MSPB: Military Leave Claims
The MSPB hears claims involving improper calculations of a federal employee’s military leave. Each year, federal employees who serve in the National Guard or reserves are required to participate in annual training. By Federal statute, those employees are to be given up to 15 days of paid leave each year to attend that training.
Until around 2000, the Office of Personnel Management interpreted that rule in such a way that they offered only 15 calendar days of leave each year. Federal Employees who served in the military were, in effect, being required to take paid leave for days they wouldn’t otherwise have had to work (e.g., weekends and holidays).
In a 2003 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that Agencies were not entitled to charge employees’ military leave for those holidays and weekends. Butterbaugh v. Department of Justice, 336 F.3d 1332, 1333-34 (Fed. Cir. 2003).
If you serve or served as a military reservist and worked for the federal government, you may be able to recover paid leave that was charged erroneously by your employing Agency. You will need a list of dates you believe were improperly charged as leave.
If you would like to speak to an MSPB attorney about your potential claim to recover paid leave taken as a result of military reserve training, contact the Attig Law Firm today.
