Internal NFFE News
Oct. 16, 2024
The National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) helped to secure a major win for employees at the United States Forest Service (USFS) in accessing “use-or-lose” annual leave hours. The Forest Service will not be extending previously scheduled tour agreements for permanent seasonal employees (PSE), which meant some employees would have to forfeit their accrued leave in excess of 240 hours because they wouldn’t be able to use those hours this season.
NFFE brought this issue to the attention of USFS management and encouraged them to find a solution for employees so that they can access the annual leave they had earned.
The Forest Service announced last week that the agency will be providing limited tour extensions for PSEs so that employees can use their annual leave in excess of 240 hours. The agency will also automatically restore any forfeited leave hours for employees in unique situations who cannot have their tours extended or for those who have already been placed into non-pay status. This way, no PSE will have to forfeit the leave they had earned, but were unable to use because of the USFS decision not to extend schedule tours.
The USFS Washington Office is asking local management and supervisors to adhere to the request so that all Forest Service employees will have the opportunity to use their extra leave hours.
“The Forest Service’s intent is to support the continued well-being and resiliency of all our employees, including our permanent seasonals,” Mary Rice, Deputy Chief for Business Operations at the U.S. Forest Service, said in a statement.