Request for Restoration of Forfeited Annual Leave

Reconsideration was requested of the disallowance of a claim for restoration of leave. Upon appeal, the claimant contended that the denial of his claim based on his failure to submit a formal and timely request for scheduling the leave subject to forfeiture did not take into account the Navy's treatment of similar claims of its responsibility to assure proper scheduling of leave. The claimant suggested that the Navy established a precedent for waiving the documentation requirements of legislation in the cases of individuals returning from Vietnam. GAO contacted the Navy and was advised that the two individuals referred to did not in fact have leave subject to forfeiture at the end of 1974, and thus were not similarly situated. The agency and the employee share responsibility for scheduling leave. In general, an agency's mere failure to advise an employee of the scheduling requirements does not constitute administrative error. Since the claimant did not make a formal and timely request for leave, GAO was unable to find that he was entitled to restoration of leave on the basis of administrative error. Accordingly, the previous decision was sustained.