Under Section 41(j) of the Retirement and Social Security Law (RSSL), you may receive service credit for your unused, unpaid sick leave days at retirement. To be eligible for this benefit, you must retire directly from public employment or within a year after separating from service. The additional credit is determined by dividing your total unused, unpaid sick leave days, which cannot exceed 200 (100 for members who join on or after April 1, 2012), by 260.

Credit for your unused sick leave at retirement cannot be used to:

• Qualify for vesting. For example, if you have four years and ten months of service credit and you need five years to be vested, your sick leave credit cannot be used to reach the five years.
• Increase your pension beyond the maximum amount payable under your retirement plan.
• Meet the service credit requirement to retire under a special 20- or 25-year plan.

Updated 4/21