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Feds: Sick Leave Question

JD2007JD2007 member
in D.C. Area Babies

Hi there -- I'm 15 weeks and trying to figure out my leave options with my federal agency.  i'm very fortunate in that I've been able to accrue a significant amount of sick leave.  i have about 18 weeks of sick leave alone accrued.  From how I read the OPM guidelines though, I should technically only be able to use 6 (or 8 for c/s) weeks of sick leave and then I would have to switch to annual leave or unpaid.  Am I interpreting it correctly? 

While I do have enough annual leave that I could probably use close to 6 weeks of annual leave, i would have nothing left for holidays, etc.  So, I would rather use 12 weeks of sick leave. 

How did you all do it?  Do individual agencies/managers have some flexibility in how they grant leave?  I'm trying to best understand my options before I talk to my boss about it.  I haven't told anyone at work yet, so I cannot reach out to other moms for advice.

Thanks!

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Re: Feds: Sick Leave Question

  • Jitterbug2668Jitterbug2668 member

    I am also a fed.  I requested my 12 weeks of unpaid FMLA leave.  I like you, also had quite a bit of sick, annual and comp built up over time so I took 1 week paid scheduled leave (took sick to begin w/) and 1 week of FMLA per pay period because your FMLA goes from year to year and I wanted to have 4-6 weeks of FMLA for when I came back in case I needed to take off work for sick baby days (I also used FMLA to attend a BFing support group at the hospital where I delivered DS every Wednesday). 

    I didn't realize OPM dictated how much leave you could take aside from FMLA.  I don't see why you couldn't use all sick leave either by taking scheduled sick leave or taking FMLA sick leave. 

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  • ArtslvrArtslvr
    My experience at my agency and in talking to other Feds is that each agency "interprets" OPM guidelines like this differently, so I'd ask your agency what they allow.  Just expect the worst (that you can't take all 12 as S/L) then when you are ready to announce, find out from your HR dept.  Maybe you'll find it's the best case scenario.  My agency seems to interpret the same OPM policies differently for different people - it's insane.
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  • NicoNikoNicoNiko

    Congrats!

     Yes, every agency is different.  And the rules were applied differently to me--for the first one, I could take unlimited sick, and for the second, I was limited by the rules you cite. 

    I ended up having to take a bit of LWOP.  My HR department set me up on a schedule so that each week I was in pay status for a few days and on LWOP for a few days. 

    Good luck!

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  • Mrs.HandyMrs.Handy member

    It does depend on the agency and even the supervisor sometimes. I used all my sick leave and all my annual leave and had 10 weeks paid and 2 weeks unpaid. You do accrue it when you are on leave so don't forget that.

    I used a couple sick days beyond the 6 week period and nobody cared.

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