This chart shows the leave section of a sample pay statement for a USPS employee. Because the employee has taken more leave than he or she earned, the earned annual leave balance is negative.
The Postal Service wants to ensure employees understand how advanced annual leave works.
Advanced annual leave describes the amount of annual leave that the organization âadvancesâ to eligible employees at the beginning of each year.
If youâre a full-time, part-time regular or non-traditional full-time career employee, you receive advanced annual leave. This number is shown in the âAL Advancedâ field of your pay statement.
Each pay period that you earn annual leave, the advanced annual leave amount goes down by the exact number of annual leave hours that you actually earn.
However, you donât get paid for any advanced annual leave when you retire or leave your job. Youâre only paid for the amount of leave that shows up in the âEarned Annual Leave Balanceâ field of your pay statement.
If your earned annual leave balance is negative, youâll receive a bill for âoverdrawn leave,â which means youâve used more annual leave than youâve earned.
If youâre planning to retire or leave USPS this year, the organization wants you to pay attention to your âEarned Annual Leave Balance.â Remember: If the number goes negative, the Postal Service will mail you an invoice to pay back your overdrawn leave.
USPS is distributing a stand-up talk on advanced annual leave this week. The organization wants managers and supervisors to deliver this talk to their employees to help them better understand the topic.
If you have questions, contact your immediate supervisor.
Source: USPS
USPS News Link article on Advanced Annual Leave needs correction