Sick Leave: Use It or Lose It

Under the old retirement plan (CSRS) workers can boost their retirement annuity by applying their unused sick leave toward their service time, but under FERS that leave, if unused, is lost to the employee.

Many people think that's fine. Sick leave is for when you are sick, period. Others think there should be some reward for being healthy (or an iron man or woman) or that the use-it-or-lose it system encourages abuse.

So why the difference between CSRS and FERS?

Years ago Uncle Sam discovered that a lot of people (then under CSRS) got sick, a lot, just before they retired. After a GAO study the conclusion what that folks were using rather than losing their leave.

That left Congress three choices:

1. do like the private sector where leave accumulation is often limited,
2. go after use-it-or-lose it folks or
3. reward people to eliminate abuse.

It chose the latter.

Purists, who argue that sick leave is for the sick, lost that battle, but they won the next round when Congress created the FERS program to replace CSRS for new hires. It was careful not to make what many considered the same mistake twice. That is to reward employees who weren't sick for not taking sick leave.

So how has that worked out?

Consider this letter from a Florida fed, Robert C., who is planning to retire in a couple of years.

If I do not use any sick time before I retire, I will have accumulated about 6 months worth of sick leave. I think it's unfair that "not" being a sick leave abuser will cause me to lose all of this time without (getting) any credit. Is there any chance that the rules may change allowing FERS employees to get credit for this time like those in the CSRS plan can get?

The short answer is no way!!! Congress is not, and probably will never, seriously consider giving FERS employees retirement-time credit for unused sick leave. But it might go with a system that would give feds partial credit for unused sick leave.

So what do you think? Is this right? Is sick leave only for the sick, or is it more than that?

Click, vent, send: mcausey@federalnewsradio.com