP even if they reached the Voluntary Leave Transfer Program donation limitations.)
• May not donate to a specific ELTP recipient. Donations are placed into a fund and dispersed to recipients.
• May not donate sick leave, comp hours, or credit hours.

How to become an ELTP recipient
An employee who is adversely affected or has a family member that is adversely affected by Hurricane Ida, may apply to become an ELTP recipient. An employee or their family member is considered to be adversely affected if the emergency has caused them severe hardship to such a degree that their absence from work is required.

• To apply: Complete OPM Form 1637 and contact the HRM Contact Center to submit the forms.
• Employees will be notified within 10 days if the application has been approved or denied by HRM.

For more information, please visit OPM’s website about the Emergency Leave Transfer Program.

Help is available
Contact your supervisor or HR Service Team.

Open an HR Help case:

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

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