Q: When does the leave without pay affect the service computation date?
A: A total of six months in a nonpay status in any calendar year is considered to be creditable service and would be treated the same for retirement purposes as if you were still on the job. Any time spent on LWOP outside that window during a calendar year would not be creditable service and, therefore, not included when determining your service computation date. For more information about how LWOP affects other benefits, go to http://opm.gov/oca/leave/html/lwop_eff.htm.
