FERS Sick Leave Proposal Offered

Legislation newly offered in the House would seek to address, although only partially, the disparity in the way unused sick leave is treated at retirement for employees under FERS versus those under CSRS. Under the older CSRS system, unused sick leave is converted into time served in the computation of an annuity benefit, but in general FERS employees forfeit that unused leave (there are some limited exceptions). Under the proposal, offered by Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., FERS employees would be eligible for a cash payment of 15 percent of their hourly rate in their highest three salary years for accumulated sick leave beyond 500 hours, up to a dollar maximum of $10,000.