Q. If I retire after Jan. 1, 2014, I will receive 100 percent credit for my sick leave. What exactly does that add to a FERS employee versus a CSRS employee? For example, I am a CSRS employee who makes $60,000 high-3 with 30 years in and 2,087 hours of sick leave versus a FERS employee who has a high-3 of $60,000 with 30 years in and 2,087 hours of sick leave. What does the sick leave add financially to both?
A. Once upon a time, CSRS employees didn’t get any credit for unused sick leave when they retired. Then the law changed allowing them to get full credit for it. When FERS became effective on Jan. 1, 1987, the law didn’t permit them to get credit for any unused sick leave when they retired. Then the law changed and allowed them to get half credit. FERS employees who retire on or after Jan. 1, 2014, will finally get full credit for their unused sick leave, just like their CSRS counterparts. The value of that sick leave is dictated by the formula used to compute their annuities. Therefore, the short answer is that sick leave is worth twice as much for CSRS retirees than it is for FERS retirees.
