S. 2169 — what changed

added “6329d. Rest and recuperation leave

added “(a) Definitions—In this section—

added “(1) the term agency—

added “(A) means an Executive agency; and

added “(B) does not include the Government Accountability Office;

added “(2) the term combat zone means—

added “(A) a geographic area designated by an Executive Order of the President as an area in which the Armed Forces are engaging or have engaged in combat;

added “(B) an area designated by law to be treated as a combat zone; or

added “(C) a location the Secretary of Defense has certified for combat zone tax benefits due to its direct support of military operations;

added “(3) the term employee has the meaning given the term in section 6301;

added “(4) the term high risk, high threat post has the meaning given the term in section 104 of the Omnibus Diplomatic Security and Antiterrorism Act of 1986 (22 U.S.C. 4803); and

added “(5) the term leave year means the period beginning on the first day of the first complete pay period in a calendar year and ending on the day immediately before the first day of the first complete pay period in the following calendar year.

added “(b) Leave for rest and recuperation

added “(1) In general—During a leave year, the head of an agency may grant not more than 20 days of leave without loss of or reduction in pay, leave to which an employee is otherwise entitled under law, or credit for time or service to a civilian employee of the agency serving in a combat zone or other high risk, high threat post for the purposes of rest and recuperation.

added “(2) Conversion of leave period into hours—The 20 days of leave referred to in paragraph (1) shall be converted to 160 hours of leave for full-time employees and proportionally adjusted for employees with a part-time tour of duty or an uncommon tour of duty in which the hours for which leave may be charged are in excess of 80 hours in a biweekly pay period.

added “(c) Discretionary authority of agency head

added “(1) In general—Use of the authority under subsection (b) shall be at the sole and exclusive discretion of the head of the agency concerned.

added “(2) Policies—The head of an agency may prescribe agency-wide policies to govern the use of the authority under subsection (b) within the agency.

added “(d) Records—An agency shall record leave provided under this section separately from leave authorized under any other provision of law.

added “6329e. Foreign holiday leave

added “(a) Definitions—In this section—

added “(1) the term agency—

added “(A) means an Executive agency; and

added “(B) does not include the Government Accountability Office;

added “(2) the term employee has the meaning given that term in section 6301; and

added “(3) the term leave year means the period beginning on the first day of the first complete pay period in a calendar year and ending on the day immediately before the first day of the first complete pay period in the following calendar year.

added “(b) Leave for local holidays observed in foreign areas—During a leave year, the head of an agency may grant not more than 5 days of leave without loss of or reduction in pay, leave to which an employee is otherwise entitled under law, or credit for time or service to a civilian employee of the agency serving in a foreign area for local holidays observed in the foreign area—

added “(1) if the head of the agency determines that the conduct of business during the local holidays would be inconsistent with host-country practice or otherwise not in the best interest of the United States; or

added “(2) for such other reasons as the head of the agency determines necessary to advance the diplomatic interests of the United States.

added “(c) Discretionary authority of agency head

added “(1) In general—Use of the authority under subsection (b) shall be at the sole and exclusive discretion of the head of the agency concerned.

added “(2) Policies—The head of an agency may prescribe agency-wide policies to govern the use of the authority under subsection (b) within the agency.

added “(d) Records—An agency shall record leave provided under this section separately from leave authorized under any other provision of law.”