Fact Sheet: Leave Year Beginning and Ending Dates
A leave year begins on the first day of the first full biweekly pay period in a calendar year. A leave year ends on the day immediately before the first day of the first full biweekly pay period in the following calendar year.
Employees may carry over to the next leave year a maximum amount of accrued annual leave (240 hours for most employees). "Use or lose" annual leave is the amount of accrued annual leave that is in excess of the employee's maximum annual leave limitation for carry over into the next leave year. Employees must "use" their excess annual leave by the end of a leave year or they will "lose" (forfeit) it. An agency may consider restoring annual leave that was forfeited due to an exigency of the public business or sickness of the employee only if the annual leave was scheduled in writing before the start of the third biweekly pay period prior to the end of the leave year.
The beginning and ending dates of leave years 2002 through 2020 shown below apply to most employees. However, some agency payroll systems use a different pay period schedule. Employees should contact their agencies to verify the beginning and ending dates of a particular leave year.
| Leave Year | Leave Year Beginning Date | Leave Year Ending Date | Date for Scheduling "Use or Lose"
Annual Leave |
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| 2002 | January 13, 2002 | January 11, 2003 | November 30, 2002 |
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| 2003 | January 12, 2003 | January 10, 2004 | November 29, 2003 |
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| 2004 | January 11, 2004 | January 08, 2005 | November 27, 2004 |
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| 2005 | January 09, 2005 | January 07, 2006 | November 26, 2005 |
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| 2006 | January 08, 2006 | January 06, 2007 | November 25, 2006 |
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| 2007 | January 07, 2007 | January 05, 2008 | November 24, 2007 |
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| 2008 | January 06, 2008 | January 03, 2009 | November 22, 2008 |
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| 2009 | January 04, 2009 | January 02, 2010 | November 21, 2009 |
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| 2010 | January 03, 2010 | January 01, 2011 | November 20, 2010 |
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| 2011 | January 02, 2011 | December 31, 2011 | November 19, 2011 |
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| 2012 | January 01, 2012 | January 12, 2013 | December 01, 2012 |
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| 2013 | January 13, 2013 | January 11, 2014 | November 30, 2013 |
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| 2014 | January 12, 2014 | January 10, 2015 | November 29, 2014 |
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| 2015 | January 11, 2015 | January 09, 2016 | November 28, 2015 |
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| 2016 | January 10, 2016 | January 07, 2017 | November 26, 2016 |
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| 2017 | January 08, 2017 | January 06, 2018 | November 25, 2017 |
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| 2018 | January 07, 2018 | January 05, 2019 | November 24, 2018 |
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| 2019 | January 06, 2019 | January 04, 2020 | November 23, 2019 |
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| 2020 | January 05, 2020 | January 02, 2021 | November 21, 2020 |
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