[Request for Decision Concerning Military and Annual Leave Accounts of Navy Reserve Member]

A decision was requested concerning whether the military and annual leave accounts of a civilian Navy employee were properly charged for periods during which he was absent from his civilian position while performing active duty in the Naval Reserve. After October 1, 1980, military leave accrued on the basis of the calendar year rather than the fiscal year. When the Navy revised the employee's records to reflect this change, he was charged annual leave for some days on which he performed active Reserve duty. The employee stated that, had he known of the change in regulations, he would have altered his Reserve duty to avoid using annual leave. In addition, the employee requested that his leave records be adjusted to show the use of annual leave in lieu of military leave on certain occasions to avoid being charged military leave for a weekend and two Federal holidays. GAO has held that annual leave may not be used in lieu of military leave. In addition, GAO has no authority to provide an exception to the law which requires military leave to accrue and be charged on a fiscal year basis. Accordingly, GAO concluded that the employee's leave accounts were properly charged and no adjustments in the accounts were warranted.