
<p>When you retire, you may be able to convert all or part of your unused sick leave hours into SDCERA service credit, depending on your bargaining unit. An hour of unused sick leave equals an hour of service credit if you&#8217;re eligible, and adding to your service credit means adding to your monthly pension in retirement. However, service credit from sick leave may NOT be used to become vested or to reach your <a href="https://content.sdcera.org/members/preparing-to-retire/retirement-eligibility/">retirement eligibility requirements</a>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Are You Eligible?</strong></h2>



<p>Your eligibility to convert unused sick leave is determined by your employer—<strong>NOT SDCERA</strong><strong><em>.</em></strong> Please contact your departmental human resources officer or payroll representative to determine if you are eligible for sick leave conversion. Ask about eligibility rules for your bargaining unit and the options for converting your unused sick leave hours to SDCERA service credit. Also, ask if you will receive a cash-out of your unused sick leave when you leave your job.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Converting Unused Leave to Service Credit</strong></h2>



<p>If you are eligible to convert unused sick leave hours to service credit, your employer will give SDCERA your sick leave information typically one full pay period after you leave your job. This would be for one full pay period after you leave your job.</p>



<p>SDCERA will then calculate your conversion by dividing your unused sick hours by your annual hours, which is 2,080 hours for a 40-hour work week. That total will be added to your total service credit. There&#8217;s no maximum limit on the number of hours you can convert, but depending on your bargaining unit, you&#8217;ll need at least 100 hours or 300 hours to do a sick leave conversion.</p>



<p><strong>Example</strong>:</p>



<p>A member has 650 hours of unused sick leave and works 40 hours a week wants to convert her sick leave into service credit:</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1024" height="173" src="https://content.sdcera.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/sick-leave-conversion-1-1024x173.png" alt="sick leave hours of 650 divided by authorized hours of 2080 equals additional service credit of 0.3" class="wp-image-2182" srcset="https://content.sdcera.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/sick-leave-conversion-1-1024x173.png 1024w, https://content.sdcera.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/sick-leave-conversion-1-300x51.png 300w, https://content.sdcera.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/sick-leave-conversion-1-768x130.png 768w, https://content.sdcera.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/sick-leave-conversion-1-1536x260.png 1536w, https://content.sdcera.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/sick-leave-conversion-1.png 1632w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



<p>Use the annual hour totals below to estimate your sick leave conversion based on the hours you work per pay period.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-table"><table><thead><tr><th>Pay Period Hours</th><th>Annual Hours</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>80</td><td>2080</td></tr><tr><td>84</td><td>2184</td></tr><tr><td>85</td><td>2210</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Avoid Delays</strong></h2>



<p>To avoid delays in getting your first pension payment, SDCERA may calculate your monthly pension before we receive the sick leave conversion information. When your employer provides SDCERA with this information, we&#8217;ll recalculate your monthly pension retroactively to your retirement date.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Leaving Employment Before Retirement</h2>



<p>If you leave your job and either can&#8217;t retire yet or choose not to, you become a deferred SDCERA member. If you are eligible for a sick leave conversion, the conversion would take place when you leave employment, and SDCERA will add your additional service credit to your total. </p>



<p></p>
