Educate Yourself

Service Credit Accrual and Purchase

SICK LEAVE

At retirement, TRS members can establish credit for unused sick leave earned with current and previous employers. Based on Georgia law, a member can receive credit for unused sick leave at retirement only if he or she has not received payment of any kind for the leave. This law has been communicated and practiced by TRS since July 1, 1998 when sick leave credit was first enacted into law.

Attendance incentives of any amount paid at any point during employment can reduce unused sick leave days reported to TRS for service credit. Programs that offer multiple payment amounts based on the number of sick days will reduce sick leave days reported to TRS. Payments based on any attendance incentive program offered through your school system that are not based on any variable number of sick leave days, are allowed and the number of unused sick leave days reported to TRS would not be affected. If you have any questions or would like someone at TRS to review your attendance incentive policy to ensure compliance with Georgia law, please contact TRS.

As a member of TRS, you may establish sick leave credit at the time of retirement provided that you have a combined minimum of 60 days of unused sick leave from your current and all previous Georgia employers, and that you earned the sick leave credit while in a TRS covered position. Eight hours of sick leave equals one day regardless of the actual hours you work each day and nine months of sick leave credit will provide you with one-year additional service credit. For retirement benefit calculations, your total service credit cannot exceed 40 years.

Sick leave credit:

• Is granted at the rate of one-month credit for each 20 days of unused sick time. (A different rate applied if you retired between 7/1/98 and 6/30/99).
• Can be established only at your retirement, and only for Georgia teaching service.
• Can be established only if you have at least 60 days of unused sick time.
• Can be established only for those retiring on or after July 1, 1998
• Cannot be used for vesting (you must have at least 10 years of service excluding your sick leave credit).
• Is subject to a cap of 1¼ days per month of service.
• Will not be calculated until all your sick leave certification forms are received by TRS. Your last employer's form cannot be submitted before your last day of work.
  

If you are using sick leave credit to be eligible for full retirement with no penalty, TRS may retire you with an early retirement penalty until all your employers have submitted sick leave forms to our office. Once all forms are received, your monthly benefit will be adjusted accordingly, and you will receive retroactive pay as appropriate.

At the time you retire, using a Sick Leave Certification form, you must have your employer(s) certify the total sick time you accrued and used. This form(s) should be included in the retirement documentation you submit to TRS.

The Sick Leave Credit At Retirement  section contains detailed information regarding establishing sick leave credit. To apply for sick leave credit, you must complete the Sick Leave Certification form.