[Request for Recredit of Civil Service Sick Leave]

A civil service employee requested that the Air Force recredit the sick leave he earned during his employment between 1952 and 1962 pursuant to his retirement from the military service in 1979 and his reemployment in 1980. GAO held that: (1) federal civilian employees who are recalled to military service may later be eligible for restoration of their unused leave if they are reemployed in the civil service within 3 years of their separation from active military duty; (2) an employee's sick leave may accumulate for use in succeeding years; (3) the fact that the employee had a 2-month break in service during his military career was immaterial; and (4) the employee's sick leave restoration rights could not have been disregarded unless his break in service exceeded a continuous 3-year period. Accordingly, the employee's claim for restoration of his unused sick leave should be allowed.