Calculator

Sick Leave Credit Calculator

Estimate how unused sick leave converts into additional service credit for FERS retirement.

Free, no sign-in, and built on the current VA rate tables. The calculator runs in your browser on this page.

How sick leave becomes service credit

At retirement, FERS converts unused sick leave into service credit for the pension formula (5 U.S.C. 8415). Since January 1, 2014 the full balance counts; from 2009 to 2013 only half did, and before 2009 FERS gave no credit at all.

OPM converts hours with a chart based on a 2,087-hour work year, about 174 hours a month. The credit is added to your years and months of service, and any leftover days under a month are dropped after your civilian and sick-leave totals are combined.

Sick leave raises the amount of the annuity. It never counts toward eligibility to retire, and it cannot lift you to the 20 years needed for the 1.1 percent multiplier.

A worked example

1,044 hours of sick leave with a High-3 of $90,000

1. 1,044 hours is six months on OPM's chart.
2. At the 1 percent multiplier, six months adds 0.5 percent of High-3: $450 a year.
3. Over a 25-year retirement that is $11,250 before COLAs, for leave that would otherwise be forfeited.

What this estimate leaves out

• The estimate uses the 1 percent multiplier unless you say you qualify for 1.1 percent. It applies the conversion by dividing hours by 174; OPM's chart rounds slightly differently at the edges.
• Sick leave restored after a break in service and leave from a CSRS component follow their own rules.

Questions veterans ask

Can sick leave help me reach retirement eligibility?

No. Eligibility is based on age and actual service. Sick leave is added afterward, only to the computation.

Should I use my sick leave before I retire?

Leave you use for illness is gone; leave you keep is worth a small permanent increase. Whether that beats using it depends on the hours and your health, and the calculator shows the pension side of that trade.

Does unused annual leave count the same way?

No. Annual leave is paid out as a lump sum at retirement; only sick leave becomes service credit.

Read next

• Run the full FERS pension estimate
• Military years with a deposit

Sources

• Sick leave credit for FERS employees, U.S. Office of Personnel Management
• 5 U.S.C. 8415(m), credit for unused sick leave

Other calculators

• VA Combined Rating: How several ratings combine and round.
• Monthly Compensation: Tax-free monthly pay by rating and dependents.
• Back Pay: Retroactive pay from your Intent to File date.
• Hearing Loss Rating: Your audiogram through VA's Tables VI and VII.
• Military Buy-Back: Cost and payoff of buying back active-duty time.
• FERS Pension: Pension from High-3, years, and multiplier.
• TSP Growth: Thrift Savings Plan balance over time.
• COLA Growth: How cost-of-living adjustments change retired pay.
• GI Bill: Post-9/11 tuition and housing allowance.

YourVABenefits is software you run on your own records. It is not part of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and does not file claims. You file on VA.gov, or an accredited representative files for you at no charge.