Burn Federal Annual Leave or Time off Award?

[Anonymous]

does this happen after your kids are out of school? I can't get anywhere near 240 but my youngest is still in elementary.

It can also happen if you end up on an emergency project for a bit. Or if you are part-time and carefully manage leave by taking as little as possible. And, if you can choose time off awards over monetary bonus that can help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is sick leave also paid out at the end or only annual?

sick leave is creditable service time for FERS annuity computations. Sick leave is also your short term disability insurance

Don’t use SL. Use AL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is sick leave also paid out at the end or only annual?

sick leave is creditable service time for FERS annuity computations. Sick leave is also your short term disability insurance

Don’t use SL. Use AL.

What do you mean? When you are sick, you should use annual leave, not sick leave?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also keep your 240 in the bank — signed someone who didn’t and is struggling to put it back before I separate next year. To my credit it sat there for 10 years but just had a lot going on last year.

What do you mean put it in the bank?

Never dip below 240

does this happen after your kids are out of school? I can't get anywhere near 240 but my youngest is still in elementary.

That and hitting 15 years of service.

I am 17 years in and it’s easy to keep a balance of 240. I also have 1068 hours of sick leave. I stopped using sick leave about 8 years ago when my youngest was 12. I use credit hours when necessary and telework when able.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At most agencies, time off awards expire so you use them first. You also cannot take them with you to a new job, and they do not pay out.

The only situation where I would not use the award leave first is if I was in danger of losing annual leave above the 240 before the award leave expired.

This.

This is somewhat off-topic, but a colleague of mine recently told me that she is stacking sick leave to count toward retiring earlier. She has 1,200 hours. I can't remember what her calculations were, but I think she said the sick leave would shave off two years for her by the time she's eligible in a few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also keep your 240 in the bank — signed someone who didn’t and is struggling to put it back before I separate next year. To my credit it sat there for 10 years but just had a lot going on last year.

What do you mean put it in the bank?

Never dip below 240

does this happen after your kids are out of school? I can't get anywhere near 240 but my youngest is still in elementary.

Can you get your work tour set as Maxiflex? That also helps.

[Anonymous]

Can someone explain - does sick leave ALWAYS add to your years worked for FERS purposes? Or does it only count if you are already retirement age - i.e. over 62 - when you leave gov't? My understanding is say you do 10 years in govt and leave at age 45, even if you leave your FERS contributions intact in order to receive a FERS pension at age 62, your sick leave time for the 10 years in government ages 35-45 don't count to anything. Is that accurate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain - does sick leave ALWAYS add to your years worked for FERS purposes? Or does it only count if you are already retirement age - i.e. over 62 - when you leave gov't? My understanding is say you do 10 years in govt and leave at age 45, even if you leave your FERS contributions intact in order to receive a FERS pension at age 62, your sick leave time for the 10 years in government ages 35-45 don't count to anything. Is that accurate?

Sick leave is credited to your pension calculation, but does not contribute toward retirement eligibility. I think this is true even if you separate but don’t retire.
https://www.fedweek.com/experts-view/the-value-of-sick-leave-before-and-at-retirement/amp/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is sick leave also paid out at the end or only annual?

sick leave is creditable service time for FERS annuity computations. Sick leave is also your short term disability insurance

Don’t use SL. Use AL.

What do you mean? When you are sick, you should use annual leave, not sick leave?

If allowed. Doc appts for example.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is sick leave also paid out at the end or only annual?

Sick leave is not paid out but is carried over if you ever work for the federal government again. Make sure you save all your leave paperwork in case you work for the feds again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is sick leave also paid out at the end or only annual?

sick leave is creditable service time for FERS annuity computations. Sick leave is also your short term disability insurance

+1. Gift that keeps on giving