How does lwop work

See Exhibit An eligible employee may request and must be allowed up to a total of 12 workweeks of absence during a Postal Service leave year for one or more of the reasons listed in An employee enlisted under the Reserve Forces Act of who has completed the initial period of active duty training of not less than 3 months or more than 6 months may be granted LWOP for scheduled drills or periods of training. Eligible members of the National Guard or reserve components of the Armed Forces who are ordered to active duty for training or for any other purposes, for a specified period of time not to exceed 1 year, but in excess of the total time allowable under military leave and annual leave are granted LWOP.

See applicable provisions of current collective bargaining agreement. An employee holding a national office in one of the postmaster organizations must use annual leave or LWOP for absences to conduct business for the organization. If an employee shown to be eligible in If the request for leave indicates that the LWOP will extend over 30 days, a written justification and statement of reason for the desired absence is required. An employee who requests and is entitled to time off under , Absence for Family Care or Serious Health Condition of Employee, must be allowed up to a total of 12 workweeks of absence within a Postal Service leave year for one or more of the reasons listed in Exhibit LWOP may be granted to cover the absence.

Employee has no leave to cover vacation during choice vacation period. Full-time attendance at a college or university. Restricted to full—time employee. An official transcript of courses taken must be submitted to the installation head.

Personal illness or injury also see A medical document from the attending physician or practitioner must be obtained before approval, the same as for sick leave. Applications for LWOP to cover a period in excess of 30 days in any 1 year in cases of illness or injury are reviewed and acted upon by the installation head.

An employee normally will not be separated from the service because of absence due to personal illness or injury for a period of less than 1 year also see There are a couple of important considerations when developing your leave without pay policy. First, an employee does not typically accrue sick leave and annual leave when they are on leave without pay.

They will, however, continue to accrue long service leave, as leave without pay does not interrupt continuity of service. Contact us for guidance on developing your leave without pay policy and benefit from up-to-date expert advice. Understanding leave without pay. However, employees may be granted LWOP in the unusual circumstance where there is a temporarily reduced need for their services and it is expected that they will return to duty.

An employee requesting LWOP to engage in outside employment must comply with applicable restrictions related to employee conduct and should be encouraged to seek advice from his or her agency ethics official.

Each request for extended LWOP should be examined closely to assure that the value to the Government or serious needs of the employee are sufficient to offset the costs and administrative inconveniences involved, including encumbrance of a position, loss of needed services, complication of retention registers for reduction in force, obligation to provide employment at the end of the period of leave, and credit for six months of each year of absence toward retirement or full credit for those in receipt of disability compensation.

As a basic condition for approval of extended LWOP, there should be reasonable expectation that the employee will return to work at the end of the approved absence. An employee requesting LWOP may be required to first exhaust annual leave when the absence is primarily for the personal convenience of the employee. An employee in a pay status for the last hour of the workday immediately before or the first hour of the workday immediately following a holiday is entitled to regular pay for the holiday regardless of whether he or she is in a leave without pay status or absent without authorized leave immediately succeeding or preceding the holiday 56 Comp.

An employee in a nonpay status for the last hour of the workday immediately before and the first hour of the workday immediately following a holiday is not entitled to regular pay for the holiday 16 Comp. Unpaid leave for family friendly purposes is LWOP which may be granted to an employee to help balance the demands of family and work. An employee may schedule and be granted up to 24 hours of LWOP in a leave year to:.

In addition, there is no employee right to substitute paid leave for unpaid leave used. The employee's time and attendance reports will show the exact dates of LWOP. If the LWOP request is made for health reasons, the employee may be requested to furnish a statement from the physician or other licensed health care practitioner indicating the need for the absence and the prognosis of the employee's ability to return to work at the end of the period of LWOP.

The employing office must process a personnel action for each instance of extended LWOP. When a supervisor determines that an employee's absence from duty has not been authorized and should not be charged as approved leave or excused absence, the employee's forfeiture of pay for the period of absence is not a disciplinary action, because the decision to be absent was made by the employee rather than by the supervisor.

However, such periods of absence may be the basis for disciplinary action.