Last Updated: September 6, 2026 Reading Time: 8 min

The date that decides whether your use-or-lose annual leave can ever come back is November 28, 2026, not January 9, 2027, when the leave year ends. November 28 is the last day of Pay Period 23. If excess leave is not scheduled in writing by then, a later cancellation for work reasons or illness costs you the hours for good. Here is the pay-period math behind the deadline, the three restoration rules, and what forfeited hours are actually worth.

Why November 28 and Not January 9

Two dates matter, and most feds only know one.

The leave year ends January 9, 2027. Any annual leave above your carryover ceiling that you have not used by then is forfeited under 5 U.S.C. 6304. That is the date everyone watches.

The date almost nobody watches comes from 5 CFR 630.308. To qualify for restoration later, forfeited leave "must have been scheduled in writing before the start of the third biweekly pay period prior to the end of the leave year." Count backward from the end of the 2026 leave year:

Pay period Dates Position
PP 26 Dec 27, 2026 to Jan 9, 2027 Leave year ends
PP 25 Dec 13 to Dec 26, 2026 One period before the end
PP 24 Nov 29 to Dec 12, 2026 Two periods before the end
PP 23 Nov 15 to Nov 28, 2026 The pay period named in the rule

Read literally, the rule says "before the start of" PP 23, which would be November 14. In practice OPM's guidance and agency HR offices treat the end of that pay period, November 28, 2026, as the cutoff, the same convention applied to November 29 in the 2025 leave year. Get your leave approved in writing during that window. If your agency's HR office reads the regulation strictly, having it on the books by November 14 removes the question.

One more wrinkle: many agencies set their own internal use-or-lose scheduling deadlines earlier than the regulatory one to allow processing time. Check your agency's HR calendar. The federal deadline is the floor, not the ceiling.

How Much Leave You Can Carry Over

Your ceiling is set by 5 U.S.C. 6304 and depends on your position:

Employee group Carryover ceiling Days
Most GS and wage-grade employees 240 hours 30
Employees stationed overseas who meet 6304(b) 360 hours 45
SES, Senior Level, Senior Scientific and Professional 720 hours 90

Anything above the ceiling at the start of PP 26's last day is use-or-lose. Your leave and earnings statement shows the projected balance; the Federal Leave Optimizer maps the remaining pay periods against holidays so you can place the hours before the deadline.

The Three Ways Forfeited Leave Comes Back

Restoration is not automatic and not generous. Under 5 CFR 630.306 through 630.308, your agency may restore forfeited annual leave in exactly three situations:

1. Administrative error. The agency's own mistake caused the forfeiture, such as a miscomputed balance or a leave request that was approved but never keyed. This is the only path with no advance-scheduling requirement.

2. Exigency of the public business. Your supervisor canceled approved leave because the work could not wait. The agency head, or a designee, has to determine the exigency was of major importance. Your leave must have been scheduled in writing before PP 23.

3. Employee sickness. You were too sick to take scheduled leave. Same written-scheduling requirement applies.

Restored leave has its own expiration date. Under 5 CFR 630.306, you must use it by the end of the leave year that ends two years after the restoration date, the end of the exigency, or the date you are certified recovered. Miss that and the hours are forfeited permanently. There is no second restoration.

The Shutdown Rule for 2026

If a funding lapse cancels your scheduled leave, OPM's shutdown guidance is clear: agencies must restore annual leave that was forfeited because of the lapse, whether you were furloughed or excepted. The lapse counts as the exigency.

But the guidance also says agencies should give employees "a reasonable opportunity" to reschedule use-or-lose leave that was canceled during the lapse, and the underlying scheduling requirement still applies. A shutdown does not waive November 28. If you have excess hours and a funding cliff is anywhere on the calendar, get the leave scheduled early, on paper, so the restoration path stays open. The current continuing resolution runs through December 11, 2026, which lands inside PP 24.

What Forfeited Hours Actually Cost

Forfeited annual leave is forfeited pay. Here is what an hour of leave is worth at four grades in the Washington-Baltimore locality area (33.94%) in 2026, using the standard 2,087-hour work year.

FedTools 2026 analysis of the OPM GS pay table.

