Reconsideration of Claim for Leave Restoration

A State Department employee appealed two settlements which denied his claim for restoration of forfeited annual leave. The leave was forfeited since it was in excess of his maximum permissible carryover of annual leave. The employee returned to duty, retroactively effective, since the separation was not warranted. GAO held that, where an employee is reinstated to employment with a Federal agency after an unwarranted separation, his excess annual leave should be credited to a separate leave account. The agency's failure to credit excess leave accumulation to a separate account constituted an administrative error. Accordingly, the annual leave forfeited by the employee should be credited to a separate leave account in order to be available for use.