Full-time federal employees earn 4 hours of sick leave every pay period and 4, 6 or 8 hours of annual leave depending on years of service; most can carry 240 hours of annual leave into the next year, sick leave has no cap, and unused sick leave adds to your service when your annuity is computed (OPM, retrieved 2026-10-11).
Leave is the federal benefit you use every week and plan around least. Most employees know roughly how much they have. Fewer know that the rules for annual leave and sick leave point in opposite directions near retirement: one rewards you for using it, the other for saving it.
This guide covers how both kinds of leave accrue, the 240-hour carryover, the use-or-lose deadline for the current leave year, how unused sick leave adds to your pension, and the family leave programs: FMLA, paid parental leave, and voluntary leave transfer.
Think of annual leave as a bucket with a hole near the top. Whatever rises above the line spills out at year end. Sick leave is a bucket with no hole at all, and at retirement you pour it into your pension.
01How much annual leave do you earn?
Full-time federal employees earn annual leave each biweekly pay period at a rate set by years of service. The rate changes at the start of the pay period after you cross a service milestone (OPM, retrieved 2026-10-11).
| Years of service | Hours per pay period | Hours per year | Days per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Less than 3 years | 4 | 104 | 13 |
| 3 to less than 15 years | 6 (10 in the last pay period) | 160 | 20 |
| 15 years or more | 8 | 208 | 26 |
Source: OPM annual leave fact sheet, retrieved 2026-10-11. Part-time employees earn leave in proportion to hours in pay status, and SES, Senior Level, and Scientific or Professional employees earn 8 hours per pay period regardless of service.
"Years of service" here means creditable service for leave, which can include prior civilian service and, for most employees who are not military retirees, active military service. Your agency tracks it through your leave service computation date, which appears on your SF-50. Our SF-50 guide explains how to check it.
02How much annual leave can you carry over?
Most employees stationed in the United States can carry up to 30 days, or 240 hours, of annual leave from one leave year into the next. Eligible employees stationed overseas can carry 45 days, or 360 hours, and members of the SES, Senior Level, and Scientific or Professional corps can carry 90 days, or 720 hours (OPM, retrieved 2026-10-11).
Anything above your ceiling at the end of the leave year is "use-or-lose" leave. If you do not use it, it is forfeited.
03When is the use-or-lose deadline for the 2026 leave year?
For most employees, the 2026 leave year runs from January 11, 2026 through January 9, 2027 (OPM, retrieved 2026-10-11). Any annual leave above your carryover ceiling that you have not used by January 9, 2027 is forfeited.
There is a safety valve. If you schedule your use-or-lose leave in writing in advance and your agency later cancels it because of an exigency of the public business, or you cannot take it because of sickness, the agency may restore it. The catch is timing: the leave must be scheduled in writing before the start of the third biweekly pay period before the end of the leave year. On the standard pay calendar for 2026, that third-to-last pay period begins November 29, 2026, so the practical scheduling deadline is November 28, 2026.
04Worked example: avoiding a use-or-lose loss
Here is how the bucket overflows, for an employee with 10 years of service. This is an educational example on the assumptions shown.
- 01
Starting balance
You carried 240 hours into the 2026 leave year, the maximum.
- 02
Earned this year
At 6 hours a pay period plus 10 in the last one, you earn 160 hours.
- 03
Available
240 + 160 = 400 hours.
- 04
Used so far
Suppose you take 100 hours across the year.
- 05
Year-end balance
400 - 100 = 300 hours.
- 06
Forfeited
300 - 240 = 60 hours lost, unless you use them by January 9, 2027 or scheduled them in writing by November 28, 2026 and the agency later cancels them.
The fix is simple once you see the math: count your projected year-end balance by early fall, and get any overage on the calendar in writing.
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05How does sick leave work?
Full-time employees earn 4 hours of sick leave every pay period, or 104 hours a year, regardless of length of service, and there is no limit on how much you can accumulate (OPM, retrieved 2026-10-11). Part-time employees earn 1 hour for every 20 hours in pay status.
- Personal medical needsYour own illness, injury, medical appointments, or incapacity.
