Subchapter 4630 - Absence and Leave Introduction |
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Purpose of this Subchapter | This Subchapter gives managers/supervisors/employees information needed to understand and administer leave benefits within Marketing and Regulatory Programs (MRP): Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), and Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA); and to ensure that leave benefits conform to law and regulation. |
Related Regulations | This Subchapter supplements the regulations stated in MRP Directive 4630.1. |
Glossary |
The following terms appear throughout the text of this document: Accrued leave - Leave earned by an employee during the current leave year that is unused at any given time in that year. Accumulated leave - The unused leave remaining to the credit of an employee at the beginning of the leave year.
Adjusted home departure policy - Policy permitting employees to leave home later than their normal departure times. Adjusted work dismissal policy - Policy permitting employees to leave work early, relative to their normal departure times. Administrative workweek - The period of 7 consecutive calendar days designated by Marketing and Regulatory Programs as Sunday through Saturday. Adoption - A legal process in which an individual becomes a legal parent of another's child. Advance leave - Leave requested and granted before it is earned. Application for leave - SF-71 (Application for Leave) or other acceptable format, e.g., memo from the employee, etc. Appropriate (or established) channels - Process for reviewing and approving various documents, as determined by the organizational entity. Basic work requirement - The number of hours, excluding overtime hours, that an employee is required to work or account for by leave or otherwise. Break in service - "Off the rolls"; a period of interrupted Federal employment beginning with a separation action and continuing for 1 or more workdays before reemployment in the Federal Service. Calendar year - The period from January 1 through December 31. Continuous employment - "On the rolls;” a period of Federal service beginning with an appointment and ending with the effective date of a separation action.
Emergency leave donor - A current employee whose voluntary written request for transfer of annual leave to an emergency leave transfer program is appropved by MRP Human Resources. Emergency leave recipient - A current employee for whom MRP has approved an application to receive annual leave from the emergency leave transfer program. Essential functions - An employee's fundamental duties outlined in the official position description or defined by the supervisor. An employee who must be absent from work to receive medical treatment for a serious health condition is considered to be unable to perform the essential functions of the position during the absence for treatment. Excused absence - An authorized absence, without loss of pay and without charge to leave which is charged to TC 01 on the T&A. It is granted for reasons determined to be in the Government's interests. It is granted for performing or participating in officially sanctioned government activities that are not within the scope of one's regular duties. It is not the same as administrative leave.
Fiscal year - The period from October 1 through September 30. Foster care - 24-hour care for children in substitution for, and away from, their parents or guardian. Such placement is made by or with an agreement of the State as a result of a voluntary agreement by the parent or guardian that the child will be removed from the home, or pursuant to a judicial determination of the necessity for foster care and involves agreement between the State and foster family to take the child. Although foster care may be with relatives of the child, State action is involved in the removal of the child from parental custody. Full-time - A regularly scheduled tour of duty which requires the employee to be in a leave and/or duty status for 80 hours each biweekly pay period. Home leave - Leave authorized and earned by service abroad for use in the United States, in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or in the territories or possessions of the United States. Intermittent - Work based on sporadic and unpredictable requirements which prevents advance scheduling of a regular tour of duty. Employees work on an as-needed basis, are paid only for those hours worked, and are not entitled to earn or use leave.
Leave donor - An employee who voluntarily donates annual leave to an approved leave recipient. Leave recipient - An employee whose application to receive donated annual leave has been officially approved. Leave year - The period beginning with the first day of the first complete pay period in a calendar year and ending with the day immediately before the first day of the first complete pay period in the following calendar year. Lump sum payment - Cash payment for annual leave to an employee's credit upon separation from Government service or change in work schedule to a non-leave earning position. Maternity leave - An unofficial term used for leave relating to pregnancy and confinement. The leave may be a combination of sick leave, annual leave, and leave without pay, as well as any accumulated hours of (nonreligious) compensatory time or credit time. Medical certificate - A written statement, signed and dated by a registered practicing physician or other practitioner, certifying to the incapacitation, examination, treatment, or to the period of disability while the patient was receiving professional treatment. Military furlough - An approved absence from duty without pay granted to an eligible employee while on active duty with the uniformed services. Military leave - Paid leave provided to reservists and members of the National Guard under 5 U.S.C. 6323.
Mixed tour of duty - A work schedule which consists of part-time work during a portion of the year and full-time and/or intermittent work during other times. Part-time - A regularly scheduled tour of duty which generally requires an employee to be on duty no less than 16 hours and no more than 32 hours per week. Pay period - The 2-week period which begins on a Sunday and ends 14 days later on a Saturday.
Seasonal employment - Identifiable periods of recurring work lasting less than 12 months each year.
Note: For the purposes of using FMLA leave the law also adds conditions existing prior to active duty that were aggravated by active duty and to include provisions related to “serious injury or illness” for veterans. Section 565 [b] [3] of NDAA for FY2010 expanded this definition in 5 U.S.C. 6381 [11].
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