B-167499, MAR. 20, 1970

B-167499, MAR. 20, 1970

LEAVES OF ABSENCE--SICK--SUBSTITUTION FOR LEAVE WITHOUT PAY EMPLOYEE'S CLAIM FOR 29 HOURS' UNUSED ANNUAL LEAVE AND 6 DAYS' PAY DURING WHICH EMPLOYEE WAS CARRIED IN AWOL STATUS IS DENIED SINCE RECORDS SHOW THAT AT TIME OF RETIREMENT EMPLOYEE HAD USED ALL ANNUAL LEAVE TO HIS CREDIT AND HAD OVERDRAWN SICK LEAVE BY 20 HOURS. WHEN EMPLOYEE APPLIED FOR 80 HOURS' SICK LEAVE, ANNUAL LEAVE WAS SUBSTITUTED DUE TO MINUS BALANCE IN SICK LEAVE ACCOUNT. ALSO 29 HOURS' ANNUAL LEAVE WAS SUBSTITUTED FOR SICK LEAVE AND 3 HOURS CHARGED TO AWOL TO COVER 32-HOUR PERIOD AT TIME OF RETIREMENT SINCE EMPLOYEE FAILED TO FURNISH DOCTOR'S CERTIFICATE OR OBTAIN PERMISSION TO BE ABSENT DURING INVOLVED PERIOD.

TO MR. KENNETH E. DUNLAP:

THIS REFERS TO LETTER OF JANUARY 12, 1970, WITH ENCLOSURES, WRITTEN IN YOUR BEHALF BY MR. JOHN F. GRINER, NATIONAL PRESIDENT, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, CONCERNING YOUR CLAIM FOR 29 HOURS OF UNUSED ANNUAL LEAVE ALLEGEDLY TO YOUR CREDIT AT THE TIME OF YOUR RETIREMENT AT CLOSE OF BUSINESS OCTOBER 24, 1968, AND FOR PAY COVERING 6 DAYS DURING WHICH YOU WERE CARRIED IN AN ABSENCE-WITHOUT-LEAVE STATUS.

ORIGINALLY YOU CLAIMED REIMBURSEMENT ONLY FOR THE 6 DAYS PAY. YOUR ORIGINAL CLAIM WAS DISALLOWED BY SETTLEMENT OF OCTOBER 20, 1969, ON THE GROUND THAT SINCE YOU HAD FAILED TO OBTAIN ADVANCE PERMISSION TO BE ABSENT FROM WORK DURING THE PERIOD INVOLVED AND YOU FAILED TO FURNISH A REQUISITE DOCTOR'S CERTIFICATE FOR SUCH PERIOD, IT WAS WITHIN THE BOUNDS OF ADMINISTRATIVE DISCRETION TO PLACE YOU IN AN ABSENCE-WITHOUT-LEAVE STATUS. IT WAS POINTED OUT THAT AT THE TIME OF YOUR RETIREMENT ON OCTOBER 24, 1968, YOU HAD USED ALL ANNUAL LEAVE TO YOUR CREDIT AND THAT YOU HAD OVERDRAWN YOUR SICK LEAVE BY 20 HOURS.

YOUR ANNUAL LEAVE RECORD FOR THE LEAVE YEAR 1968, A COPY OF WHICH WAS FURNISHED BY YOU, IS AS FOLLOWS:

BALANCE FROM PRIOR YEAR SHOWS A ZERO BALANCE FOR ANNUAL LEAVE AND 8 HOURS SICK LEAVE. YOU WERE ADVANCED 80 HOURS SICK LEAVE

PAY PERIOD HOURS ACCRUAL USED BALANCE

1/14-1/27 8 8

1/28-2/10 8 16

2/11-2/24 8 16 8

2/25-3/9 8 16 0

3/10-3/23 8 8 0

3/24-4/6 8 8

4/7-4/20 8 16

4/21-5/4 8 8 16

5/5-5/18 8 3 21

5/19-6/1 8 29

6/2-6/15 8 37

6/16-6/29 8 45

6/30-7/13 8 53

7/14-7/27 8 61

7/28-8/10 8 69

8/11-8/24 8 77

8/25-9/7 8 85

9/8-9/21 8 93

9/22-10/5 8 101

10/6-10/19 8 80 29

10/20-10/24 29 0

160 160 0

THERE, PROPERLY, WAS NO ACCRUAL OF ANNUAL LEAVE FOR THE PAY PERIOD OCTOBER 20 - NOVEMBER 2, 1968, SINCE YOU WERE NOT ON THE PAYROLL FOR THE FULL BIWEEKLY PAY PERIOD.

