SF 1153: How to Claim Unpaid Compensation After a Federal Employee Dies
What SF 1153 Covers
Standard Form 1153 — Claim for Unpaid Compensation of Deceased Civilian Employee — is the form survivors file to collect money the federal employee earned but was never paid. This includes:
- The final paycheck: salary earned from the last pay period through the date of death
- Accrued annual leave: the employee's unused annual leave balance, paid out at the final hourly rate
- Any pending pay adjustments: overtime, shift differentials, hazard pay, or retroactive pay raises that were authorized but not yet disbursed
- Awards or bonuses: any performance award or incentive that was approved before the death but not yet paid
For long-tenured employees who banked annual leave near the carryover ceiling, the leave payout alone can be substantial — a GS-14 with 240 hours of accrued leave at a rate of roughly $65/hour is owed over $15,600.
Who Files SF 1153
The claim follows a statutory order of precedence under 5 U.S.C. § 5582, which mirrors the general federal payment order:
- Beneficiary designated on SF 1152 (Designation of Beneficiary — Unpaid Compensation of Deceased Civilian Employee)
- Surviving spouse (or the person determined to be the widow/widower under state law)
- Children and descendants of deceased children by representation
- Parents (in equal shares)
- Executor or administrator of the estate
- Next of kin under state law
Only one person at the highest applicable level files. If there is a surviving spouse and no SF 1152 on file, the spouse files SF 1153 — the children do not also file.
SF 1152 vs. SF 1153
These two forms are paired but serve different purposes:
SF 1152 — Designation of Beneficiary for unpaid compensation. The employee files this while alive to name who should receive any unpaid pay if they die. It is the unpaid-compensation equivalent of SF 2823 (FEGLI) or TSP-3 (TSP). Most employees never file one.
SF 1153 — The actual claim form filed after death. The survivor fills this out and submits it to the deceased employee's agency payroll office to collect the money.
If the employee filed an SF 1152, the person named on it receives the unpaid compensation regardless of whether they are the spouse, child, or someone else. If no SF 1152 exists, the statutory order above applies.
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How to File
SF 1153 goes to the deceased employee's agency payroll office — not to OPM, not to OFEGLI, and not to the TSP. The employing agency's HR office can direct you to the correct payroll contact.
Attach:
- A certified death certificate
- Proof of identity and relationship (marriage certificate, birth certificate, or letters testamentary if filing as executor)
The payroll office verifies the claim against the employee's pay records, calculates the total owed, and issues payment. Processing is generally within one to two pay cycles after the agency completes separation processing.
Tax Treatment
Unpaid compensation payments are reported as taxable income to the recipient. The agency payroll office issues the applicable tax statement. Accrued annual leave is subject to federal and state income tax withholding, but is exempt from FICA and Medicare taxes after death.
Unlike FEGLI proceeds (which are tax-free) or FECA/OWCP benefits (which are tax-free), unpaid compensation has income-tax consequences. The payroll office can confirm how each payment is reported.
Sick Leave Is Not Paid Out
A common question: what happens to the employee's accrued sick leave balance? Sick leave is not paid out upon death. Under FERS, unused sick leave is credited toward the computation of the survivor annuity — OPM adds the sick leave hours to the employee's total creditable service when calculating the annuity amount. But no cash payment is made for the sick leave balance itself.
This surprises families who see hundreds or thousands of hours of sick leave on the employee's last leave and earnings statement. Those hours increase the survivor annuity calculation, but they do not generate a separate payout.
Filing SF 1153 Alongside Other Claims
Unpaid compensation is one of six federal benefit channels that activate when an employee dies in service. It operates through the agency payroll office while the other five (FERS death benefit, FEGLI, TSP, Social Security, and OWCP for duty deaths) each go through their own agencies.
The Federal Employee Death Benefits Claims Guide coordinates all six channels, including which forms go where and in what order to file them so the fastest-paying claims reach you first.
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