Last Updated: September 20, 2026 Reading Time: 8 min

Disabled Veteran Leave is a one-time bank of up to 104 hours that a federal new hire with a 30 percent or higher VA rating can use for treatment of that disability. It exists only during a 12-month window, it cannot be carried over, and it can never be cashed out. Most eligible new hires never use it, and OPM's own rulemaking explains why: no one is required to tell you about it. This guide covers who qualifies, which date actually starts your clock, and the sick-leave offset that trims the 104 hours.

Who Qualifies

The statute is 5 U.S.C. 6329, created by the Wounded Warriors Federal Leave Act of 2015. OPM's regulations sit at 5 CFR part 630, Subpart M.

Section 630.1302 sets the two conditions: "This subpart applies to an employee who is a veteran with a service-connected disability rated at 30 percent or more," and "This subpart applies only to an employee who is hired on or after November 5, 2016."

The rating can be a single disability or a combined rating. What matters is that the Veterans Benefits Administration has rated you at 30 percent or more and that the rating has an effective date.

Two carve-outs matter for FedTools readers:

  • USPS and Postal Regulatory Commission employees are not covered by OPM's regulation. Section 630.1302 says they "are subject to regulations issued by the Postmaster General" under the same Act.
  • Title 38 hybrid positions at VA are covered. The statute at 6329(d)(1)(B) expressly overrides the normal Title 38 exclusion for this purpose.

Do not confuse this with military leave under 5 U.S.C. 6323, the Guard and Reserve benefit. Our military leave for federal employees guide covers that separate authority.

Which Date Starts Your 12 Months

This is the question that catches new hires, and the answer is in the definition at 5 CFR 630.1303. The "first day of employment" is "the first day of service that qualifies as employment that occurs on the later of (1) The earliest date an employee is hired after the effective date of the employee's qualifying service-connected disability... or (2) The effective date of the employee's qualifying service-connected disability."

The later date wins. OPM's fact sheet lays out four scenarios. FedTools summary:

Scenario Hire date vs. rating effective date Your 12-month clock starts on
1. Rating already in effect when hired Rating effective before hire Hire date
2. Rating effective on or after Nov. 5, 2016, hired later Rating effective before hire Hire date
3. Hired first, VA rates you later Rating effective after hire Rating effective date
4. Hired with a pending claim, VA later backdates the rating to before hire Rating effective before hire (retroactive) Hire date

Scenario 3 is the one to understand. If you start a federal job in March with a claim pending and VA issues a 40 percent rating effective the following November, your 12 months run from November, not March. The window moved forward rather than shrinking.

Scenario 4 is the mirror image. If VA backdates your rating to a date before you were hired, the hire date is still the later of the two, and your clock started the day you walked in.

Two things do not move the clock at all. Section 630.1304(c) states: "The 12-month eligibility period is fixed based on the first day of employment and is not affected by the timing of when certifying documentation is provided." And OPM's fact sheet adds that a break in service does not extend it. OPM's example: a first day of employment of December 6 means the window expires December 5 of the next year.

How Many Hours You Actually Get

Section 630.1305 sets the credit: 104 hours for a full-time, nonseasonal employee, "or a proportionally equivalent amount for employees with part-time, seasonal, or uncommon tours of duty."

OPM's crediting formulas, from its fact sheet:

Work schedule Formula Example
Full-time, nonseasonal 104 hours 104
Part-time, nonseasonal (hours per biweekly pay period ÷ 80) × 104 40 hours biweekly: 52
Uncommon tour of duty (hours per biweekly pay period ÷ 80) × 104 144 hours biweekly: 187
Seasonal (hours per year ÷ 2,080) × 104 Full-time for half a year: 52

Then comes the offset. The credit is reduced by the sick leave already to your credit as of your first day of employment. A newly eligible employee who arrives with 40 hours of sick leave to their credit gets 64 hours of Disabled Veteran Leave, not 104. A brand-new hire with a zero sick-leave balance gets the full 104. A transfer during the window does not start a new credit; the existing balance and expiration date move with you (5 CFR 630.1308(c)).

The agency cannot credit anything until you certify. Section 630.1304 requires "documentation from VBA certifying the service-connected disability rating and its effective date." Certifying late does not extend the window, and under 5 CFR 630.1306(c) leave can be substituted retroactively for qualifying treatment absences you already took inside the window, so certify as soon as the rating letter arrives.

