Q. I retired from the USDA Forest Service at the end of PP-26 (1-11-2014). I had 442 hours of annual leave and 15 credit hours at the time of my retirement. All of this lump sum time was paid out at the 2013 pay rate. From everything I had read, I thought these hours should have been paid out at the 2014 (1 percent pay raise) rate. Should these hours been paid at the ’13 or ’14 pay rate?
A. Annual leave hours are projected forward and paid at the rate in effect at that time. Since the 2014 leave year began on January 12, 2014, all your unused annual leave should have been paid at the 2014 hourly rate.
