Skip to main content

Compensation and Leave

USDA is a leader in providing family-oriented programs, leave policies, and workplace flexibilities that support a positive, productive work culture and environment. This includes telework and remote work, flexible work schedules, health benefits, retirement program, leave programs, and part-time employment. USDA offers workplace flexibilities to attract and retain talented employees that will enable you to thrive both at work and at home. USDA recognizes the importance of family and is committed to assisting you in balancing your work and family responsibilities.

PAY

If you are under the General Schedule (GS) pay plan, your annual salary is based on the GS Locality Pay Tables or Special Rate Tables. Each GS grade has 10 steps and you will earn a Within-Grade Increase to advance to the next step if you’re in a permanent position and your performance is at an acceptable level of competence, you’ve completed the required waiting period to advance to the next step, and you have not received an equivalent increase during the waiting period.

Advances in Pay for New Appointees

If you are a new hire, your agency may advance up to two paychecks so you can pay immediate expenses that are normally incurred as a result of starting your new job. For additional information, see DR 4050-550-003, Advances in Pay.

Federal Holidays

There are 11 Federal holidays and if excused from work on the holiday, you will generally receive holiday paid time off (paid for your regular hours of excused absence at your base rate). If required to work on the holiday, you generally will receive holiday premium pay (double time). For additional information, see Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Factsheet: Holidays, Work Schedules, and Pay.

Overtime

Overtime is hours of work ordered or approved in advance by management in excess of 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in a workweek. If you are a nonexempt employee your overtime rate is 1 ½ times your regular rate of pay. If you are an exempt employee your overtime rate is 1 ½ times the rate of a GS-10 step 1, or your regular rate of pay, whichever is more. For additional information, see OPM Factsheet: Overtime Pay Title 5 and How to Compute FLSA Overtime Pay.

Sunday Premium Pay

Sunday pay is your base rate plus a 25% differential for regularly scheduled work performed on a Sunday. For additional information, see OPM Factsheet: Sunday Premium Pay.

Night Differential

Night pay is your base rate plus a 10% differential if you are regularly scheduled to work during a night shift from 6pm to 6am, but you may not receive night pay under a flexible work schedule for hours you voluntarily work before 6am or after 6pm. For additional information, see OPM Factsheet: Night Pay.

LEAVE

There are several different types of leave flexibilities available to Federal employees.

Annual Leave

Depending on years of service, most employees will earn a total of 13, 20, or 26 days of annual leave each year. Most employees may carry over a maximum of 240 hours into the next leave year (employees stationed outside the U.S. may carry over 360 hours and SES/SL/ST employees may carry over 720 hours).

You may use any or all accrued annual leave for personal needs, such as rest and relaxation, vacations, medical needs, personal business, emergencies, or to provide care for a healthy or sick family member. You have a right to take annual leave subject to the right of your supervisor to schedule the time at which annual leave may be taken. For additional information, see OPM Factsheet: Annual Leave.

Sick Leave

Most employees will earn a total of 13 days of sick leave each year (your sick leave accumulates, and you have no limit to the number of sick leave hours you can carry over each year). You are entitled to use an unlimited amount of accrued sick leave for your own personal medical needs. For additional information, see OPM Factsheet: Personal Sick Leave.

Advanced Annual and Sick Leave

If you need additional leave, you may request advanced annual leave and advanced sick leave. Agencies may advance annual leave in an amount not to exceed the amount you would accrue during the remainder of the leave year. Sick leave may be advanced for all purposes for which sick leave may be granted. The amount of sick leave that may be granted for specific purposes is outlined in the sick leave regulations, with a maximum of 104 hours being advanced for some purposes and a maximum of 240 hours for others. The maximum amount of advanced sick leave you may have to your credit at any one time is 240 hours. You may request advanced leave regardless of your existing annual leave and sick leave balances. For additional information, see OPM Factsheets: Advanced Annual Leave and Advanced Sick Leave.

Credit Hours

Most USDA agencies offer credit hours if you’re under a flexible work schedule. Credit hours are hours that you voluntarily elect to work with supervisory approval in excess of your basic work requirement. You earn credit hours and can use the hours on another day to be absent from work with no loss of pay. When you use credit hours, they’re treated just like regular time worked so you receive your regular pay for them. If you’re a full-time employee, you can only carry over 24 credit hours per pay period. You don’t receive overtime pay for these hours because they’re not ordered by management, they’re hours voluntarily chosen by you to work. Some employees under a flexible work schedule may not be allowed to earn credit hours since it’s a management decision to let employees work them. For additional information, see OPM Factsheet: Credit Hours Under a Flexible Work Schedule.

Compensatory Time Off

Compensatory time off is earned time off with pay instead of receiving overtime pay for overtime work. You may use compensatory time off to be absent from work for any purpose, with supervisory approval. Compensatory time off is voluntary and if you’re under a flexible work schedule you can request it instead of receiving irregular or regularly scheduled overtime. Nonexempt and prevailing rate employees may never be required to take compensatory time off instead of receiving overtime. However, if you are an exempt employee and your rate of basic pay exceeds the rate of a GS-10 step 10 then your agency may require you to take compensatory time off instead of receiving irregular or occasional overtime hours. For additional information, see OPM Factsheet: Compensatory Time Off.

