A leave recipient must use accrued annual leave (or sick leave, if applicable) before using donated leave (note that beginning December 2, 1994, an eligible employee may use up to 13 days of sick leave to care for a family member, see Federal Employees Family Friendly Leave Act).
Investors assessing the safety of dividends through historical figures are missing the point. Verizon was only able to pay dividends in 2016 by selling of $6.1 billion assets. Verizon cannot continue to pay their dividends. While I am by no means a dividend investor, I feel inclined to comment on the topic.
On July 26, 2013, Company XYZ declares a dividend payable on September 10, 2013 to its shareholders. XYZ also announces that shareholders of record on the company's books on or before August 12, 2013 are entitled to the dividend. The stock would then go ex-dividend two business days before the record date. In this example, the record date falls on a Monday.