Leave and Earnings Statement

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A Leave and Earnings Statement is a document given on a monthly basis to members of the US Military and the US Civil Service which documents their pay and leave status on a monthly basis. For civil service employees, it is received with their paychecks, usually biweekly. It is usually referred to as an LES.

1 Delivery
2 Sections

[edit] Delivery

While paper LES documents were originally mailed or handed out in person, it is now almost always retrieved by the member from an online system from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service.

[edit] Sections

There are multiple sections to an LES.

[edit] Pay

The first section lists the monetary entitlements that month. For all members it consists of Basic Pay, and for many members it also includes Basic Allowance for Housing and Basic Allowance for Subsistence. Other kinds of pay including incentive pay, bonus pay, or hazardous duty pay may be included.

Per diem and TDY money are usually not included in the LES.

[edit] Deductions

The second sections describes the money that has been deducted. This usually includes federal and state taxes including Social Security, SGLI (if the member is a participant), and the Montgomery GI Bill deduction for the first year (if the member is a participant), and the service retirement center. Contributions to the TSP are also listed here.

Most members receive their money two times per month, on the 15th of the month (known as mid month pay) and on the 1st of the following month (known as end of month pay). The mid month pay is also listed in the deductions section.

[edit] Allotments

The third section categorizes allotments. This may include money which the member directs to be automatically sent to a bank savings account or perhaps to pay a monthly bill such as a car payment. Tricare premiums and CFC contributions are also listed here.

[edit] End of Month Pay

After all the pay is added and all the deductions and all allotments is subtracted, and any loose ends from previous months are accounted for, what is left is the end of month pay, which is indicated on the far right.

[edit] Leave

The leave is tabulated below the financial portion of the LES. Military members accumulate leave at the rate of 2.5 days per month. It first shows the amount leave the member had at the end of the previous fiscal year. Then it shows the amount that has been accumulated in the current fiscal year. Then it shows the amount which has been used in the current fiscal year, and the amount currently available for use. Any use or lose leave is also displayed, as well as the amount of leave which the member is expected to acculumulate by their date of separation.