House Approves Sick Leave Benefit for FERS Employees

Press Release

HOUSE APPROVES SICK LEAVE BENEFIT FOR FERS EMPLOYEES

A provision allowing a sick leave benefit for retiring federal employees has been approved by the House, according to Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10th).

Wolf, who was the lead Republican on the bill and worked closely with the measure's primary sponsor, Rep. Jim Moran (D-8th), said language allowing FERS employees to have the same benefit provided to CSRS employees was included in H.R. 1108, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which was approved by the House today.

Federal employees under the CSRS system are currently able to convert unused sick leave at retirement into an increase in their annual annuity. Federal employees in the FERS system, which was created by Congress in 1986, operate under a use it or lose sick leave system.

"This bipartisan legislation will correct a longstanding inequity between the two federal retirement programs," Wolf said. "It also will increase efficiency by cutting down on use of sick leave prior to an employee's retirement, which has cost taxpayers $68 million each year."

Among the highlights of the benefit:

* The new incentive will provide FERS employees the same sick leave benefit employees under the CSRS retirement system currently enjoy.

* At retirement, unused sick leave will count toward FERS federal employees' retirement annuity.

* For the first three years after enactment of the new law, employees would receive an addition to their annuity up to 75 percent of their unused sick leave days. After that three-year window, 100 percent of retiring federal employees' sick leave days would go towards their annuity.

* All federal employees included in the FERS system are covered, including those covered under the Foreign Service Pension System, and United States Postal Service.

Example of how the benefit will work:

* For a GS 12, Step 10, making roughly $75,000 retiring with 20 years of service and 2,600 hours of sick leave (approximately one year), the new incentive would increase the annuity by over $600 per year, from $15,000 to $15,625.

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