Most employees can carry a maximum of 240 hours of annual leave from one leave year to the next. "Use or lose" annual leave is the accrued annual leave above the maximum carry over amount.

• You must use your excess annual leave by the end of a leave year or you will "lose" it (or forfeit it).

In some cases, you may be able to get the lost leave restored, but only if it was forfeited because of:

• An exigency of the public business
• Your sickness
• An administrative error

You must have had the annual leave scheduled for use in writing before the start of the third biweekly pay period prior to the end of the leave year.

For leave purposes, a leave year begins on the first day of the first full biweekly pay period in a calendar year. A leave year ends on the day immediately before the first day of the first full biweekly pay period in the following calendar year.