Annual and Sick Leave for General Schedule (GS) Federal Employees
Please note: this fact sheet only applies to employees on the General Schedule (GS).
Annual Leave
Annual leave is earned and credited on a biweekly basis at the rate of 4,6, or 8 hours per pay period, depending on the total amount of creditable Federal service you have (including creditable Military service) for full-time employees.
The leave accrual for full-time employees is:
| Number of Years of Service | Accrued Hours | Accrued Days |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 3 years of service | 4 hours per pay period | 13 workdays per year |
| 3 but less than 15 years of service | 6 hours per pay period | 20 workdays per year |
| 15 years of service and over | 8 hours per pay period | 26 workdays per year |
There is a maximum limit to the number of annual leave hours an employee may accumulate and carry over from one year to the next. Unless you are returning from overseas, your limit is 240 hours.
Sick Leave
An employee is entitled to use sick leave for personal medical needs, family care or bereavement, care of a family member with a serious health condition and/or adoption-related purposes.
For full-time employees, sick leave is earned at the rate of four hours per pay period or 13 workdays per year, regardless of the number of years of creditable service.
Scheduling Annual and Sick Leave
Schedule leave with your supervisor using the DAI electronic timecard at https://ebs.dai.csd.disa.mil/OA_HTML/banner_appsLogin.jsp?target=AppsLogin. Leave should generally be scheduled before the leave period. For leave based on emergent or emergency situations, contact your supervisor and enter the leave request in DAI when first able to do so.