Voluntary Leave Transfer Program-Disability Retirement

B-271561.2 Jul 26, 1996 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Where an employee has been in a leave status for over a year due to a serious illness from which he is not expected to recover sufficiently to return to duty. The program was not established as a substitute for disability retirement. DECISION This action is in response to a request from the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation for an opinion concerning the application of the leave transfer program and the disability retirement program in the case of an employee of the Inspector General's Office who suffered a serious illness and has been in sick and annual leave statuses since May 1995. Who is not expected to recover sufficiently to return to duty. The employee's participation in the leave transfer program was approved based on a medical certification from his physician citing the employee's significant improvement and the need to provide him with as much opportunity as possible to recover. View Decision Matter of: Voluntary Leave Transfer Program-Disability Retirement File: B-271561.2 Date: July 26, 1996 Where an employee has been in a leave status for over a year due to a serious illness from which he is not expected to recover sufficiently to return to duty, the agency should take steps to initiate disability retirement for him rather than allow him to remain on the roles on annual leave to use up the 10,000 hours of leave transferred to him under the Voluntary Leave Transfer Program. The program was not established as a substitute for disability retirement. Upon approval of disability retirement or upon separation, the remaining unused transferred leave must be returned to the donors, and it may not be credited toward the employee's time in service for retirement purposes. DECISION This action is in response to a request from the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation for an opinion concerning the application of the leave transfer program and the disability retirement program in the case of an employee of the Inspector General's Office who suffered a serious illness and has been in sick and annual leave statuses since May 1995, and who is not expected to recover sufficiently to return to duty. Background The Inspector General states that in October 1995, the employee's participation in the leave transfer program was approved based on a medical certification from his physician citing the employee's significant improvement and the need to provide him with as much opportunity as possible to recover. Since then, over 10,000 hours of annual leave have been donated to him. The Inspector General reports that this would be more than sufficient to allow the employee, a criminal investigator, to remain on annual leave until he reaches retirement eligibility as a law enforcement officer in October 1999, and there is an expectation on the part of the employee and his spouse that he will be permitted to remain in leave status up to that date and beyond. The Inspector General states that the employee's current condition is such that he is unable to perform the duties of his position and he is not expected to improve sufficiently to allow him to return to duty in the future. The Inspector General further states that to permit the employee to remain in such a leave status for the contemplated period would create a hardship for the agency since the employee's position could not be filled and he could not contribute to the mission of the agency. Our opinion is therefore requested on several questions concerning whether, in these circumstances, the voluntary leave transfer program regulations permit the agency to terminate the employee's medical emergency status, which allows him to continue to receive and use donated leave under the program, and initiate disability retirement for him. The Inspector General notes that the regulations provide no guidance with respect to the duration of a medical emergency under the leave transfer program, particularly as to whether an employee in the described circumstances remains in such an emergency status although over a year has passed since the initial onset of the disabling illness. The Inspector General therefore asks us to determine whether the employee's situation no longer constitutes a medical emergency under the program, and if we determine that it no longer constitutes such an emergency, she asks-- 1. is the agency required, under the regulations and based on the impact to its operations, to initiate disability retirement for the employee even though the agency has received leave donations sufficient to keep the employee in a leave status until the date of his retirement eligibility and beyond, and 2. may the employee immediately claim all of the donated leave in a lump sum and apply the leave toward his time in service for retirement purposes? Analysis and Conclusions Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. Sec.