Q. If I am scheduled to retire by the end of the month from the federal government (civilian), can I use annual leave or sick leave prior to the effective date of my retirement? According to Office of Personnel Management regulations, I can receive a lump sum for my annual leave, but how will I be compensated for my sick leave?
A. Yes, you can use annual leave before you retire, but only if you get approval from your supervisor to do so. As for sick leave, it may only be used for approved purposes, and, if it exceeds a short period of absence, your supervisor may require you to provide proof of your need to use it.
While you will receive a lump-sum payment for any unused annual leave, unused sick leave has no cash value. Instead, those hours will be added to your actual service time and may result in an increase in your annuity.
2 Comments
I AM SET TO RETIRE ON 31 MAY 2020. I TRYED TO USE MY LEAVE (LA) WHICH IS ALMOST 6 WEEKS AND I WAS INFORMED THAT I WOULD BE AUDITED ON THE USE OF SICK LEAVE AND MY NEED TO SAVE THE ANNUAL LEAVE TO COVER THE SICK LEAVE AUDIT. I HAVE ALL MOST FORTY YEARS OF SERVICE AND NEVER HEARD OF THIS. I CANNOT FIND ANYTHING IN WRIGHTING ON THIS SUBJECT. Any HELP ON THIS MATTER WOUL BE GREAT.
Before an employee retires, personnel offices are required to make sure that everything is in order. Annual and sick leave balances are checked to see that employees gets all the credit they are entitled to. Sick leave balances are especially important because they affect the final amount of an employees annuity.