What the Leave Can Be Used For

Section 630.1306 is narrow: "An employee may use disabled veteran leave only for the medical treatment of a qualifying service-connected disability." A period of rest counts "only if such period of rest is specifically ordered by the health care provider" as part of the treatment.

An agency can ask for medical certification. You have 15 calendar days after the request to provide it, extendable to no more than 30 calendar days if you show a diligent, good-faith effort.

The leave is paid time. It is not sick leave, and using it does not draw down your sick-leave balance.

Forfeiture: The Rule With No Exceptions

The statute says unused hours "may not be carried over and shall be forfeited." The regulation at 630.1308 repeats it and closes the last door: "An employee may not receive a lump-sum payment for any unused disabled veteran leave under any circumstance."

A GS-9 step 1 in the Rest of U.S. locality earns about $29.60 an hour in 2026 ($52,727 base plus 17.06 percent locality, divided by 2,087 hours), so 104 hours of paid treatment time is worth about $3,075 to that employee, and it is forfeited at the end of the day before the anniversary date.

Two situations preserve a balance:

  • Transfer between agencies during the window. Under 630.1308(c), the losing agency must certify your unused hours and your expiration date to the gaining agency. The window does not reset.
  • Break in service and return during the window. If you separate and are rehired within the same 12-month period, the unused balance is recredited, again with the original expiration date.

Why Almost Nobody Uses It

When OPM finalized the regulation in August 2016, commenters asked it to require agencies to notify eligible new hires. OPM declined. In the final rule's preamble, OPM wrote: "We agree that agencies should strive to make employees aware of the disabled veteran leave benefit. While we do not believe it is necessary to incorporate" a notice requirement into the regulation, agencies should educate employees informally.

So there is no mandated point where someone tells you. The Federal Register shows no rulemaking touching Disabled Veteran Leave since the 2018 amendment that extended coverage to Title 38 hybrid positions. The rule is stable and the awareness gap is structural.

If you are a veteran in your first federal year with a 30 percent or higher rating, or you expect one, the action is simple. Send your VBA rating letter to your HR office, ask them to credit the leave, and confirm your expiration date in writing.

Plan Your Leave Around the Window

Our free Federal Leave Optimizer schedules the annual-leave hours you enter against pay periods and holidays. Disabled Veteran Leave and sick leave are separate banks the tool does not track, so plan them alongside it. Map your leave year →

Frequently Asked Questions

Who qualifies for Disabled Veteran Leave?

A veteran hired into a covered federal civilian position on or after November 5, 2016, with a VA service-connected disability rating of 30 percent or more. The rating can be a single rating or a combined rating.

How many hours of Disabled Veteran Leave do I get?

Up to 104 hours for a full-time, nonseasonal employee. Part-time, seasonal, and uncommon-tour employees receive a prorated amount. The credit is reduced by any sick leave to your credit on your first day of employment.

Does my 12-month window start on my hire date or my VA rating date?

Whichever is later. If your rating was already effective when you were hired, the clock starts on your hire date. If VA makes your rating effective after you start, the clock starts on the rating's effective date.

I was hired without a rating and received one eight months later. Did I lose most of my window?

It depends on the rating's effective date, not the date the decision arrived. Under 5 CFR 630.1303 the first day of employment is the later of the hire date or the rating's effective date. If VA makes the rating effective after your hire date, your full 12 months run from that later date; if VA backdates it to before your hire date, the window stays tied to your hire date.

Can unused Disabled Veteran Leave carry over or be paid out?

No. Under 5 U.S.C. 6329(b)(2) and 5 CFR 630.1308, unused hours are forfeited at the end of the 12-month period and may never be paid as a lump sum under any circumstance.

What can Disabled Veteran Leave be used for?

Only medical treatment of the qualifying service-connected disability. That can include a period of rest, but only if a health care provider specifically orders the rest as part of the treatment.

Does Disabled Veteran Leave apply to USPS or VA Title 38 employees?

USPS and Postal Regulatory Commission employees are covered by separate Postmaster General regulations, not 5 CFR 630 Subpart M. Certain Title 38 hybrid VA positions are covered under 5 U.S.C. 6329 by an explicit statutory override.

Sources