Request for Restoration of Annual Leave

An authorized certifying officer of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) requested an advance decision as to whether annual leave time may be restored to a NASA Headquarters employee. The employee was injured on the job in 1977 and applied for workers' compensation. His claim was disputed by NASA and was forwarded for adjudication to the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP) of the Department of Labor, which approved it and notified NASA that the employee was entitled to continuation of his pay. At the time of the injury, NASA controverted his claim for continuation of pay on the grounds that his injury was not "job-related." His absence from work was charged to 72 hours of sick leave and 34 hours of annual leave. Following the determination by OWCP that the employee was entitled to continuation of pay, the time was restored to his sick and annual leave accounts, but the 34 hours of restored annual leave were forfeited because the employee carried forward the maximum 240 hours of accrued leave to the 1978 leave year. NASA determined that there had been administrative error and that the employee's entire absence should have been charged to sick leave, but the certifying officer questioned that determination because the employee signed for the 34 hours of annual leave. NASA was correct in ruling administrative error, however, because the employee's original claim to continuation of pay status had been incorrectly denied. With his legal option foreclosed by the agency, the employee's acceptance of annual leave charges was not a free and open choice. NASA should restore the 34 hours of forfeited annual leave to the employee's account.