It is an employee’s responsibility to notify the Postal Service of his or her eligibility before requesting Wounded Warriors Leave. Employees must provide documentation from the Department of Veterans Affairs, or on any Office of Personnel Management (OPM) certification form developed for administration of Wounded Warriors Leave, certifying that the employee has a qualifying service-connected disability.
Each eligible employee will be credited with 104 hours of Wounded Warriors Leave following the Postal Service’s receipt of documentation supporting the employee’s eligibility. Wounded Warriors Leave will be available for use retroactively to the first day of employment.
Employees with a service-connected disability rated at 30 percent or more will have any unused portion of their Wounded Warriors Leave restored for the remaining months of the Twelve-Month Eligibility Period that began on the first day of their initial employment, if they meet the following requirements:
- Began employment with the Postal Service on or after November 5, 2016;
- Leave postal employment during the 12-Month Eligibility Period; and
- Return to the Postal Service for a career or non-career appointment within the 12-Month Eligibility Period.
When employees return to duty with the Postal Service on or after November 5, 2016, directly from military service (with a break in service), and as a result of that military service, have sustained a new service-connected disability rated at 30 percent or more, they will:
- Receive the full 104 hours of Wounded Warriors Leave upon the Postal Service’s receipt of documentation of their eligibility for Wounded Warriors Leave; and
- Have 12 calendar months to use the leave.
Wounded Warriors Leave will be available for use retroactively to the first day of re-employment with the Postal Service.
Employees returning to the Postal Service from Military Leave (without a break in service) who sustain a new service-connected disability rated at 30 percent or more will receive the full 104 hours of Wounded Warriors Leave upon the Postal Service’s receipt of documentation supporting the employee’s eligibility.
Wounded Warriors Leave will be available for use retroactively to the first day of return to service and the employee will have 12 calendar months to use the leave.
Eligible employees returning to the Postal Service from military leave will be able to use Wounded Warriors Leave, as appropriate, as well as any earned and remaining sick leave.
Entitlement to Wounded Warriors Leave expires at the end of an eligible employee’s 12-Month Eligibility Period as defined on page 1. This happens regardless of the employee’s actual Wounded Warriors Leave balance. If the employee leaves the Postal Service at any time during or after the expiration of the Twelve-Month Eligibility Period, any remaining leave will not be reinstated, carried over, or paid out, except as permitted by:
- OPM regulations if the employee transfers to another federal agency, or
- As included in this Management Instruction.
