Federal separation payout statement
Federal annual leave payout calculator
Estimate the lump-sum gross payout, projected leave period, valid rate-change split, and a transparent 2026 withholding scenario—without turning assumptions into payroll facts.
Private, browser-only calculation
Build your separation payout statement
Enter eligible annual-leave hours and a pay rate to begin.
Federal leave payout
ESTIMATE · 2026
Your payout statement will appear here
Enter eligible annual-leave hours and a pay rate. The statement keeps base pay, included pay, rate changes, and withholding visibly separate.
2026 withholding parameters effective ; canonical OPM, statute, regulation, IRS, and SSA sources last verified .
Your entries stay in this browser. FedUp.work does not transmit or store the leave, pay, date, or withholding values you enter.
Looking for the eligibility and process overview? Read the federal annual leave payout guide.
Calculation method
How the federal annual leave payout is calculated
The gross-pay ledger follows the statutory and OPM sequence. The tax section remains optional so it cannot blur a known payout with a planning assumption.
- 01
Confirm payable annual leave
Start with the eligible annual-leave hours certified by payroll. The calculator does not turn a 240-hour carryover ceiling into a payout cap or mix in sick leave, comp time, credit hours, donated leave, or advanced leave.
- 02
Convert pay at the federal divisor
Annual adjusted basic pay is divided by 2,087 and rounded to the nearest cent. The 2,756 divisor is available only for a covered firefighter. An agency-confirmed hourly rate can be entered directly.
- 03
Project the lump-sum period
For a standard Monday-through-Friday, eight-hour tour, the period begins on the first weekday after separation. Holidays consume scheduled hours and do not extend the period.
- 04
Keep withholding separate
The gross payout is deterministic from the facts entered. Federal, Social Security, Medicare, state, and local amounts are a separate 2026 withholding scenario—not a prediction of final tax liability.
Balance boundary
Enter certified eligible hours, not a reconstructed balance
Leave accounting can reflect restoration, a personal ceiling, forfeiture, transfers, nonpay time, donations, or prior advances. Your agency's certified balance is a stronger input than a generic leave-accrual forecast.
Restored hours are shown separately for context because a later federal reemployment refund can treat them differently. They still belong in the gross payout when otherwise eligible.
Generally included
- Accumulated and current accrued annual leave
- Restored annual leave that remains available
- Unexpired use-or-lose annual leave
- Valid personal-ceiling annual leave
Kept outside the hours
- Sick, military, home, or paid parental leave
- Donated or advanced annual leave
- Compensatory time and credit hours
- Forfeited hours or unverified balances
Gross pay versus modeled net
Withholding is not final tax liability
An unused-leave lump sum is supplemental wages. The page can illustrate a permitted federal withholding method and the payroll taxes that apply to the facts entered, but it cannot determine the return you will file or the tax you ultimately owe.
Deliberately not subtracted
CSRS or FERS retirement, FEHB, FEGLI, and TSP deductions do not apply to the lump-sum annual-leave payment under 5 C.F.R. § 550.1205.
Needs payroll or case-specific facts
Garnishment, administrative offset, advanced-leave debt, agency processing, aggregate withholding, and a reemployment refund stay outside the estimate. Enter a known additional withholding amount only when you have one.
Source posture
Canonical rules, local calculation
The calculator runs entirely in your browser. It uses reviewed federal rules and a small 2026 withholding-parameter set; it does not need a live government API or a separate data-platform lookup.
Rules and 2026 parameters last reviewed . Verify the final balance, pay inclusions, effective dates, and withholding method with your agency.
Annual leave payout FAQ
Questions before you rely on the estimate
How is a federal annual leave payout calculated?
The agency projects the pay you would have received had you remained employed until the eligible annual leave expired. For most employees, annual adjusted basic pay is divided by 2,087 and rounded to cents, then applied to the projected leave hours. Certain included pay and qualifying mid-period pay adjustments can change the final amount.
Is federal annual leave payout limited to 240 hours?
No. The common 240-hour figure is a leave carryover ceiling, not a universal lump-sum payout cap. A valid balance may also include current accrued leave, restored leave, unexpired use-or-lose leave, or a personal ceiling. Enter the eligible balance certified by payroll instead of applying an automatic cap.
Does locality pay count in an annual leave payout?
Locality pay or a special-rate supplement is generally part of the adjusted basic pay used for the hourly rate. If you enter annual pay, use the annual adjusted basic pay shown in your official record rather than base pay alone, household income, overtime, or total compensation.
Do federal holidays extend the lump-sum leave period?
No. Under the federal lump-sum rules, a holiday inside the projected period consumes the hours that would have been scheduled that day and does not extend the period. The standard-tour projection therefore counts every Monday-through-Friday date, including federal holidays.
Will a future within-grade increase raise the payout?
Not merely because its effective date would fall inside the projected leave period. A within-grade increase belongs in the starting rate only if all requirements were met before the employee became eligible for the lump-sum payment. Certain statutory, general, locality, special-rate, or prevailing-rate changes during the period may be included.
Are retirement, FEHB, FEGLI, or TSP deductions taken from the payout?
The lump-sum payment is not subject to deductions for CSRS or FERS retirement, FEHB, FEGLI, or TSP. Tax withholding, garnishment, administrative offset, and an advanced-leave debt are different issues. This tool models only the withholding and known amounts you choose to enter.
Is 22% the tax rate on a federal leave payout?
No. Twenty-two percent is one optional federal supplemental-wage withholding method when IRS conditions are met; it is not your final tax rate or liability. Payroll may use another permitted method. Social Security, Medicare, state, local, and other known withholding are separate.
What happens if I am reemployed before the projected period ends?
Reemployment in the federal government before the projected period ends can require repayment for the unexpired portion and recredit of annual leave, subject to the governing rules. Restored leave can be treated differently. This calculator flags the issue but does not calculate a reemployment refund.
Next decision
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