5 U.S.C. § 6301: Definitions

“United States”, when used in a geographical sense means the several States and the District of Columbia; and an employee as defined by section 2105 of this title ; and an individual first employed by the government of the District of Columbia before October 1, 1987 ; a teacher or librarian of the public schools of the District of Columbia; a part-time employee who does not have an established regular tour of duty during the administrative workweek; a temporary employee engaged in construction work at an hourly rate; an employee of the Panama Canal Commission when employed on the Isthmus of Panama; an employee of the Veterans Health Administration who is covered by a leave system established under section 7421 of title 38 ; an employee of either House of Congress or of the two Houses; an employee of a corporation supervised by the Farm Credit Administration if private interests elect or appoint a member of the board of directors; an alien employee who occupies a position outside the United States, except as provided by section 6310 of this title ; a “teacher” or an individual holding a “teaching position” as defined by section 901 of title 20 ; an officer in the executive branch or in the government of the District of Columbia who is appointed by the President and whose rate of basic pay exceeds the highest rate payable under section 5332 of this title ; an officer in the executive branch or in the government of the District of Columbia who is designated by the President, except a postmaster, United States attorney, or United States marshal; a chief of mission (as defined in section 102(a)(3) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980); or an officer in the legislative or judicial branch who is appointed by the President. There is established in the Treasury the Emergency Federal Employee Leave Fund (in this section referred to as the ‘Fund’), to be administered by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, for the purposes set forth in subsection (b). In addition to amounts otherwise available, there is appropriated for fiscal year 2021, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $570,000,000, which shall be deposited into the Fund and remain available through September 30, 2022 . The Fund is available for reasonable expenses incurred by the Office of Personnel Management in administering this section. is subject to a Federal, State, or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID–19; has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID–19; is caring for an individual who is subject to such an order or has been so advised; is experiencing symptoms of COVID–19 and seeking a medical diagnosis; is caring for a son or daughter of such employee if the school or place of care of the son or daughter has been closed, if the school of such son or daughter requires or makes optional a virtual learning instruction model or requires or makes optional a hybrid of in-person and virtual learning instruction models, or the child care provider of such son or daughter is unavailable, due to COVID–19 precautions; is experiencing any other substantially similar condition; is caring for a family member with a mental or physical disability or who is 55 years of age or older and incapable of self-care, without regard to whether another individual other than the employee is available to care for such family member, if the place of care for such family member is closed or the direct care provider is unavailable due to COVID–19; or is obtaining immunization related to COVID–19 or is recovering from any injury, disability, illness, or condition related to such immunization. Paid leave under this section may only be provided to and used by an employee during the period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act [ Mar. 11, 2021 ] and ending on September 30, 2021 . shall be provided to an employee in an amount not to exceed 600 hours of paid leave for each full-time employee, and in the case of a part-time employee, employee on an uncommon tour of duty, or employee with a seasonal work schedule, in an amount not to exceed the proportional equivalent of 600 hours to the extent amounts in the Fund remain available for reimbursement; shall be paid at the same hourly rate as other leave payments; and may not be provided to an employee if the leave would result in payments greater than $2,800 in aggregate for any biweekly pay period for a full-time employee, or a proportionally equivalent biweekly limit for a part-time employee. is in addition to any other leave provided to an employee; and may not be used by an employee concurrently with any other paid leave. Any paid leave provided to an employee under this section shall reduce the total service used to calculate any Federal civilian retirement benefit. an individual in the executive branch for whom annual and sick leave is provided under subchapter I of chapter 63 of title 5, United States Code; an individual employed by the United States Postal Service; an individual employed by the Postal Regulatory Commission; and an employee of the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia and the District of Columbia Courts.”