Filling Out OPM-71: Leave Type, Dates, Signature, and Submission

To fill out OPM Form 71, download the fillable PDF from opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/opm71.pdf (or open your agency’s electronic equivalent in its HR portal), enter your name and identifier, check the type of leave you want, list the dates and hours, sign it, and send it to your supervisor for action. The form is a single page. Most of the work is knowing which box to check and what to attach.¹

What to Have Ready Before You Start

You’ll need your full legal name, your employee identification number or the last four digits of your Social Security number (the form specifically instructs you not to enter your full SSN), and your organization name or code.¹

Some leave categories need supporting documentation. Have it in hand before you submit:

Sick leave over three workdays: your agency can require a medical certificate or other acceptable evidence, and sometimes for shorter absences if it decides that’s necessary.²
Military leave: your official military orders, which the agency uses to verify entitlement and charge the correct category.³
Paid parental leave: a signed written service agreement committing you to work for the agency for at least 12 weeks after the paid parental leave ends. The agreement must be signed before you use any of the leave, not after.⁴
FMLA leave: your employer can request medical certification, limited to information related to the specific serious health condition causing the need for leave.⁵
Court leave: a jury summons or witness subpoena. Federal employees receive paid time off for jury duty and for testifying when a government entity is a party, and it doesn’t come out of your annual or sick leave balance.⁶

Blocks 1 Through 3: Your Identifying Information

Block 1 is your last name, first name, and middle initial. Block 2 is your employee ID number or the last four digits of your SSN. Providing your SSN is voluntary under the form’s privacy notice, but not providing any identifier could result in your request being denied. Block 3 is your organization name or office code.¹

Block 4: Type of Leave

Check the box that matches what you’re requesting. The options on the form:

Accrued Annual Leave: regular vacation time you’ve already earned.
Restored Annual Leave: hours forfeited under the use-or-lose rule and later restored, typically because an agency exigency prevented you from using them.
Advanced Annual Leave: borrowed against leave you haven’t earned yet. Your agency can advance up to the amount you’d accrue during the rest of the leave year.⁷
Accrued Sick Leave: time off for your own illness, medical appointments, family care, bereavement, or exposure to a communicable disease.⁸
Advanced Sick Leave: your agency can advance up to 240 hours for your own serious medical condition, injury, pregnancy, or childbirth.⁹
Birth/Adoption/Foster Care and Family Serious Health Condition: for FMLA-qualifying events and paid parental leave.
Compensatory Time Off: time off earned by working overtime, or, for religious observances, by working extra hours before or after the observance.
Other Paid Absence: a catch-all for categories such as court leave, bone marrow or organ donor leave, or other agency-specific paid absences. Specify the type in the Remarks section.
Leave Without Pay (LWOP): unpaid time off. Extended LWOP affects within-grade increases, service credit for retirement and leave accrual, and FEHB, so weigh it against paid options where you have them.¹⁰

Note that weather and safety leave is not a checkbox on the form. If your agency grants it, that’s typically handled through a separate administrative action or coded under “Other Paid Absence.”¹

A Note on Religious Compensatory Time

If you’re taking time off for a religious observance, check Compensatory Time Off and note the religious purpose in Remarks. You can work the extra hours up to 13 pay periods before or 13 pay periods after the date off. If you take the time off first and don’t make up the hours within 13 pay periods afterward, your agency can take corrective action to address the negative balance.¹¹

Blocks 5 and 6: Dates, Times, Hours, and Remarks

Enter the start and end dates for your absence, and the start and end times if you’re taking partial-day leave. Then total the hours. The number needs to match your actual work schedule: on a compressed schedule with 10-hour days, one day off is 10 hours, not 8.

Block 6 is Remarks. Use it for anything your supervisor needs to know, such as the reason for sick leave, the specifics of an “Other Paid Absence,” or a note that compensatory time is for a religious observance.

Block 7: Your Signature

Sign and date Block 7. The certification language states you’re requesting leave for the purpose indicated and understand that falsifying information could result in disciplinary action, including removal. On electronic versions, an acceptable digital signature works the same way.¹

Submitting the Form and What Your Supervisor Does

Send the completed form to your immediate supervisor. Most agencies handle this electronically through an HR portal that mirrors the SF-71 format, but paper submission is still valid.

Your supervisor uses Block 8, “Official Action on Request,” to check Approved or Disapproved and sign. If the request is denied, the form instructs the supervisor to provide a reason and, for annual leave specifically, to initiate action to reschedule the leave for a different time. That rescheduling language is on the form itself, so if annual leave is denied without an alternative date offered, you have grounds to ask for one.¹

Turnaround varies by agency and workload. Routine annual leave requests often get a same-day or next-day response. Advanced leave, extended LWOP, and FMLA situations typically take longer because they require coordination with HR or a benefits coordinator, not just a supervisor’s signature.

If Your Request Is Denied

Start with the stated reason. Common ones are staffing shortages during the requested period, incomplete documentation, or insufficient leave balance. For annual leave, ask your supervisor to identify alternative dates.

If you believe the denial was improper, such as an FMLA denial when you were entitled to the leave, or a military leave denial when you had valid orders, you have escalation options. Bargaining-unit employees covered by a union contract can file a grievance under the negotiated grievance procedure in their collective bargaining agreement. Filing deadlines under a CBA are often short, so check yours quickly. One catch: once you file under the negotiated grievance procedure, you can’t switch to a different process even if the union later decides not to take your case to arbitration. Non-bargaining-unit employees typically use their agency’s administrative grievance procedure instead.

Keep a Copy

Whether approved or denied, keep a copy of the signed Form 71. Check your Leave and Earnings Statement for the relevant pay period against what you requested. If the deducted hours don’t match, flag it with your timekeeper right away — payroll corrections get harder to process the longer they sit. When you transfer between federal agencies, your leave balances follow you, and keeping your approved SF-71s alongside your LES gives you a personal backup if any balances go missing in the move.

1
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. OPM Form 71 – Request for Leave or Approved Absence
2
eCFR. 5 CFR 630.405 – Supporting Evidence for the Use of Sick Leave
3
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Military Leave
4
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Paid Parental Leave
5
U.S. Department of Labor. FMLA Forms
6
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Court Leave
7
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Advanced Annual Leave
8
eCFR. 5 CFR 630.401 – Sick Leave
9
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Personal Sick Leave
10
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Effect of Extended Leave Without Pay on Federal Benefits and Programs
11
National Finance Center. Changes to Religious Compensatory Time