I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5573 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for a lump-sum payment 

for certain Federal employees who retire with a substantial amount 

of unused sick leave for which they would not otherwise receive any 

compensation or benefit, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 10, 2008 

Mr. MORAN of Virginia (for himself, Mr. WOLF, and Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for a 

lump-sum payment for certain Federal employees who 

retire with a substantial amount of unused sick leave 

for which they would not otherwise receive any compensation or benefit, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. PAYMENT FOR CERTAIN UNUSED SICK LEAVE. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 55 of title 5, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER X—PAYMENT FOR CERTAIN 

2 UNUSED SICK LEAVE 

3 ‘‘§ 5597a. Definitions 

4 ‘‘For purposes of this subchapter— 

5 ‘‘(1) the term ‘covered retirement system’ 

6 means the Federal Employees’ Retirement System 

7 and the Foreign Service Pension System; and 

8 ‘‘(2) the term ‘employee’ means an employee as 

9 defined by section 2105 and an officer or employee 

10 of the United States Postal Service or of the Postal 

11 Regulatory Commission, but does not include a Con12 gressional employee as defined by section 2107. 

13 ‘‘§ 5597b. Lump-sum payment for certain unused sick 

14 leave 

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any qualified employee who is 

16 separated from the service or is transferred to a position 

17 which is not subject to a covered retirement system shall 

18 be eligible to receive a lump-sum payment under this sec19 tion. 

20 ‘‘(b) QUALIFIED EMPLOYEE.—For purposes of this 

21 section, the term ‘qualified employee’ means an employee 

22 who, immediately before such employee’s separation or 

23 transfer (as described in subsection (a))— 

24 ‘‘(1) is subject to a covered retirement system; 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(2) satisfies the age and service requirements 

2 for immediate or early retirement under such sys3 tem. 

4 ‘‘(c) AMOUNT PAYABLE.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A lump-sum payment 

6 under this section shall be equal to the amount of 

7 basic pay (including locality pay) the employee would 

8 have received, for such employee’s period of compen9 sable sick leave, if such employee had remained in 

10 the service or not transferred until the end of such 

11 period. 

12 ‘‘(2) PERIOD OF COMPENSABLE SICK LEAVE.— 

13 For purposes of this section, the term ‘period of 

14 compensable sick leave’ means a period equal in du15 ration to 15 percent of the amount (rounded to the 

16 nearest whole number of hours) by which the total 

17 number of hours of accumulated and current ac18 crued sick leave standing to the employee’s credit 

19 (as of the time of separation or transfer) under a 

20 formal leave system, exceeds 500 hours. 

21 ‘‘(3) LIMITATIONS.—In no event shall— 

22 ‘‘(A) any payment under this section ex23 ceed $10,000; or 

24 ‘‘(B) any hours of sick leave be taken into 

25 account under paragraph (2)(A) which are 


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1 creditable in the computation of any other com2 pensation or benefit provided for under any 

3 other statute. 

4 ‘‘(d) CONDITIONS FOR AND EFFECT OF RECEIVING

5 A PAYMENT.—A payment under this section— 

6 ‘‘(1) shall be payable by the agency from which 

7 the employee was separated or transferred, but only 

8 upon application made in accordance with applicable 

9 regulations under section 5597c; 

10 ‘‘(2) terminates all rights of the employee with 

11 respect to the hours of leave described in subsection 

12 (c)(2)(A) (and not excluded by subsection (c)(3)(B)); 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(3) terminates any right of the employee to re15 ceive any other payment under this section, includ16 ing with respect to any sick leave subsequently ac17 cruing. 

18 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION BY A SURVIVOR.—An application 

19 under this section may also be made by any person who, 

20 by virtue of subchapter VIII, is entitled to receive any pay21 ment which (but for subsection (d)(1)) would otherwise 

22 be due a deceased employee under this section. 

23 ‘‘(f) ADDITIONAL RULES.—A lump-sum payment 

24 under this section shall be considered pay for taxation pur25 poses only. The period of compensable sick leave used in 


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1 calculating any such payment shall not be extended due 

2 to any holiday occurring after the employee’s separation 

3 or transfer. 

4 ‘‘§ 5597c. Regulations 

5 ‘‘Any regulations necessary for the administration of 

6 this subchapter shall be prescribed by the appropriate au7 thority. For purposes of the preceding sentence, the ‘ap8 propriate authority’ is— 

9 ‘‘(1) if the separation or transfer is from a posi10 tion in the executive branch, the Director of the Of11 fice of Personnel Management; 

12 ‘‘(2) if the separation or transfer is from a posi13 tion in the judicial branch, the Director of the Ad14 ministrative Office of the United States Courts; and 

15 ‘‘(3) if the separation or transfer is from a posi16 tion in the legislative branch, the head of the office, 

17 agency, or other establishment from which such sep18 aration or transfer occurs.’’. 

19 (b) SETTLEMENT OF ACCOUNTS.—Section 5581(2) 

20 of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 

21 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (I) as sub22 paragraph (J); 

23 (2) in subparagraph (H), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

24 after the semicolon; and 


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1 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (H) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(I) payment for compensable sick leave 

4 under section 5597b; and’’. 

5 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap6 ter 55 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by add7 ing at the end the following: 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER X—PAYMENT FOR CERTAIN UNUSED SICK LEAVE

‘‘5597a. Definitions. 

‘‘5597b. Lump-sum payment for certain unused sick leave. 

‘‘5597c. Regulations.’’. 

Æ 


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