Q: I am leaving federal service and have some unanswered questions that my servicing personnel office is unable to answer. I have more than 20 years in service and I am 49. I requested a one-year LWOP sabbatical but it was denied, as I was informed that it is typically only granted when you are taking time off to do your doctorate, which I am not. I want to know if a) I return to federal service, will my sick leave balance start over at 0 (it is currently nearly 700 hours) b) will the same retirement rules apply if…
Browsing: unused sick leave
Q. I retired in May 2011 under the CSRS program as a Title 32 competitive employee, GS-12. I had 2,665 hours of sick leave when I retired. I received an additional 15 months, 12 days of length of service. The 12 days were dropped for calculation purposes since it didn’t add up to a full month. I came back to work as a rehired annuitant as a temporary employee receiving both my salary and my retired annuity. Am I entitled to get the 12 days (104 hours) reinstated to me to use in my current position, or are those hours…
Q. I have an employee who works for me (CSRS) who recently had a preretirement conference with HR. He is a postal worker who is able to carry over 440 hours of earned annual leave from year to year. He plans to retire at the end of this year which ends Dec. 31 or possibly Jan. 2, which would place him in the following leave year. His question is, if he carried over 440 hours of annual leave from 2010 into 2011, and earned another 208 hours of additional annual leave this year, and retired prior to the end of…
Q. I am planning to retire either at he end of 2011 or early 2012. Which is the best time to retire, should it be the end of December or early January? How would it affect my annuity if I set the retirement date for Jan. 3, 2012? A. If your main concerns are to 1) get credit for all the annual and sick leave you earned by completing a pay period, and 2) maximize the size of your lump-sum payment for unused annual leave, and 3) walk off the employment roll and onto the annuity roll without the break…
Q: Is there anything “magic” about hitting 35 years of service relative to how your annuity is computed under CSRS? I used to hear that, once you hit the 35-year mark, you reached a particular percentage milestone in the computation of your annuity, something comparable to the fact that, at 40 years, you cap out your annuity at 80 percent of pay. Is that an urban legend or is there something to it? I plan to retire next year with 34+ years of service and I am trying to decide if there is value in delaying retirement by a couple…
Q. I plan to retire at age 58 after 20 years of service and take the penalty. Am I able to use my unused sick leave for credit toward my retirement? I am under the Federal Employees Retirement System. A. If you retire now through Dec. 31, 2013, you’ll receive half credit for any unused sick leave. If you retire after that, you’ll get full credit.
Q: I will be 60 in December 2013 but will not have 20 years of service until April 2014. I have 1,000 hours of sick leave. Can I use that leave beginning Jan. 1, 2014, to reach the April milestone? A: No. You must meet the actual age and earned service requirements to be eligible to retire. Unused sick leave can only be added after you meet those requirements.
Q: If a CSRS Offset employee with 19 years, five months of service had seven months of unused sick leave, could that sick leave count toward attaining the 20 years of service the employee would need to retire early/now? Or does the employee need to have a minimum 20 years comp. service without any sick or vacation leave? Are there different rules for sick leave credit than the FERS? A: You must have enough years of actual service to be eligible to retire. Sick leave may only be added after you have met the age and service requirements.
Q: If I continue to work until I have actually worked 41 years and 11 months and I have accrued an additional 1,400 hours of sick leave, will I be paid for my sick leave? A: No, you won’t be paid for your unused sick leave. Those hours will be added to your creditable service and used to increase the amount of your annuity. The 80 percent limit only applies to an earned annuity.
Q: Can an employee under the Civil Service Retirement System retire prior to his 55th birthday if sick leave is calculated? For instance, I will turn 55 in June, so with six months of sick leave on the books, can I retire at 54 1/2 years old without penalty? A: Sick leave cannot be added to actual service to qualify you to retire. It can only be added after you have met the age and service requirements to retire.