Civilians may donate their leave Published Nov. 10, 2011 By Danny Monahan 377th Air Base Wing Public Affairs KIRTLAND AFB -- As 2011 winds down, some Kirtland Air Force Base civilian employees may have accrued use-or-lose annual leave. For those who cannot use all their annual leave, they have the option of donating it to the Voluntary Leave Transfer Program. According to Air Force Instruction 36-815, Absence and Leave, VLTP allows an employee with a medical emergency who is without the availability of paid leave to receive transferred annual leave directly from other employees, with the concurrence of their leadership. "Although federal employees have a great leave program, employees can use all their sick and annual leave when they have a medical emergency," said Charlene Schwartz, 377th Force Support Squadron Human Resources technician. "The VLTP helps reduce the financial impact an employee may go through in an emergency. As an Air Force Materiel Command base, we have a larger civilian population than many other bases. More employees need the program, and many more can donate to those in need." Civilians wishing to donate leave within the Air Force must complete an Office of Personnel Management Form 630-A, and those wishing to donate leave outside the Air Force must complete an OPM Form 630-B. Potential leave donors must have a sufficient number of hours of accrued annual leave to donate. Donating leave earned in future pay periods is prohibited. "You can donate only the number of hours you are scheduled to work and receive pay before to Jan. 1," said Schwartz. "For example, if two weeks before the end of the leave year, you have 100 hours of use-or-lose annual leave and you are scheduled to work for 60 hours up to the end of the leave year, you may only donate up to 60 hours." "Also, the amount of annual leave donated cannot exceed half of the amount of leave accrued during the year," said Schwartz. "If you will accrue 104 hours of annual, leave you may only donate up to 52 hours," said Schwartz. Employees who have been affected by a medical emergency may apply in writing to their supervisor or leave approving official for consent to become a leave recipient. For employees not capable of making an application due to physical or mental impairment, an immediate family member may designate a representative to apply. Applicants must agree to the use of their names and approve the public release of the existence of a hardship for any publicized efforts to collect donated leave. "People need to submit the application, Form OPM 630, along with documentation from their medical provider, such as the diagnosis, prognosis, effective date of absence from work and the date of expected return to work," said Schwartz. To download OPM forms 630, 630-A and 630-B, visit http://www.opm.gov/forms/html/ opm.asp. For more information about VLTP, call 846-9810.