EMERGENCY LEAVE TRANSFER PROGRAM (ELTP)
(CT:POH-271; 10-11-2023)
(Office of Origin: GTM/ER/WLD)
3 FAH-1 H-3361 EMERGENCY LEAVE TRANSFER RECIPIENTS
3 FAH-1 H-3361.1 Applying to Become an ELTP Recipient
(CT:POH-271; 10-11-2023)
(State only)
(Applies to Foreign Service and Civil Service Employees)
a. An employee (or their personal representative) who has been adversely affected by a disaster or emergency as defined in 3 FAM 3362 and wishes to receive donated leave under the ELTP must complete the Form OPM-1637 and submit it to their supervisor for review.
b. An employee whose family member, as defined in 3 FAM 3362, has been adversely affected by a disaster or emergency and who has no reasonable access to other forms of assistance may also submit Form OPM-1637 to their supervisor.
c. Only employees who have requested and used advanced annual leave, advanced sick leave and/or LWOP in connection with the disaster or emergency are eligible to request donations from the ELTP. Employees will not be able to retroactively substitute donated annual leave for any accrued annual leave or sick leave that they used.
d. The amount of donated leave that may be requested via Form OPM-1637 is subject to the limitations described in 3 FAM 3367.1.
e. The supervisor will then complete item 13 of Form OPM-1637, with a recommendation for approval or disapproval based on the criteria in paragraph f of this section, then return the form to the employee or personal representative. NOTE: If the supervisor recommends disapproval, the employee should still submit the request to GTM/ER. If the supervisor recommends disapproval, the supervisor will also provide the employee or personal representative with a written statement documenting the reason (e.g., email). This written statement must be included in the email to GTM/ER described in paragraph g of this section.
f. For purposes of this program, an employee is considered to be adversely affected by a major disaster or emergency if the disaster or emergency has caused severe hardship to the employee or a family member of the employee to such a degree that the employee’s absence from work is required.
g. Once the employee (or personal representative) receives the completed Form OPM-1637 from the supervisor, the employee (or personal representative) must submit the form via email to GTM/ER at ELTP@state.gov.
h. If the personal representative is submitting, GTM/ER must be satisfied (e.g., via a release form from the employee) that the personal representative of the affected employee is acting for, and has the permission of, the employee.
i. An employee must generally apply to be a leave recipient within 120 days of the date on which the Department announces its ELTP for a specific disaster/emergency:
(1) GTM/ER may set a longer application deadline when establishing a specific ELTP if it determines there is a need;
(2) GTM/ER will consider individual exceptions to an ELTP application deadline if there are circumstances beyond an employee's control or in other cases of personal hardship; and
(3) GTM/ER may also extend an existing ELTP’s application deadline for all employees if it determines there is a continuing need for leave donations.
3 FAH-1 H-3361.2 Completing Form OPM-1637
(CT:POH-238; 08-12-2020)
(State only)
(Applies to Foreign Service and Civil Service Employees)
a. Employee must complete items 1-12. The employee’s first-level supervisor must complete item 13.
b. Item 2: Must include the employee ID and the last 4 digits of the employee’s Social Security Number.
c. Item 6: Must include the name of the natural disaster or emergency (e.g., Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma, etc.).
d. Item 7:
(1) Attach a statement describing the employee’s or family member’s hardship resulting from the disaster or emergency and why the employee’s absence from work is required; and
(2) Provide the number of hours of absence from work needed to address the hardship resulting from the disaster or emergency.
e. Item 13: The first-level supervisor will recommend approval or disapproval of Form OPM-1637. Recommendations for disapproval must be accompanied by a written statement (e.g., email, memo, etc.) from the supervisor explaining why the application should be disapproved.
f. The employee or representative must then forward Form OPM-1637 to GTM/ER at ELTP@state.gov for approval.
g. ELTP leave limitations for both donors and recipients are explained further in 3 FAM 3367.
3 FAH-1 H-3361.3 Application Approval
(CT:POH-238; 08-12-2020)
(State only)
(Applies to Foreign Service and Civil Service Employees)
a. GTM/ER will review the application to become a leave recipient under the emergency leave transfer program and will determine if the potential leave recipient is or has been adversely affected by the major disaster or emergency as defined in 3 FAM 3362.
b. GTM/ER will determine the appropriate amount of donated leave to be transferred to each emergency leave recipient who is or has been adversely affected by the disaster or emergency, subject to leave limitations set forth in 3 FAM 3367, the number of emergency leave recipients, and the availability of donated leave for the ELTP.
