5 U.S.C. § 6302 — General provisions

(a) Leave days under this subchapter are days when an employee^* would otherwise work and receive pay. They do not include holidays or nonworkdays established by Federal statute, Executive order, or administrative order. (b) For this subchapter, an employee is treated as employed for a full two-week pay period if the employee works during the days in that period that fall within the employee’s basic administrative workweek, excluding those holidays and nonworkdays. (c) Unless an exception applies, a part-time employee receives, in proportion to the employee’s work schedule, the benefits provided by subsection (d) of this section and by sections 6303, 6304(a) and (b), 6305(a), 6307, and 6310 of this title. (d) The annual leave provided by this subchapter, including annual leave that will build up for an employee during the year, may be granted at any time during the year as the head of the agency concerned prescribes. (e) An officer excluded from this subchapter by section 6301(2)(x) through (xiii) of this title may again become covered by this subchapter after completing service as an excluded officer, if there is no break in service. In that event, the unused annual leave and sick leave credited to the officer when the officer was excluded is treated as having remained credited to the officer. (f) If an employee uses more annual leave than the employee had because of an administrative error, the employee may choose either to repay the amount received for the excess leave in one payment or in installments, or to carry the excess leave forward as a charge against annual leave that accrues later. This choice does not apply if repayment is waived under section 5584 of this title. (g) An employee who is being involuntarily separated from an agency because of a reduction in force or a transfer of function under subchapter I of chapter 35 or section 3595 may choose to use annual leave credited to the employee to remain on the agency’s rolls after the date the employee otherwise would have been separated. The employee may do this only, and only for as long as, the extra time in pay status will allow the employee to qualify for an immediate annuity under section 8336, 8412, or 8414, or to qualify to carry health benefits coverage into retirement under section 8905(b).