Lump-sum payment for annual leave

A: I checked with OPM and here’s what they had to say:  “Each agency has the discretion to return an employee from a temporary promotion to the official position of record before the employee separates. The temporary promotion regulations at 5 CFR 335.102(f) authorize temporary promotions and specify that an agency may—“(f) Make time-limited promotions …. for a specified period of not more than 5 years, unless OPM authorizes the agency to make and/or extend time-limited promotions for a longer period.(1) The agency must give the employee advance written notice of the conditions of the time-limited promotion, including the time limit of the promotion; the reason for a time limit; the requirement for competition for promotion beyond 120 days, where applicable; and that the employee may be returned at any time to the position from which temporarily promoted [emphasis added], or to a different position of equivalent grade and pay, and the return is not subject to the procedures in parts 351, 432, 752, or 771 of this chapter. When an agency effects a promotion under a nondiscretionary provision and is unable to give advance notice to the employee, it must provide the notice as soon as possible after the promotion is made.”

“So the agency did have the authority to return the employee to his/her official position of record before separating him or her. Once the employee was returned to the official position of record, then the lump-sum payment would be made at the rate of pay for the official position of record. The agency should have provided the employee information about the temporary nature of the promotion per the regulation cited above, but even if it did not, the regulations provide the authority for the agency to return the employee to the official position of record at any time.”