Payments for unused accrued leave

§ 501. Payments for unused accrued leave (a) In subsections (b)-(f) of this section— (1) “discharge” means— (A) in the case of an enlisted member, separation or release from active duty under honorable conditions or appointment as an officer; and (B) in the case of an officer, separation or release from active duty under honorable conditions; (2) “child” means— (A) a legitimate child; (B) a legally adopted child; (C) a stepchild, if, at the time of the death of the member or former member, the stepchild was a member of his household; (D) an illegitimate child, in the case of a female member or former member; (E) an illegitimate child to whose support a male member or former member has been judicially ordered or decreed to contribute, of whom he has been judicially decreed to be the father, or of whom he has acknowledged in writing under oath that he is the father; and 76 Stat. 481 (F) a person to whom the member or former member, at the time of his death, stood in loco parentis and so stood for at least 12 months before his death; (3) “parent” means— (A) a father or mother; (B) a grandfather or grandmother; (C) a stepfather or stepmother; (D) a father or mother by adoption; or (E) a person who for a period of not less than one year before the death of the member or former member stood in loco parentis to him; except that not more than two persons may be treated as parents for the purposes of this clause, and preference shall be given to the persons who bore a parental relation at the time of, or most nearly before, the death of the member or former member; and (4) “brother or sister” means— (A) a brother or sister of the whole blood; (B) a brother or sister of the half blood; (C) a stepbrother or stepsister; or (D) a brother or sister by adoption. (b) An officer of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, or Coast and Geodetic Survey who had accrued leave to his credit at the time of his discharge is entitled to be paid in cash or by a check on the Treasurer of the United States for that leave on the basis of the basic pay and allowances to which he was entitled on the date of discharge. An enlisted member of such a uniformed service who had accrued leave to his credit at the time of his discharge is entitled to be paid in cash or by a check on the Treasurer of the United States for that leave on the basis of the basic pay to which he was entitled on the date of discharge, plus an allowance computed at the rate of 70 cents a day for subsistence, and for an enlisted member in pay grade E–9, E–8, E–7, E–6, or E–5, with dependents, an allowance computed at the rate of $1.25 a day for quarters. However, a payment may not be made under this subsection to a member who— (1) is discharged for the purpose of accepting an appointment or a warrant, or entering into an enlistment, in his armed force; or (2) elects to carry over his unused leave to a new enlistment in his armed force on the day after the date of his discharge. A member to whom a payment may not be made under this subsection, or a member who reverts from officer to enlisted status, carries the accrued leave standing to his credit from the one status to the other within his armed force. (c) Unused accrued leave for which payment is made under subsection (b) of this section is not considered as service for any purpose. (d) Payments for unused accrued leave under subsection (b) of this section, in the case of a member or former member who dies after retirement or discharge and before he receives that payment, shall be made upon application, to or for the living survivors highest on the following list— (1) his surviving spouse and children, in equal shares; (2) his parents, in equal shares; (3) his brothers and sisters, in equal shares; or (4) the children of his deceased brothers and sisters, in equal shares. If there is no survivor, payment may not be made under this subsection. Payment under this subsection to a survivor who has passed his seventeenth birthday and who has not passed his twenty-first birthday discharges the obligations of the United States under this subsection. 76 Stat. 482 (e) A member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, or Coast and Geodetic Survey who is discharged under other than honorable conditions forfeits all accrued leave to his credit at the time of his discharge. (f) Payment may not be made for leave in excess of 60 days upon discharge or retirement. (g) An officer of the Regular Corps of the Public Health Service, or an officer of the Reserve Corps of the Public Health Service on active duty, who is credited with accumulated and accrued annual leave on the date of his separation, retirement, or release from active duty, shall, if his application for that leave is approved by the Surgeon General, be paid for that leave in a lump-sum on the basis of his basic E subsistence allowance, and allowance for quarters whether or not he is receiving that allowance on that date. However, the number of days upon which the lump-sum payment is based may not be more than 60. A lump-sum payment may not be made under this subsection to an officer— (1) whose appointment expires or is terminated and who, without a break in active service, accepts a new appointment; (2) who is retired for age in time of war and is continued on, or recalled to, active duty without a break in active service; or (3) who is transferred to another department or agency of the United States under circumstances in which, by any other law, his leave may be transferred. In this subsection, “accumulated annual leave” means unused accrued annual leave carried forward from one leave year into the next leave year, and “accrued annual leave” means the annual leave accruing to an officer during one leave year.