Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act
Leave Without Pay (LWOP) Checklist
It is highly recommended that each Federal Technician who serves in the Military or Supervises another technician who serves in the military completes USERRA training annually:
Additional Forms NGAUS - http://www.ngaus.org/sites/default/files/pdf/QUICKREF10.pdf
There are two types of LWOP that are available to use to cover your absence from technician duties, they are defined by the pay code KA (personal) and KG (military).
There are differences and similarities for each code.
Both KA and KG LWOP:
1. User may use to cover time while on orders.
2. User will not be paid, as a technician, for that period which you are on LWOP.
3. User will retain any health benefits/life insurance benefits for up to approx. 12 months. User will continue be charged for premiums accrued. Little impact for short periods.
KG only:
1. User will lose a pro‐rated portion of leave for the pay period (Example‐ User is LWOP for 1/3rd of pay period and other 2/3rd is in a pay status; user will get 2/3rd of normal annual/sick leave).
2. User will need to buy back all LWOP military service to get credit for retirement. Record keeping will be important. You will need to buy‐back on your own, you will not be prompted. Your retirement date may be inaccurate if you do not buy back your military time.
3. User will not lose within‐grade time for step increases. Step timing will not be affected.
KA only:
1. User will not lose leave until accruing 80 cumulative hours of LWOP. At the 80 hour point, user will lose annual/sick leave in that specific pay period. The accrual will start fresh again at that point. (If you use 80 hours of LWOP, you lose your both annual & sick leave for one pay period. The counter is reset with any LWOP hours over 80, and you will again accrue annual & sick leave until another 80 hrs of LWOP is reached, and so on…)
2. User will get credit, toward retirement, for up to 6 months of LWOP status within a calendar year. Coverage continues at no cost to the user while in LWOP status.
3. GS users may lose within‐grade time for step increases. Any LWOP used in excess of the times listed below will push back a within‐grade step increase date. a. For advancement to steps 2‐4, user will get credit for up to 80 hours of KA
b. For advancement to steps 5‐7, user will get credit for up to 160 hours of KA
c. For advancement to steps 8‐10, user will get credit for up to 240 hours of KA
RTD: If you are RETURNING from contingency operations and would like your USERRA TSP and contributed to TSP while on Active Duty please include all military LES’. If you DID NOT contribute to TSP while on Active Duty, include a signed statement attributing to that fact.
