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Excused Absence - Transition Leave

If you are a Civil Service employee on limited non-career appointments and have served at least 18 consecutive months abroad on an overseas assignment and immediately return to work for your parent agency in the US for at least 6 months, then you are eligible for transition leave.

Transition leave for non-career civil service employees at overseas posts who return from abroad allows you resettle before reporting to a new assignment in the US.

  • You may request transition leave after you report to a new assignment, but only for compelling personnel reasons of a compassionate nature, or if you are required to be at the new assignment for the needs of the Service.
  • If you defer taking transition leave, you must request the deferral in writing to your supervisor at the new duty station upon reporting to duty. You will have 30 calendar days after you report to the new duty station to use the deferred transition leave.
  • You may be granted a maximum of 10 working days of transition leave (recorded as excused absence in webTA)
  • The minimum charge to transition leave is 15 minutes unless your operating unit has established a policy or negotiated an agreement to charge transition leave in larger amounts
  • If you fail to complete the required 6 months of service with your parent agency in the US and have used the transition leave, you will be indebted to the Federal Government for the period of transition leave used. You may not offset the period of used transition leave with a charge to accrued annual leave. However, a waiver for repayment of transition leave used may be requested in writing and approved by the respective assistant secretary of your bureau.
  • There is no entitlement to for payment of unused transaction leave upon separation or transfer to another agency.