In re Rana, B-198177
| Decision Date | 31 March 1981 |
| Docket Number | B-198177 |
| Parties | MATTER OF: Sher J. Rana -Lump-Sum Payment for 104 Hours of Forfeited Annual Leave |
| Court | Comptroller General of the United States |
DIGEST:
Separated Agency for International Development employee who forfeited 104 hours of annual leave allegedly due to an exigency of the public business is not entitled to lumpsum payment for the forfeited hours on the present record, since the appropriate agency official has not, made the requisite exigency determinations. If such determinations are made, this Office would have no objection to payment.
Mr Sher J. Rana appeals from a decision by our Claims Division which denied him a lump-sum payment for 104 hours of forfeited annual leave. Because the appropriate agency official has not determined that Mr. Rana forfeited his leave due to an exigency of the public business, and we will not reverse an agency determination in the absence of a showing that it was arbitrary, capricious, or clearly erroneous, we deny Mr. Rana's appeal on the present record.
On September 9, 1976, Mr. Rana, an employee of the Agency for International Development, submitted a written request for 160 hours of annual leave to be taken between November 1 and November 26, 1976. On the same day, Mr. Rana requested permission to schedule 152 hours of restored annual leave for the period between December 3 and December 30, 1976. On September 10, 1976, Mr. Rana's applications were approved.' Shortly before he was due to depart on the November leave, however, Mr. Rana' as assigned to begin work as the U.S. Budget Advisor to the Minister of Finance Government of Bahrain. Since this temporary duty assignment began on October 11, 1976, and did not terminate until November 12, 1976, `the leaved" which Mr. Rana had scheduled for the period between November 1 and November 12 1976 had to be cancelled. Mr. Rana continued to report for work throughout the month of November. Between December 3 and December 30, 1976, The used his restored annual leave as scheduled.
On January 17, 1977, Mr. Rana Requested that the 160 hours of leave which he had forfeited during November 1976 due to "exigencies of the public business" be restored. On February 17, 1977, his request was approved by E.N.S. Girard II, Assistant Administrator, Latin American Bureau. Upon review, however, AID's Employee Services Division reversed the AA's decision and disallowed Mr. Rana's claim. 'The ESD determined that Mr. Rana had chosen to forfeit the leave which he had accrued during the year 1976 in order to preclude the loss of his restored leave, and that since an AID regulation specifically stated that "loss of regular leave due to use of restored leave" did not constitute a proper basis for restoration of leave, his request did not merit approval. (AID Handbook 27, Para 3B6c.) AID's Office of Personnel concurred in the denial of restoration.
Mr. Rana separated from the Agency for International Development in February of 1978. In October 1978, he submitted a claim to the General Accounting Office's Transportation and Claims Division, requesting restoration of the 160 hours of forfeited annual leave. The Claims Division concluded that only 152 hours had been scheduled and could be considered for restoration, since November. 25, 1976 was a legal holiday. In a Certificate of Settlement dated November 27, 1979, the Claims Division allowed Mr. Rana a lump-sum payment for 48 hours of forfeited leave, but denied him payment for the additional 104 hours on the following grounds:
"* * *[I] appears that you had ample time to use his leave before the end of the leave year to avoid forfeiture., The record show [sic] that you returned from temporary duty on November 12, 1976, and since there was no indication in the file that an exigency of the public...
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