Q. If I retire Jan. 3, will I lose any leave above the 240 hours I have accumulated? Also, since I’m a CSRS employee, if I retire Jan. 3, will I receive my annuity check on the first of each month? Are the two days left on my service computation date considered annual leave for me to take, or do they just go away?
A. Since the leave year doesn’t end until Jan. 13, you’ll receive a lump-sum payment for all your unused annual leave. Because you are a CSRS employee, you can retire up to the third day of any month and be on the annuity roll in that month. However, your annuity for that first month with be reduced by 1/30 for every day you are still on the employment roll. Regardless of the day on which you retire, annuity payments arrive on the first day of the month following the one in which the benefit is earned. If you retire before the end of a pay period, you aren’t entitled to any additional annual or sick leave.