Q. I worked for the Defense Department in Germany. When my husband was given a permanent change of station, I was granted terminal leave without pay for one year from my job. I started working again for the federal government one month after my terminal leave ran out. How is this terminal leave time counted toward my retirement? I am under FERS.
A. There is no provision for terminal leave in the federal civilian government. Therefore, unless DoD has a special provision of which I’m unaware, you were on leave without pay. If that’s the case, you would get credit for six months of LWOP in a calendar year. No credit would be given for any time beyond that, nor could you make a deposit to get credit for it.
