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 unused, unpaid sick leave days by 260. For New York State employees in Tier 3 and Tier 5, and those in Tier 6 who joined before April 1, 2016, the maximum number of creditable sick leave days is 200. For Tier 6 members who joined on or after April 1, 2016, the maximum number of creditable sick leave days is 100.

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 10/22