Use or lose annual leave and restoration of annual leave

Employees who have use or lose annual leave must have it scheduled and approved in writing (e.g., OPM-71, e-mail) prior to Nov. 21, 2021. For leave restoration information, please visit the HRM Leave Restoration website (internal link).

Employees who may not be able to schedule and use all annual leave in excess of 240 hours by the end of the leave year may want to consider donating the extra leave to the Voluntary Leave Transfer Program (internal link). If you are interested in donating leave, please submit donations as early as possible, but no later than Dec. 18, 2021. VLTP leave recipients are posted on the HRM website.

Verify deductions on your earnings and leave statement

Review your ELS to validate the accuracy of your state income tax withholdings, Federal Employees Group Life Insurance Federal Employees Health Benefits and other deductions. If you find an error, contact HRM immediately to request a correction. Delays in requesting corrections could affect the timely filing of your 2021 income taxes. To access your ELS, please visit the National Finance Center’s Employee Personal Page.

Reminder: Each employee is responsible for reviewing their ELS for accuracy each pay period and promptly reporting any errors to HRM.

Verify your electronic official personnel folder

An eOPF contains an employee’s personnel documentation, such as Standard Form 50s—Notification of Personnel Action, health benefits and life insurance elections. It is important for all employees to regularly check their eOPF to ensure their personnel records are complete and accurate. To access your eOPF, log in to ConnectHR and click on the eOPF link located on the left side tool bar.

Thrift Savings Plan reminders

Employees who elect to contribute the maximum funding towards TSP, please review your ELS to determine the TSP contribution amount or percentage that works best for you. As a reminder, the annual elected total TSP contributions limit for 2021 is $27,000, $19,500 for regular contributions, and $6,500 in catch-up contributions for employees 50 years and older. For more information, please visit the TSP website.

2021 final paycheck

Employees will receive their final paycheck for 2021 on or about Dec. 27, 2021. This paycheck is for the hours worked from Dec. 5-18, 2021 (pay period 25). 

2021 W-2 for tax purposes

W-2s issued for 2021 will show salary earnings for Dec. 20, 2020-Dec. 18, 2021, equaling a total of 26 paychecks. W-2s will be available in mid- to late January 2022. Corrected W-2s will also be issued for 2021 for the Old-Age Survivors and Disability Insurance repayments, commonly referred to as social security tax.

Employees who received a “Demand Notice for Payment” in calendar year 2021

Debts incurred from gross income adjustments for calendar year 2021 must be paid in full by Dec. 31, 2021. Since year-end processing for W-2s begins on Dec. 25, 2021, all employees who received a “Demand Notice for Payment” related to gross income adjustments needs to be aware that if payment is not received in full by Dec. 15, 2021, the outstanding balance of the debt will be added to the gross income amount on your W-2 per Internal Revenue Service rules. If payment is received after Dec. 15, 2021, but not later than Dec. 31, 2021, it will be processed, and a corrected W-2 will be issued. 

Please note that debts established for deferred OASDI withholdings are excluded from this process. Any unpaid balance related to a deferred OASDI debt will not be added to the gross income amount on the employee’s W-2 at year-end.

Help is available

Additional information is available on the following websites: HRM Reasonable Accommodations (internal link), USDA Reasonable Accommodations, Forest Service National Pandemic Coordination Team (internal link).

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.