Request for Approval of Sick Leave

When an employee requested sick leave in advance to be present to assist his wife during childbirth, his agency denied the request and substituted annual leave on the ground that regulations concerning sick leave provide that sick leave may be used only if the employee is ill or undergoing medical treatment. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) interprets this regulation to mean that sick leave is appropriate for use only when the circumstances specifically and literally meet the criteria contained in the regulation, and stated that annual leave was also to be used for personal and emergency reasons in addition to vacations. GAO agreed with OPM. Since the employee was not incapacitated for duty for any of the reasons listed in the regulations and voluntarily chose to be away from duty, he was not qualified for sick leave. Because there was no basis on which to direct substitution of the employee's annual leave for sick leave, the claim for such substitution was disallowed.