- General family care and bereavementUp to 13 days, or 104 hours, per leave year to care for a family member or for arrangements after a family member's death.
- Serious health conditionUp to 12 weeks, or 480 hours, per leave year to care for a family member with a serious health condition.
- Combined family care capNo more than 12 weeks of sick leave in a leave year for all family care purposes together.
- AdoptionSick leave can be used for purposes related to adopting a child.
Source for the list above: OPM sick leave fact sheet, retrieved 2026-10-11.
06How does unused sick leave count toward retirement?
Unused sick leave is added to your service when OPM computes your annuity. CSRS employees get credit for their full balance. FERS employees who separate on or after January 1, 2014 get credit for 100 percent of their balance (OPM, retrieved 2026-10-11). For FERS separations from October 28, 2009 through December 31, 2013, the credit was 50 percent.
OPM converts hours to time using a 2,087-hour work year. Its handbook example: 2,000 hours of sick leave equals 11 months and 15 days of service (OPM, retrieved 2026-10-11). The converted time is added to your actual service, and in the final annuity computation any leftover days short of a full month are dropped.
- Computation only. Sick leave credit raises the years and months in your annuity formula.
- Not for eligibility. It cannot help you reach the minimum service needed to retire, such as 30 years at your MRA.
- Not for the high-3. It does not change your average salary.
- Not paid out. Unlike annual leave, unused sick leave is never paid as cash when you leave.
- The 1.1 percent question. OPM addressed how sick leave interacts with the FERS 1.1 percent multiplier in Benefits Administration Letter 18-103; check it if you are close to the 20-year line at 62.
Worked example: what 2,000 hours is worth
An employee retires under FERS with a high-3 of $90,000, the 1 percent multiplier, and 2,000 hours of unused sick leave. The sick leave adds 11 months and 15 days. If the leftover days are dropped in the final total, the added credit is 11 months.
11 / 12 x 1% x $90,000 = about $825 a year added to the annual annuity, before any survivor reduction.
Near retirement, annual leave is cash on the way out the door. Sick leave is pension on the way in.
That contrast shapes how many people use leave in their final years. Unused annual leave is paid as a lump sum when you separate, at your final rate of pay. Unused sick leave pays nothing in cash but becomes service credit. Which matters more to you depends on your balances and your plans.
07What are your rights under FMLA?
The Family and Medical Leave Act gives eligible federal employees up to 12 administrative workweeks of unpaid leave in any 12-month period for qualifying reasons, such as the birth or placement of a child, your own serious health condition, or caring for a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition. To qualify you need at least 12 months of federal service and a part-time or full-time schedule on an appointment of more than one year (OPM, retrieved 2026-10-11).
FMLA leave itself is unpaid, but you can substitute annual leave, sick leave where allowed, or paid parental leave for some or all of it. Your agency must protect your job and continue your FEHB coverage during FMLA leave.
If an injury or illness is caused by your federal job, a separate program applies: workers' compensation under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act, administered by the Department of Labor's Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP).
08How does paid parental leave work?
Eligible federal employees can receive up to 12 administrative workweeks of paid parental leave after the birth of a child or the placement of a child for adoption or foster care, for births and placements on or after October 1, 2020 (OPM, retrieved 2026-10-11). For a regular full-time employee, that is 480 hours.
- FMLA eligibility first. Paid parental leave substitutes for unpaid FMLA leave, so you must meet FMLA's service and appointment requirements.
- Use it within 12 months. The leave must be used within 12 months after the birth or placement. Unused paid parental leave expires and is not paid out.
- Agree to come back. You must agree in writing to a work obligation after the leave ends; ask HR for the length that applies to you.
- Holidays do not count. FMLA leave is not charged on holidays or non-workdays you would otherwise have off.
09How does the Voluntary Leave Transfer Program work?
The Voluntary Leave Transfer Program lets coworkers donate annual leave to an employee facing a medical emergency. To become a recipient, your agency must find that your medical emergency causes, or is expected to cause, at least 24 work hours of absence without available paid leave for a full-time employee, and you must have exhausted your own paid leave (OPM, retrieved 2026-10-11).