YOU SAY THAT OF THE 131 HOURS OF ANNUAL LEAVE SHOWN TAKEN AS OF OCTOBER 19, 80 HOURS WAS SICK LEAVE. THE COPY OF THE LEAVE CARD FURNISHED SHOWS THAT YOU CARRIED OVER 8 HOURS SICK LEAVE AT THE END OF THE 1967 LEAVE YEAR AND WERE ADVANCED 80 HOURS FOR A TOTAL OF 88 HOURS. BY THE END OF THE PAY PERIOD OF APRIL 20, 1968, YOU HAD USED 108 HOURS OF SICK LEAVE OR 20 HOURS IN EXCESS OF YOUR AVAILABLE LEAVE. THE ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE HAS INFORMALLY ADVISED US THAT WHILE YOU APPLIED FOR 80 HOURS SICK LEAVE FOR THE PAY PERIOD OCTOBER 6-19, 1968, THERE WAS SUBSTITUTED 80 HOURS ANNUAL LEAVE SINCE YOU HAD A MINUS BALANCE IN YOUR SICK LEAVE ACCOUNT. ALSO, THERE WAS SUBSTITUTED 29 HOURS ANNUAL LEAVE FOR SICK LEAVE APPLIED FOR TO COVER THE 32-HOUR PERIOD OCTOBER 21-24. THE REMAINING 3 HOURS ON OCTOBER 24 FOR WHICH YOU HAD NO LEAVE AVAILABLE WAS CHARGED TO ABSENCE WITHOUT LEAVE.

FOR THE FIRST TIME YOU NOW FURNISH A COPY OF AN UNDATED DOCTOR'S CERTIFICATE SHOWING YOU WERE INCAPACITATED TO WORK FOR THE PERIOD MAY 20- 24, 1968, INCLUSIVE; AND YOU REQUEST THAT THIS PERIOD (40 HOURS) BE CHARGED TO SICK LEAVE INSTEAD OF ABSENCE WITHOUT LEAVE. BEFORE GRANTING SICK LEAVE FOR THE PERIOD MAY 20-24, 1968, YOUR ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE WOULD HAVE HAD TO CONSIDER ADVANCING YOU ADDITIONAL SICK LEAVE SINCE YOU HAD A MINUS 20 HOURS BALANCE AT THE END OF THE PAY PERIOD APRIL 20, 1968. WE, OF COURSE, DO NOT KNOW WHETHER THE ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE WOULD HAVE ADVANCED YOU SUCH ADDITIONAL SICK LEAVE UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES. HOWEVER, SINCE YOU DID NOT FURNISH A DOCTOR'S CERTIFICATE UNTIL AFTER YOUR RETIREMENT, THERE CLEARLY IS NO AUTHORITY AT THIS TIME TO ALLOW YOUR ABSENCE AS A CHARGE AGAINST LEAVE WHEN YOU WERE RETIRED WITH NO SICK OR ANNUAL LEAVE TO YOUR CREDIT.

NOR IN THE ABSENCE OF ANY LEAVE TO YOUR CREDIT AT THE TIME OF YOUR RETIREMENT, IS THERE ANY BASIS FOR CHANGING THE STATUS OF YOUR ABSENCE ON MAY 27, 1968, FROM ONE FOR WHICH YOU WERE NOT PAID TO ONE FOR WHICH YOU COULD BE PAID.

IN VIEW OF THE FOREGOING, WE MUST SUSTAIN THE ACTION TAKEN IN OUR SETTLEMENT OF OCTOBER 20, 1969, IN DISALLOWING YOUR CLAIM.