Federal Employee Leave Accrual Calculator

How to do it

1. 1
   Enter your years of service

   Type the years of creditable federal service to find your leave tier.

2. 2
   Enter your hours per pay period

   Use 80 for full-time, or your regular hours if you work part-time.

3. 3
   Add your balance and expected leave use

   Type the current annual and sick leave balances and the hours you expect to use.

4. 4
   Choose the pay periods

   Enter how many pay periods remain before the date you want to forecast.

5. 5
   Read the forecast

   See the leave earned, the balance, any hours at risk of forfeiture and the sick leave total.

About this tool

Federal employees earn annual leave and sick leave every pay period, and the amount of annual leave depends on years of service. This calculator takes your years of service and your hours per pay period and shows how many hours you earn each pay period and each year, your balance after the pay periods you choose, the hours that would be lost at the carryover limit, and your sick leave balance. Part-time employees get the proportional rates automatically, and the accrual table is editable.

Who this is for Federal employees who plan vacations, new hires who want to know what to expect and managers who need a quick check. It also helps to see when a balance approaches the carryover limit, so leave is used before it is lost.

How annual leave is earned A full-time employee with less than 3 years of service earns 4 hours per pay period, 13 days a year. From 3 years up to 15 years the rate is 6 hours per pay period, 20 days a year. From 15 years it is 8 hours per pay period, 26 days a year. There are 26 pay periods a year. Part-time employees earn leave in proportion to hours in pay status: one hour for every 20 hours with less than 3 years, one for every 13 hours from 3 to 15 years and one for every 10 hours after 15 years.

Sick leave Full-time employees earn 4 hours of sick leave each pay period, 13 days a year, at every length of service. Part-time employees earn one hour for every 20 hours in pay status. Sick leave has no yearly limit and unused hours carry over without a cap.

The carryover limit Most employees can carry over 240 hours of annual leave into the new leave year. Hours above that are forfeited unless a special rule, such as the higher limit for some overseas employees, applies. The tool compares your projected balance with the limit and warns you when hours would be lost.

Worked example An employee with 5 years of service has 120 hours of annual leave, uses none and expects 13 pay periods. At 6 hours per pay period they earn 78 hours, and the balance becomes 198 hours. If they had 280 hours and were in the 15-year tier, the balance after 26 periods would be 488 hours and 248 hours would be forfeited at the 240-hour limit.

Limits Agencies apply special rules to some employees, such as firefighters and members of the Senior Executive Service. Your human resources office and the OPM leave rules are the official source; this tool is for planning and is not an official statement.

Worked example

With 5 years of service, a balance of 120 hours and 13 pay periods to go, the employee earns 6 hours per pay period, 156 hours per year, and the balance after 13 periods is 198 hours.