State employees accrue 4.0 hours of sick leave for every 80 hrs worked (IOW, part-timers would take perhaps four weeks to accumulate the 4.0 hours); there’s no cap (this is all “last I knew” info, btw), upon retirement 50% of the remaining hours are paid out at severance.
Vacation time (”annual leave”) is capped at 240 hours (six weeks) initially, climbing in five-year steps to a max of 316 (including a separate counter of 16 hours personal leave, awarded at hire, and once a year). All remaining vacation time is paid at severance, but only the first 240 hours are used to figure final compensation and retirement benefits under the old “defined benefit” plan.
Annual leave accrual rates go up over years of service; the rate is 4.0 per 80 hrs worked during the first six months (the probationary period) then rises to 4.7 (if the employee makes probation, and yes, it actually happens that some don’t). At 5 years it rises to 5.3 hrs, at 10 years 5.9, at 15 years to 6.5, at 20 to, hmm, I forget, although I think it’s 7.1... as the accrual rate rises, remaining under the 240 cap can become a problem, although in reality, that’s not a bad problem to have, and most state employees rarely (or even never) face it.
By the time the accrual rate maxes out (something like 10.x hrs per pay period, IOW, more than a day every two weeks) the once bright-eyed and bushy-tailed state employee in their 20s has grown decrepit in the daily grind of state service, and could be well into their early 50s.
Hey, I could go on about LTD insurance coverage rates and how they decline based on the number of hours of sick leave, but I won’t, and that’s a break for you (as Adlai Stevenson once said when part of a campaign speech blew away).
The sick leave is no longer paid out as severance upon retirement anymore. Most find a reason to “burn it up” previous to retirement. Otherwise you lose it. The annual is still paid out at 50% upon retirement. I’m at 22 years and I accrue at 7.4 hous per pay period. I’m shooting for 25 years. As i’m in a law enforcement job I can get out at 25. Most with the pension have to wait for 30. Hopefully my back will let me go to 25. I’ve already had multiple surgeries so we’ll see. On the up side, if I medically retire I can collect immediately. I’m working on “plan B” now as supplemental income. (firearms instructor). I already do it for the state, so it’s just a matter of recertifying with an NRA trainer.
CC