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

The FMLA provides eligible employees with up to 12 workweeks of leave without pay with job protection during any 12-month period for a serious health condition that prevents you from performing your duties or to care for your spouse, son or daughter, or parent with a serious health condition. Eligible employees receive up to 12 weeks of Paid Parental Leave and may substitute it for unpaid FMLA for the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of their child. For additional information, see OPM Factsheet: FMLA and 5 CFR 630, Subpart Q: Paid Parental Leave.

Parental Bereavement Leave

Eligible employees receive 2 workweeks (up to 80 hours) of paid leave in connection with the death of a qualifying child. The death of an employee’s child triggers the law’s one-time entitlement to 2 workweeks of parental bereavement leave, which must be used within 12 months of the child’s death. For additional information, see OPM memorandum dated April 1, 2022, Parental Bereavement Leave. Also see 5 U.S.C. 6329d, and 5 U.S.C. 6381 (for definitions of “employee” and “son or daughter”).

Leave Without Pay (LWOP)

LWOP is a temporary non-pay status and approved absence from duty that may be granted at the employee's request. LWOP may be granted even if the employee has annual or sick leave in their accounts. The permissive nature of LWOP distinguishes it from absent without official leave (AWOL), suspension, and furlough. In most instances, granting LWOP is a matter of supervisory discretion and limited by agency internal policy. For additional information, refer to your agency policy. Also see OPM Factsheet: Leave Without Pay.

Voluntary Leave Transfer Program (VLTP)

If you have a personal or family medical emergency and are absent (or expected to be absent) from duty without available paid leave for at least 24 work hours, you may qualify to receive donated annual leave under the VLTP. The VLTP allows you to receive donated annual leave from other employees if you have a personal or family medical emergency and if you have exhausted your own available paid leave. For additional information, see OPM Factsheet: VLTP.

Bone Marrow and Organ Donation

Leave for bone-marrow and organ donation allows you to use up to 7 days of paid leave each year (in addition to sick or annual leave) to serve as a bone-marrow donor and up to 30 days of paid leave each year to serve as an organ donor. For additional information, see OPM Factsheet: Bone Marrow or Organ Donor Leave.

Time Off for Volunteer Activities

There are several flexibilities available for you to participate in volunteer activities to support your commitment to community service. Your agency may allow you to make maximum use of existing flexibilities such as alternative work schedules, annual leave, leave without pay, credit hours, compensatory time off, and administrative leave where appropriate, to perform community service. For additional information, see OPM Factsheet: Participation in Volunteer Activities.

ALTERNATE WORK SCHEDULES

Alternate work schedules provide more flexibility than a standard 8-hour day/5 days per workweek schedule to balance work, family responsibilities, and personal activities. Alternate work schedules include flexible work schedules and compressed work schedules, and you can complete your biweekly work requirement in less than 10 workdays. Under a flexible work schedule, you may choose to adjust arrival and departure times.

The availability and type of alternate work schedules varies by USDA agency. Many units offer some or all of these options, but your agency also may not offer some of these options if such schedules are determined to have a bad effect on productivity, service to the public, or cost. Under alternate work schedules you may choose a flexible work schedule or a compressed work schedule but may not work a hybrid schedule that combines aspects of both programs. If your unit offers alternate work schedules and if you want to change your work schedule or work an alternate work schedule always check with your supervisor first because your actual schedule is at the discretion of your supervisor. For additional information, see OPM’s Handbook on Alternative Work Schedules.

Flexible Work Schedules

Flexible work schedules consist of core hours (the time you must be at work) and flexible time bands (the times you can vary to arrive and depart from work). A flexible work schedule provides more flexibility, and you work out a schedule with your supervisor and must adhere to that schedule (you may not come and go anytime). There are five types of flexible work schedules:

  1. Maxiflex. Is the most flexible work schedule and contains core hours which are established on fewer than 10 workdays during each biweekly pay period. The basic work requirement for a full-time employee is to complete 80 hours of work during each biweekly pay period. You may vary your arrival and departure times and schedules may include more hours in one week than the next.
  2. Variable Day. Daily flexibility where the schedule can vary each day around the core hours (core hours on each workday), but a full-time employee must complete 40 hours each workweek. You may not work fewer hours one week than the other during a biweekly pay period.
  3. Variable Week. Daily and weekly flexibility where a full-time employee completes 80 hours each biweekly pay period. You must work during the core hours (core hours on each workday) and the flexibility is the number of hours you work each day and each week (schedules can vary with more hours worked in one week than the other).
  4. Gliding. A full-time employee works 8 hours each day and 40 hours each week and the flexibility is in arrival and departure times. You can vary the times you arrive and leave work each day as long as you are present during the established core hours.
  5. Flexitour. Similar to a gliding schedule where a full-time employee works 8 hours each day and 40 hours each week but once you select starting and stopping times it remains the same every day until a formal opportunity to change it arises.

Compressed Work Schedules

A compressed work schedule is a fixed work schedule, there is no flexibility for when you start work and end work each day, and once established your schedule does not change. The advantage is that you will have extra days off. Full-time employees must work 80 hours during each biweekly pay period that is scheduled by your agency in less than 10 workdays. The two most common compressed work schedules are:

  • 5-4/9. You work eight 9-hour days and one 8-hour day (9 total workdays in the pay period) and get an extra day off each pay period.
  • 4-10. You work four 10-hour days each week (8 total workdays in the pay period) and have an extra day off each week.