Q. I am considering retiring at the end of this year. I am under CSRS and will have 41 years of service and at least 2,100 hours of unused sick leave when I leave. I’m told that in order for me to get the maximum 80 percent of my retirement, I must meet it in actual years of service and unused leave is not creditable toward that figure to make up the 1 year and 11 months. Is that true? What happens to the unused sick leave if I stay on and work 41 years and 11 months – do I lose that time since I max out at 80 percent?
A. Whoever told you that is dead wrong. Your unused sick leave will be added to any hours of actual service that exceed a month and included in the computation of your annuity. Assuming that you had only those 2,100 hours of sick leave, your annuity would be increased by 1 year, with 13 hours left over and discarded.
