Frequently Asked Questions Pay & Leave

Within-grade increases (WGIs) or step increases are periodic increases in a General Schedule (GS) employee's rate of basic pay from one step of the grade of his or her position to the next higher step of that grade. For WGI purposes, an employee's rate of basic pay is the rate of pay fixed by law or administrative action for the position held by the employee before any deductions and exclusive of additional pay of any kind.(Note: Employees designated as "GM" whose rate of basic pay is less than the maximum rate of their grade also may receive WGIs. See 5 CFR part 531, subpart D, for additional information.)

See the fact sheet on General Schedule Within-Grade Increases for the required waiting periods for advancement to the next higher step of a GS grade for employees with a scheduled tour of duty. (See 5 CFR 531.405(a)(2) for the required waiting periods for employees without a scheduled tour of duty.) A WGI waiting period begins upon (1) first appointment in the Federal service, (2) receiving an "equivalent increase," or (3) after a period of nonpay status and/or a break in service in excess of 52 calendar weeks. Fact sheet available at http://www.opm.gov/oca/pay/html/wgifact.asp

FMLA provides eligible Federal employees with an entitlement to 12 workweeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period for the following purposes:

• birth of a son or daughter of the employee and care of the newborn;*
• placement of a son or daughter with the employee for adoption or foster care;*
• care of a spouse, son, daughter, or parent of the employee who has a serious health condition; and
• a serious health condition of the employee that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of his or her position.

* Entitlement to 12 weeks of leave expires 12 months after the date of birth or placement for adoption or foster care. (Employees may begin this leave prior to the birth or placement.)

Agencies must use the standard method when an employee is covered by the same pay schedules before and after promotion. For example, an employee may be covered by the same locality rate schedule before and after promotion. See Promotion Examples 7 and 9-14.Also, agencies should use the standard method when an employee is covered by different pay schedules before and after promotion if the standard method produces a higher payable rate upon promotion than the alternate method.  See Promotion Examples 2, 4, 6, and 8. However, an agency may determine it is inappropriate to use the standard method under 5 CFR 531.214(d)(2)(iii).

Yes. OPM's regulations at 5 CFR 353.208 implementing the Uniformed Service Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) state that an employee performing service with the uniformed services must be permitted, upon request, to use any accrued annual leave, military leave, earned compensatory time off for travel, or accrued sick leave (consistent with the statutory and regulatory criteria for using sick leave), during such service. An employee is entitled to use annual leave, military leave, earned compensatory time off for travel, or sick leave intermittently with leave without pay while on active duty or active/inactive duty training.

Yes. An employee may apply for and receive donated annual leave while their application for disability retirement is being processed. Under the Federal leave transfer and leave bank programs, an employee who is experiencing a personal or family medical emergency and who has exhausted his or her available paid leave may request to become an approved leave recipient and receive donated annual leave. Once the disability retirement application has been approved by the Office of Personnel Management, the leave recipient may no longer receive or use donated annual leave beyond the end of the pay period in which the agency receives the notice of allowance of disability retirement.

Civilian employment in any branch of the Federal Government (executive, legislative, or judicial) or with a Government corporation is creditable service in the computation of a waiting period. Service credit is given for periods of annual, sick, and other leave with pay and service under a temporary or term appointment. See 5 CFR 531.406 for special rules regarding the crediting of military service, time in a nonpay status, time during which an employee receives injury compensation, and certain other periods of service.

Employees who are called to active duty in support of the ongoing national emergency are entitled to military leave under two separate provisions.A Federal employee who is a member of the National Guard or Reserves is entitled to 15 days (120 hours) of paid military leave under 5 U.S.C. 6323(a) each fiscal year for active duty, active duty training, or inactive duty training. An employee on military leave under section 6323(a) receives his or her full civilian salary, as well as military pay. This leave accrues at the beginning of each fiscal year, and all Guard or Reserve members, including those on extended active duty, should be credited with 15 days of paid military leave on October 1 of each year.An agency now may charge military leave under 6323 (a) only for hours the employee otherwise would have worked. An employee no longer "loses leave" on weekends and other nonworkdays and will be paid his or her full civilian pay for all 120 hours. (See fact sheet on Military Leave at http://www.opm.gov/oca/leave/HTML/military.asp. This guidance does not apply to employees of the U.S. Postal Service.)In addition, effective November 24, 2003, employees who perform full-time military service as a result of a call or order to active duty in support of a contingency operation* as defined in section 101(a)(13) of title 10, United States Code, are entitled to 22 days of military leave under 5 U.S.C. 6323(b). Under this provision the employee is entitled to the greater of his military or civilian pay. (See Question 6.)Employees also are entitled to use any accrued or accumulated annual leave for periods of active military duty. Employees using annual leave will receive their full civilian pay, as well as compensation for their military service.