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Restoration of Forfeited Annual Leave in Conjunction with the 2005 Hurricane Response and Relief Efforts |
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On 25 January 2006, the Assistant Secretary for Health signed Manual Circular No. 381, “Annual Leave –
Implementation of Special Leave Accrual Policy,” http://dcp.psc.gov/PDF_docs/mc381.pdf authorizing the
policy to retain excess annual leave (for 1 year) for officers who lost annual leave in 2005 due to their
direct or indirect involvement in the 2005 hurricane response and relief efforts. |
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The Office of Commissioned Corps Operations (OCCO) is currently establishing the procedure for implementing
this policy. Based on the need for all commissioned officers to maintain critical agency operations and
backfill positions during the time of deployments, the policy will be interpreted broadly to include all
officers of the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service (Corps) who were on extended active
duty on or after 29 August 2005. Officers detailed to the Department of Defense or U.S. Coast Guard will
follow the leave policy established for those Services. |
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Corps officers who meet the criteria and were on active duty on 31 December 2005, and who had accrued
over 60 days of annual leave on 31 December will have the leave that was forfeited restored. These
officers may carry forward up to 90 annual leave days until 31 December 2006. If on 31 December 2006,
an officer has accumulated an excess of 60 days of annual leave, any and all leave over 60 days will be
forfeited and only 60 days of annual leave will be carried over to the 2007 leave year. No waivers will
be granted under this policy. |
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There remains a lifetime limit of 60 days of unused annual leave for which an officer may receive a
lump sum leave payment at the time of his or her separation or retirement from active duty. |
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Restoration of the forfeited annual leave will be done through the electronic Commissioned Officers Leave
Tracking System (COLTS). The change will be made retroactive as accrued annual leave in excess of 60 days
was subtracted from leave account balances prior to the issuance of Manual Circular No. 381. Officers
and/or agencies will not be required to submit any requests for restoration. OCCO anticipates that the
restoration of annual leave in COLTS will be completed by 30 June 2006. Officers should check their leave
records in COLTS after that time to verify the leave carryover was completed correctly. |