Leave Policy
Questions and answers
No. The Comptroller General has advised that a lump-sum payment for unused annual leave which is correctly and legally made to a Federal employee upon his or her separation from Government service may not later be considered an "erroneous" payment within the meaning of the statute authorizing waiver of erroneous overpayments of compensation (5 U.S.C. 5584). This is true even though the employee accepts another Federal appointment without any awareness that he will then become legally obligated to refund part of that lump-sum leave payment by accepting reemployment. (See B-200327, November 13, 1980.)