What About My Sick and Annual Leave?
Upon your transition into retirement, any remaining sick or annual leave you have may be eligible to be converted to service credit at no cost. Read on to see how sick and annual leave conversions are made.
Sick Leave & Conversion to Service Credit
Sick Leave & Conversion to Service CreditSick leave
Unused sick leave can increase your monthly benefit when it is converted to service credit. TRSL converts unused sick leave to retirement credit after you submit an official application for retirement and your final benefit is calculated.
- Can I use my sick leave to become eligible for retirement? Unused sick leave cannot be used to attain eligibility for retirement. Eligibility must first be attained, then unused sick leave credit is used to calculate the final amount of your retirement benefit.
- How much service credit will I gain from my sick leave? State law governs the accrual, determination, and conversion of unused sick leave to service credit for retirement purposes.
- NOTE: Members often assume that the sick leave balance they have accumulated with their employer determines how much is eligible for conversion to retirement credit. However, the amount of unused sick leave eligible for conversion is determined instead by a formula specified in state law that depends on when the sick leave was earned:
Nine-month employees accumulate 10 days per year even if the school year was less than nine months. Similarly, 10-month employees accumulate 11 days per year. Employees with 11- and 12-month contracts accumulate sick leave as follows:
- For the first three years, 12 days per year
- For the next seven years, 15 days per year
- For all years over 10, 18 days per year
Both 9- and 10-month employees who work extra summer months accumulate one extra day or a portion thereof for each additional month of full-time service.
After subtracting the days of leave used, the remaining balance of unused sick leave days will be converted to service credit according to the table below:
After subtracting the days of leave used, the remaining balance of unused sick leave days will be converted to service credit according to the table below:
| Unused Sick Leave Conversion: For sick leave earned on or before June 30, 1988 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sick Day Balance | Service Credit Earned | ||
| 25 - 45 | 0.25 years | ||
| 46 - 90 | 0.50 years | ||
| 91 - 135 | 0.75 years | ||
| 136 - 180 | 1.00 years | ||
| 181 - 225 | 1.25 years | ||
| 226 - 270 | 1.50 years | ||
| 271 - 315 | 1.75 years | ||
| 316 - 360 | 2.00 years | ||
| 361 - 405 | 2.25 years | ||
| 406 - 450 | 2.50 years | ||
| 451 - 495 | 2.75 years | ||
| 496 - 540 | 3.00 years | ||
| 541 - 585 | 3.25 years | ||
| 586 - 630 | 3.50 years | ||
| 631 - 675 | 3.75 years | ||
| 676 - 720 | 4.00 years | ||
Under this provision, 9-month employees continue to accumulate 10 days of sick leave per year, and 10-month employees accumulate 11 days per year. 11- and 12-month employees accumulate sick leave as follows:
- 12 days per year for the first 10 years
- 18 days per year for all years over 10
| NOTE: At their discretion, your employer may pay you up to 25 days of unused sick leave at your daily rate of pay upon retiring or entering DROP. The balance of your unused sick leave days (which is eligible for conversion to service credit) will be reduced by the number of sick leave days paid to you by your employer. |
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After subtracting the days of leave used by the member and the number of days which were paid by the employer, the remaining balance of unused sick leave days will be converted to service credit according to the table below:
| Unused Sick Leave Conversion: For sick leave earned on or after July 1, 1988 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sick day balance for those who work: | Service credit earned | |||
| 9 months | 10 months | 11 months | 12 months | |
| 10 - 18 | 11 - 20 | 12 - 22 | 13 - 24 | 0.1 years |
| 19 - 36 | 21 - 40 | 23 - 44 | 25 - 48 | 0.2 year |
| 37 - 54 | 41 - 60 | 45 - 66 | 49 - 72 | 0.3 year |
| 55 - 72 | 61 - 80 | 67 - 88 | 73 - 96 | 0.4 year |
| 73 - 90 | 81 - 100 | 89 - 110 | 97 - 120 | 0.5 year |
| 91 - 108 | 101 - 120 | 111 - 132 | 121 - 144 | 0.6 year |
| 109 - 126 | 121 - 140 | 133 - 154 | 145 - 168 | 0.7 year |
| 127 - 144 | 141 - 160 | 155 - 176 | 169 - 192 | 0.8 year |
| 145 - 162 | 161 - 180 | 177 - 198 | 193 - 216 | 0.9 year |
| 163 - 180 | 181 - 200 | 199 - 220 | 217 - 240 | 1.0 year |
For state employees
Employees of Louisiana state agencies, colleges, universities, community colleges, and technical colleges may receive credit for unused annual leave at no cost, if they were first eligible to retire by June 30, 1990. Members first eligible to retire after June 30, 1990, may convert unused annual leave earned after that date to service credit by purchasing the leave at actuarial cost.
For a member to obtain credit for unused annual leave, TRSL must receive official certification of the member’s accrued annual leave for which an attendance record was maintained by the employer.
Members who are state employees are usually paid for 300 hours or 37.5 days of annual leave by their employers upon termination of employment. The number of days for which a member is paid is deducted from the number of days certified as unused by the employer. Annual leave is not used to attain eligibility for any benefit nor is it used in the computation of average compensation.
For school board employees
Employees of school boards are eligible to receive credit for unused annual leave if it is purchased at actuarial cost. This annual leave must have accrued under established leave regulations, and an employee attendance record must have been maintained by the employer.
School board employees are eligible to purchase unused annual leave for which they are not entitled to payment. At its discretion, the employer can pay up to 50 percent of the purchase price to convert unused annual leave to service credit. However, if the employer makes such a payment for one employee, it must do the same for all employees