Creditable Service for Annual Leave Accrual for Non-Federal Work Experience and Experience in the Uniformed Services

  1. Normally a newly-hired employee’s annual leave accrual rate is based on the amount of creditable civilian or uniformed service the employee has. But what if an employee has non-Federal experience—or uniformed service experience that wouldn’t otherwise be creditable—that is directly related to a critically important position the agency is having difficulty filling and the agency needs to offer a greater benefit to recruit the employee?
  2. At its discretion, an agency may provide service credit that otherwise would not be creditable for the purpose of determining the annual leave accrual rate ofa newly-appointed employee, a reappointed employee with a break of at least 90 calendar days after his or her last period of civilian employment in the civil service, or a retired member of the active duty uniformed services.
  3. The head of an agency, or his or her designee, must determine that the skills and experience the employee possesses are –
  • essential to the new position and were acquired through performance in a non-Federal or active duty uniformed service position having duties which directly relate to the duties of the position to which he or she is being appointed; and
  • necessary to achieve an important agency mission or performance goal.
  1. The amount of service credit that may be granted to an employee is determined at the sole and exclusive discretion of the head of the agency, or his or her designee.
  2. The amount of service credited granted to an employee may not exceed the actual amount of service during which he or she performed duties directly related to the position to which he or she is being appointed.
  3. For example, an agencymay extend a job offer toan employee who has seven years of experience directly related to the duties of the position, but the agency may decide to only give three years of service credit to move the employee to the next annual leave accrual rate of six hours per pay period.
  4. The head of an agency, or his or her designee, must approve an employee’s qualifying prior work experience and determine the amount of service credit that willbe granted before the employee enters on duty. The determination cannot be made retroactively.
  5. Each agency is responsible for determining what constitutes acceptable written documentation of an employee's qualifying non-Federal or uniformed service. The employeemust submit the acceptable written documentation to the hiring agency. In addition, the agency must establish documentation and recordkeeping procedures sufficient to allow reconstruction of each action.
  6. Credit granted to an employee for non-Federal service or active duty uniformed service remains to the credit of the employee unless he or she fails to complete 1 full year of continuous service with the appointing agency. If an employee separates from Federal service or transfers to another Federal agency prior to completing 1 full year of continuous service with his or her appointing agency, the employee is not entitled to retain the discretionary service credit. The appointing agency must subtract the additional service credit from the employee's total creditable service, and a new service computation date for annual leave must be established before the employee separates or transfers to the new agency.

Creditable service for annual leave accrual

Knowledge check 1 (Yes or No): Eduardo retired from the Navy last year and is being considered for an NSA position that is difficult to fill and vital to meeting the agency’s performance goals. During the last 10 years of Eduardo’s military career, he was performing work directly related to the position to which he is being considered for at NSA. Can the agency offer Eduardo a higher annual leave accrual rate?

  • Yes.[Correct. Since Eduardo’s military work experience is directly related to the duties of the position at NSA to which he is being appointed, the head of the agency or designee may determine to grant service credit to Eduardo for all or a portion of the 10 years he spent performing directly related duties.This is important because Eduardo’s military service generally would not be creditable for annual leave accrual purposes as he is a military retiree.]
  • No. (Sorry, that is incorrect. Since Eduardo’s military work experience is directly related to the duties of the position at NSA to which he is being appointed, the head of the agency or designee may determine to grant service credit to Eduardo for all or a portion of the 10 years he spent performing directly related duties.This is important because Eduardo’s military service generally would not be creditable for annual leave accrual purposes as he is a military retiree.

Knowledge check 2 (Yes or No): Is the agency required to give Eduardo credit for this service?

  • No. [Correct. The agency may grant credit to Eduardo. An employee is not entitled to receive service credit for prior non-Federal work experience or experience in a uniformed service that otherwise would not be creditable for the purpose of determining the annual leave accrual rate.This is a discretionary flexibility agencies can use to meet their strategic human capital needs.]
  • Yes. (Sorry, that is incorrect. An employee is not entitled to receive service credit for prior non-Federal work experience or experience in a uniformed service that otherwise would not be creditable for the purpose of determining the annual leave accrual rate. This is a discretionary flexibility agencies can use to meet their strategic human capital needs. Granting a higher annual leave accrual rate is at the discretion of the agency).

Knowledge check 3 (Yes or No):Jane just started her new cybersecurity position. Jane’s supervisor recently learned that the agency can provide new employees with service credit for work performed in the private sector essential to and directly related to the employee’s new position. Jane’s supervisor would like to give Jane credit for 5 years of private sector experience that is directly related to Jane’s new cybersecurity position, so heimmediately submits documentation of Jane’s private sector work experience. Can the agency provide Jane the service credit?

  • No.[Correct. Even if the agency determines that the skills Jane acquired in her previous job are essential and directly related to her new cybersecurity position, the agency may not provide the service credit for two reasons. First, the decision to approve an employee’s qualifying prior work experience must be made by the head of the agency or his or her designee, not Jane’s supervisor. Second, the determination to grant service credit, even if issued by the proper agency official, must be made before Jane enters on duty and cannot be made retroactively.]
  • Yes.(Sorry, that is incorrect. Even if the agency determines that the skills Jane acquired in her previous job are essential and directly related to her new cybersecurity position, the agency may not grant the service credit for two reasons. First, the decision to approve an employee’s qualifying prior work experience must be made by the head of the agency or his or her designee, not Jane’s supervisor. Second, the determination to grant service credit, even if issued by the proper agency official, must be made before Jane enters on duty and cannot be made retroactively.)