David Quiett, ChFC, says the freeze on advanced sick and annual leave exposes a gap that has existed in federal benefits all along: there is no built-in short-term disability protection

LOS ANGELES, CA, September 29, 2026 /24-7PressRelease/ -- When the IRS and Social Security Administration suspended advanced sick leave and advanced annual leave this summer, tens of thousands of federal employees lost one of the few safety nets they had left for covering an unpaid medical absence. David Quiett, ChFC, a financial advisor who works with federal employees on income protection, says the move is a reminder of something many federal workers don't realize until they need it: federal benefits have never included short-term disability insurance.

Effective July 24, 2026, the IRS stopped approving new advanced sick and annual leave requests, and denied requests that were still pending. The Social Security Administration, now led by the same commissioner, followed days later. Both agencies said the amount of leave employees had borrowed against future accruals had grown "significant and unsustainable." Employees who already had advanced leave on the books keep those hours, but no one at either agency can request a new advance until further notice.

"Advanced leave was never a guarantee to begin with. It required a supervisor's sign-off, a documented medical need, and an agency willing to say yes," said Quiett. "What changed is that now they're saying no to everyone, all at once. For an employee counting on that option to get through a surgery or difficult pregnancy, that's not a policy footnote. That's their paycheck."

The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents roughly 50,000 IRS employees, has filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, arguing that denying every pending request without individual review violates its collective bargaining agreement. AFGE Council 220, which represents SSA workers, has raised a similar objection, noting that more than half of SSA's frontline workforce earns below a living wage, making unpaid leave a genuine financial hardship rather than a minor inconvenience. As of this writing, no other federal agency has announced a similar blanket suspension, but the dispute is still working its way through the courts. A full breakdown of what changed is available in this article on the advanced sick leave and advanced annual leave suspension.

Quiett said the suspension underscores how much federal employees have relied on programs that were never designed to fully replace a paycheck. Sick leave and annual leave run out. FMLA protects a job for up to 12 weeks, but it doesn't pay the bills once paid leave has been exhausted. FERS Disability Retirement is built for permanent conditions, not a six-week recovery from surgery, and approval alone can take months.

"None of the options federal employees lean on were ever a substitute for real income protection," Quiett said. "A private short-term disability policy pays a percentage of your salary on a set schedule, regardless of what your agency decides to approve or deny. That's the piece that's been missing all along, and now is a good time for federal employees to stop treating it as optional."

Quiett added that the employees most exposed right now are those with thin leave balances, an ongoing health condition, an upcoming pregnancy, or a family member who may need care, particularly at agencies like the IRS and SSA where advanced leave is no longer on the table.

Federal, USPS, and VA employees who want to understand their options can fill out a short form on FederalEmployeeInsuranceBenefits.com to get personalized guidance on short-term disability coverage.

Federal Employee Insurance Benefits is an independent insurance advisory firm serving federal, USPS, and VA employees nationwide. The firm specializes in helping government workers identify gaps in their federal benefits and finding supplemental coverage that fits their needs. David Quiett works directly with clients to review their options and build income protection plans tailored to their situation.

Read the original story here: https://www.24-7pressrelease.com/press-release/538991/irs-ssa-advanced-leave-suspension-leaves-a-bigger-gap-in-federal-employees-paychecks-advisor-warns

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