Substitution of Leave without Pay for Sick Leave

A terminally ill employee applied for disability retirement and waived military retired pay but neglected to request leave without pay. He died while in sick leave status prior to approval of disability retirement. The failure to request leave without pay resulted in substantially lower survivors annuity to the employee's widow. Since the record indicated that the failure to request leave without pay was due to the employee's belief that he had performed all necessary actions, the leave without pay status may be substituted for sick leave status.