3 FAH-1 H- 3361.4 Application Notification
(CT:POH-271; 10-11-2023)
(State only)
(Applies to Foreign Service and Civil Service Employees)
a. If the ELTP leave recipient application is approved, GTM/ER will notify the leave recipient (or personal representative) within 10 business days after the date the completed application was received.
b. If the ELTP leave recipient application is not approved, GTM/ER will notify the applicant (or the personal representative who made application on behalf of the potential emergency leave recipient) within 10 business days after the date the completed application was received. GTM/ER must give the reasons to the employee for its disapproval of the application to receive transferred leave from the emergency leave program. GTM/ER will provide the employee with instructions on appeal procedures should the employee wish to appeal the disapproval (see 3 FAM 3365.4). If they wish to appeal, employees or personal representatives must submit an appeal to ELTP@state.gov no later than 10 business days after receiving notification from GTM/ER that their application was not approved.
3 FAH-1 H-3362 Donating Annual Leave to the ELTP
(CT:POH-210; 09-17-2018)
(State only)
(Applies to Foreign Service and Civil Service Employees)
a. Employees may generally contribute from 1 hour to up to 104 hours of annual leave in a leave year to the ELTP. Annual leave donated to an ELTP is not subject to the 3 FAM 3346 limitations on donating annual leave to the Voluntary Shared Leave (Voluntary Leave Bank/Voluntary Leave Transfer) Programs. Employees with restored annual leave may also contribute such leave to an emergency leave transfer program, subject to the 104 hour maximum donation limit (for both accrued and restored annual leave) described in 3 FAM 3367. Employees may not donate to a specific emergency leave recipient.
b. How to donate to the ELTP:
(1) Fill out Form OPM-1638, Request to Donate Annual Leave under the Emergency Leave Transfer Program:
(a) Complete the entire form, Items 1-9;
(b) For Item 2, enter the last 4 digits of your Social Security Number (required for payroll purposes);
(c) For Item 6, enter your accrued annual leave balance from your latest Earnings and Leave Statement in Employee Express. NOTE: If you are donating restored annual leave, please write “Restored AL - ” and the amount of your restored annual leave as of the last pay period;
(d) For Item 7, if you are donating restored annual leave, please write “Restored AL –“ and the amount of restored annual leave that you are donating;
(e) For Item 8, enter the name of the ELTP (e.g., Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma); and
(f) For Item 9a, a digital or ink signature is acceptable; and
(2) E-mail the completed form to ELTPDonations@state.gov, with the subject “<NAME OF EMERGENCY> ELTP Donation – <LAST NAME, FIRST NAME>”, Example: “Hurricane Harvey ELTP Donation – Smith, Jane.”
3 FAH-1 H-3363 Further Questions on the ELTP
(CT:POH-271; 10-11-2023)
(State only)
(Applies to Foreign Service and Civil Service Employees)
Employees or supervisors who have questions on their leave options should contact their bureau or post HR office. HR staff with questions on ELTP policy can contact ELTP@state.gov. HR staff with questions on general leave policy can contact GTMLeave@state.gov.
3 FAH-1 H-3364 THROUGH H-3369 UNASSIGNED
3 FAH-1 Exhibit H-3361
Example of an ELTP Scenario
(CT:POH-271; 10-11-2023)
(State only)
(Applies to Foreign Service and Civil Service Employees)
Employee has a balance of 70 hours of annual leave (AL) and 100 hours of sick leave (SL) as of pay period (PP) 17. The employee is in the 6-hour AL/PP accrual category and has not previously been advanced any AL this leave year. The employee also has not been advanced any SL this year. There are 9 pay periods remaining in the leave year (PP 18-26).
Advanced AL options: The employee could request up to 58 hours of advanced AL (6 hours AL x 9 PP + 4 hours at end of leave year), totaling 7.25 work days.
Advanced SL options: SL can only be advanced for a qualifying purpose in 3
FAM 3428 (e.g., employee’s incapacitation, serious health condition of employee/family member, etc.). The employee could request up to 240 hours of advanced sick leave for such a purpose, if applicable.
LWOP options: If the employee's situation requires them to be absent beyond what they could cover through advanced AL and/or advanced SL, the employee would need to take leave without pay (LWOP) for the remainder of the absence to be eligible later for ELTP donations. If approved for the ELTP, the employee will be able to retroactively substitute leave donated through the ELTP for any of the advanced annual or sick leave or LWOP described above used in connection with the disaster or emergency.