Grade and step 2026 salary (DC locality) Per hour 8 hours 40 hours 80 hours
GS-7 Step 5 $65,435 $31.35 $251 $1,254 $2,508
GS-11 Step 5 $96,843 $46.40 $371 $1,856 $3,712
GS-13 Step 5 $138,024 $66.14 $529 $2,646 $5,291
GS-15 Step 5 $191,850 $91.93 $735 $3,677 $7,354

Method: base rate × 1.3394, rounded to the dollar, divided by 2,087. GS-15 Step 5 stays under the $197,200 pay cap. Your own number is your locality-adjusted salary divided by 2,087; the GS Pay Calculator gives you the salary for any area.

A GS-13 who lets two weeks evaporate on January 9 has handed back $5,291. A GS-15, $7,354. That is the number to keep in mind when a busy fall makes December leave feel optional.

What to Do Before November 28

  1. Read your projected balance. Your leave and earnings statement shows the use-or-lose figure. Anything above 240 (or your ceiling) is the number you need to place.
  2. Schedule it in writing now. A time-off request in your agency's system, approved by your supervisor, is the written record 5 CFR 630.308 requires. Verbal approval does not count.
  3. Front-load, don't back-load. Leave scheduled for the last two weeks of December is the most likely to get canceled by an exigency or a shutdown. Leave taken in October and November is already spent.
  4. Keep the approval. Screenshot or export the approved request. If the leave is later canceled and you need restoration, that record is your evidence.
  5. Check your agency's internal date. Many HR offices publish a cutoff in mid-November. The federal deadline is the floor.
  6. If you are retiring this winter, stop worrying about forfeiture and start reading about the lump-sum payout instead. Excess leave converts to cash at separation, taxed in the year paid, which is why early January retirement dates are popular. Our annual leave lump-sum tax guide has the math.

Calculate Your Use-or-Lose Schedule

The free Federal Leave Optimizer tracks your use-or-lose hours against the January 9, 2027 leave-year end, lays the remaining pay periods over the 2026 holiday calendar, and finds the dates where a few hours of leave buy the longest break. Try it now.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the use-or-lose annual leave deadline for 2026?

Schedule any leave above your carryover ceiling in writing by November 28, 2026, the end of Pay Period 23, the third-to-last pay period of the 2026 leave year. The leave year itself ends January 9, 2027. Scheduling by the deadline is what makes restoration possible if the leave later falls through.

What happens if I don't use my excess annual leave by the end of the leave year?

Hours above your 240, 360, or 720-hour ceiling that are unused on January 9, 2027 are forfeited. Restoration is possible only for administrative error, exigency of the public business, or your own sickness, and the last two require that the leave was scheduled in writing before the deadline.

Can forfeited annual leave be restored?

Only in three cases, each decided by your agency: administrative error, exigency of the public business, or employee sickness. Administrative error has no advance-scheduling requirement. The other two require that the leave was scheduled in writing before the start of the third biweekly pay period before the leave year ends, under 5 CFR 630.308.

Does leave canceled because of a government shutdown get restored?

Yes, with a condition. OPM's shutdown guidance says agencies must restore annual leave forfeited because of a lapse in appropriations, regardless of furlough status, but only if the leave had been scheduled in writing under the same third-pay-period rule. A shutdown counts as the exigency; it does not waive the scheduling requirement.

How long do I have to use restored annual leave?

Two years. Restored leave must be used by the end of the leave year that falls two years after the restoration decision, the end of the exigency, or the date you are certified recovered. Miss that window and it is forfeited permanently, with no second restoration.

How much annual leave can I carry into the 2027 leave year?

240 hours for most GS and wage-grade employees, 360 hours for overseas employees who meet the 5 U.S.C. 6304(b) conditions, and 720 hours for SES, Senior Level, and Senior Scientific and Professional employees.

How much money does forfeited annual leave cost?

It depends on your grade and locality. Using 2026 Washington-Baltimore locality pay, a GS-13 Step 5 employee forfeits about $66 for every lost hour, so 80 hours is about $5,291. A GS-15 Step 5 loses about $92 an hour, or $7,354 for 80 hours.

Does the use-or-lose deadline matter if I am retiring this winter?

Less than you think. Unused annual leave, including hours above your ceiling, converts to a lump-sum payment when you separate, so it is not forfeited in your final leave year. The payment is taxable in the year you receive it, which is why many feds retire in early January.

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