37 U.S.C. § 501 : US Code - Section 501: Payments for unused accrued leave

Search 37 U.S.C. § 501 : US Code - Section 501: Payments for unused accrued leave

(a) In this section, the term "discharge" means -
(1) in the case of an enlisted member, separation or release
from active duty under honorable conditions, termination of an
enlistment in conjunction with the commencement of a successive
enlistment (without regard to the date of the expiration of the
term of the enlistment being terminated), or appointment as an
officer;
(2) in the case of an officer, separation or release from
active duty under honorable conditions; and
(3) in the case of either an officer or an enlisted member,
death while on active duty unless the decedent was put to death
as lawful punishment for a crime or a military offense.
(b)(1) A member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast
Guard, or National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, who has
accrued leave to his credit at the time of his discharge, is
entitled to be paid in cash or by a check on the Treasurer of the
United States for such leave on the basis of the basic pay to which
he was entitled on the date of discharge.
(2) Payment may not be made under this subsection to a member who
is discharged for the purpose of accepting an appointment or a
warrant in any uniformed service.
(3) Payment may not be made to a member for any leave he elects
to have carried over to a new enlistment in any uniformed service
on the day after the date of his discharge; but payment may be made
to a member for any leave he elects not to carry over to a new
enlistment. However, the number of days of leave for which payment
is made may not exceed sixty, less the number of days for which
payment was previously made under this section after February 9,
1976.
(4) A member to whom a payment may not be made under this
subsection, or a member who reverts from officer to enlisted
status, carries the accrued leave standing to his credit from the
one status to the other within any uniformed service.
(5) The limitation in the second sentence of paragraph (3) and in
subsection (f) shall not apply with respect to leave accrued -
(A) by a member of a reserve component while serving on active
duty in support of a contingency operation;
(B) by a member of the armed forces in the Retired Reserve
while serving on active duty in support of a contingency
operation;
(C) by a retired member of the Regular Army, Regular Navy,
Regular Air Force, or Regular Marine Corps or a member of the
Fleet Reserve or Fleet Marine Corps Reserve while the member is
serving on active duty in support of a contingency operation; or
(D) by a member of a reserve component while serving on active
duty, full-time National Guard duty, or active duty for training
for a period of more than 30 days but not in excess of 365 days.
(c) Unused accrued leave for which payment is made under
subsection (b) is not considered as service for any purpose.
(d)(1) Payments for unused accrued leave under subsections (b)
and (g), in the case of a member who dies while on active duty or
in the case of a member or former member who dies after retirement
or discharge and before he receives that payment, shall be made in
accordance with section 2771 of title 10. In the case of a member
who dies while on active duty, payment for unused accrued leave
under subsections (b) and (g) shall be based upon the unused
accrued leave the member carried forward into the leave year during
which he died plus the unused leave that accrued to him during that
leave year.
(2) The limitations in the second sentence of subsection (b)(3),
subsection (f), and the second sentence of subsection (g) shall not
apply with respect to a payment made under this subsection.
(e)(1) A member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast
Guard, or National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who is
discharged under other than honorable conditions forfeits all
accrued leave to his credit at the time of his discharge.
(2) The Secretary concerned may require that a member of a
uniformed service who is discharged before completing six months of
active duty because of a failure to serve satisfactorily (as
determined by the Secretary concerned) forfeit all accrued leave to
his credit at the time of his discharge.
(f) The number of days upon which payment under subsection (b) or
(g) is based may not exceed sixty, less the number of days for
which payment has been previously made under such subsections after
February 9, 1976. For the purposes of this subsection, the number
of days upon which payment may be based shall be determined without
regard to any break in service or change in status in the uniformed
services.
(g) An officer of the Regular Corps of the Public Health Service,
or an officer of the Reserve Corps of the Public Health Service on
active duty, who is credited with accumulated and accrued annual
leave on the date of his separation, retirement, or release from
active duty, shall, if his application for that leave is approved
by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, be paid for that
leave in a lump-sum on the basis of his basic pay, subsistence
allowance, and allowance for quarters whether or not he is
receiving that allowance on that date. However, the number of days
upon which the lump-sum payment is based is subject to subsection
(f). A lump-sum payment may not be made under this subsection to an
officer -
(1) whose appointment expires or is terminated and who, without
a break in active service, accepts a new appointment;
(2) who is retired for age in time of war and is continued on,
or recalled to, active duty without a break in active service; or
(3) who is transferred to another department or agency of the
United States under circumstances in which, by any other law, his
leave may be transferred.
In this subsection, the term "accumulated annual leave" means
unused accrued annual leave carried forward from one leave year
into the next leave year, and the term "accrued annual leave" means
the annual leave accruing to an officer during one leave year.
(h) Payment shall be made for all leave accumulated under section
701(g) of title 10 as soon as possible after the name of the person
concerned is removed from a missing status, as defined in section
551(2) of this title.