Each donor can give no more than half of the annual leave they would accrue in that leave year. There is no limit on how much donated leave a recipient can receive, and unused donated leave goes back to the donors when the emergency ends (OPM, retrieved 2026-10-11). Some agencies also run a Voluntary Leave Bank, a shared pool members pay into, and a separate Emergency Leave Transfer Program can open after a declared disaster.
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10Moving forward with your leave
Leave decisions add up quietly. A few hours of use-or-lose leave lost each year, a sick leave balance spent down in the last two years before retirement, or a missed scheduling deadline can each cost real money. A quick check each fall prevents most of it.
From here, confirm your leave service computation date with our SF-50 guide, see how leave fits into your final paperwork in the retirement application guide, and test your sick leave balance in our sick leave conversion tool. The FERS annuity guide shows how the added service flows into your pension.
FFEBA is an education organization. If you want someone to look at your own numbers, we can match you with a Federal Retirement Consultant (FRC), a professional trained on federal benefits. The FRC designation is listed with FINRA. The first review is free, nothing is booked until you choose a time, and you are never obligated to work with anyone we introduce. Get matched with an FRC.
11Questions federal employees ask
How much annual leave do federal employees get?
Full-time employees earn 4 hours per pay period with less than 3 years of service, 6 hours per pay period (10 in the last pay period of the year) with 3 to 15 years, and 8 hours per pay period with 15 or more years. That works out to 13, 20, or 26 days a year (OPM, retrieved 2026-10-11).
How much annual leave can I carry over?
Most employees stationed in the United States can carry 30 days, or 240 hours, of annual leave into the next leave year. The ceiling is 45 days for eligible employees overseas and 90 days for SES, Senior Level and Scientific or Professional members (OPM, retrieved 2026-10-11).
When is the use-or-lose deadline for 2026?
OPM lists the 2026 leave year as January 11, 2026 through January 9, 2027. To have forfeited leave eligible for restoration, you must schedule it in writing before the third biweekly pay period before the leave year ends, which works out to November 28, 2026 on the standard pay calendar. Confirm with your agency, since some payroll calendars differ.
Does unused sick leave count toward FERS retirement?
Yes. FERS employees who separate on or after January 1, 2014 get credit for 100 percent of their unused sick leave, added to service for computing the annuity. It cannot be used to meet minimum service for eligibility or to compute your high-3 (OPM, retrieved 2026-10-11).
Do federal employees get paid parental leave?
Yes. Eligible employees can receive up to 12 administrative workweeks of paid parental leave after the birth of a child or the placement of a child for adoption or foster care, used within 12 months of the event. You must first qualify for FMLA (OPM, retrieved 2026-10-11).
Can coworkers donate leave to me?
Yes, through the Voluntary Leave Transfer Program, if you have a medical emergency that is expected to keep you out of work for at least 24 hours without available paid leave and you have exhausted your own leave. Each donor can give up to half of the annual leave they earn in a leave year (OPM, retrieved 2026-10-11).
Reviewed by the FFEBA education team. Last reviewed October 2026.
Sources
- U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Fact Sheet: Annual Leave, retrieved 2026-10-11
- U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Fact Sheet: Sick Leave (General Information), retrieved 2026-10-11
- U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Fact Sheet: Leave Year Beginning and Ending Dates, retrieved 2026-10-11
- U.S. Office of Personnel Management, CSRS/FERS Handbook, Chapter 50 (sick leave conversion, 2,087-hour basis), retrieved 2026-10-11
- U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Retirement Facts 8: Credit for Unused Sick Leave, retrieved 2026-10-11
- U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Family and Medical Leave for Federal Employees, retrieved 2026-10-11
- U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Fact Sheet: Paid Parental Leave, retrieved 2026-10-11
- U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Fact Sheet: Voluntary Leave Transfer Program, retrieved 2026-10-11
Every government figure on this page carries its source and retrieval date. Worked examples are educational estimates on the assumptions shown, not a projection of any person's benefit. FFEBA is an education organization, not a financial advisor.
