VLTP supplements leave for civilians in need Published June 19, 2009 By Airman 1st Class Steve Bauer 30th Space Wing Public Affairs VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The Department of Defense offers various programs designed to promote the wellbeing of its civil service employees. One such program is the Voluntary Leave Transfer Program. The VLTP allows civil servants to voluntarily give up their accrued annual leave and transfer a portion of the leave directly to another employee who has a medical emergency and is without the ability of taking paid leave. "The program allows people to contribute as little as one hour of their leave," said Sandra Grim, a 30th Force Support Squadron human resource technician. "A leave donor may donate no more than a total of half of the amount of annual leave he or she would be entitled to accrue during the leave year in which the donation is made. Medical emergencies can happen to anyone at anytime, and this program provides people the relief they need in the times they need it most." The program has offered help to many of Vandenberg's civil servant employees, one of which served on Air Force active duty for 13 years. "I found myself in a situation, due to pregnancy complications, where I had to take leave from work," said Wanda King, a 30th Medical Group personnel reliability programs manager. "At this point, I had already exhausted all of the leave I had and was looking for a place to turn to." Ms. King decided to apply for the VLTP after a co-worker introduced it to her. "I originally thought that no one would be willing to donate their time to me, but I went along with the application anyway because I felt completely dependent on my fellow civil service peers," Ms. King said. Shortly after Ms. King applied for the program, someone transferred their leave to her. "Receiving the leave was an incredible blessing," Ms. King said. "It felt like I had an angel out there looking over me. I eventually would like to save up some leave of my own and donate to this program as my way of giving back." The program takes donations from civil servants from all over the DoD and tries to spread out the leave equally among the employees in need. "It's a great program," Ms. Grim said. "Typically, everybody who is accepted into the program receives some amount of leave. This program really makes a difference in people's lives by allowing everyone to take care of one-another." For more information or to pick up a VLTP application, stop in at Building 11777, Room B-103. To find an electronic copy of the form, visit www.opm.gov/forms/html/opm.asp.