Human Resources Classified Staff
Policy and Procedures

Policy # 202.0
Effective: 09/88
Modified: 9/99 08/06
Section: Benefits
Subject: Accumulated Sick Leave Payment for Retiring Regular Classified Staff Employees
Reference: ARS §38-615

POLICY

Eligible Regular Classified Staff employees who retire from the University and have accumulated unused sick leave of 500 hours or more at time of retirement shall have the option to elect cash payout of their sick leave benefit over a 3 year period, in accordance with applicable provisions. Sick leave compensation will not be paid in the event of resignation, discharge or death unless the employee was eligible for normal retirement at time of death in which case, the beneficiary will receive a cash payout.

Benefits eligible Regular Classified Staff employees who retire from the University and have accumulated unused sick leave of 500 hours or more at time of retirement have the option to elect payment of their unused sick leave benefit. Sick leave compensation will not be paid in the event of resignation or discharge. If the employee is eligible for normal retirement at the time of death, the beneficiary will receive a one-time lump sum cash payout.

The State of Arizona General Accounting Office (GAO) maintains and administers the Retiree Accumulated Sick Leave (RASL) as defined by Arizona statute. Eligible retirees may apply for benefits to the General Accounting Office, which has sole discretion to grant or deny payment under this program. Application and payment option information is available on the GAO's website.

ELIGIBILITY

To qualify for this benefit the employee must:

  1. Be an eligible appointed personnel or career staff employee employed by the state (University) on or after July 1, 1998, and
  2. Have accumulated unused sick leave totaling 500 hours or more at retirement, and
  3. Be eligible for retirement and benefits from the University.
  4. Apply for retirement with an authorized State of Arizona retirement system immediately (within 14 calendar days) upon separation from State (University) service, and
  5. Apply for the Retiree Accumulated Sick Leave benefit within 180 days from the retirement date.

PROCEDURE

The request for payment of the Retiree Accumulated Sick Leave Program should be separate from any other payment that might be due.

  1. The amount of payment received will be a percentage of the state hourly rate of pay multiplied by the number of accumulated sick leave hours as reported in the UA's Vacation and Sick Leave Accrual Report. The hourly rate of salaried employees will be calculated by dividing the annual salary by 2080 hours (fiscal year employees) or 1520 hours (academic year employees).
  2. The maximum benefit will be 1,500 hours of sick leave not to exceed $30,000.
  3. Appropriate FICA, federal and state income taxes will be deducted prior to the payment of the benefit.

To make the election, the employee must send a completed and signed Election & Certification Form (GAO-SL-50) with appropriate attachments to Human Resources.

Payroll will complete the additional sections of the Election & Certification Form and forward the form to the Human Resources Benefits Unit for final certification and forward to the State of Arizona General Accounting Office for processing.

BENEFIT

The RASL benefit value is calculated by multiplying the hourly pay rate at the time of retirement by the number of unused sick leave hours (up to 1,500), as reported in the University's payroll system, and multiplied by the appropriate following percentage:

  • At least 500 but less than 750 sick leave hours; 25%
  • At least 750 but less than 1,000 sick leave hours; 33%
  • At least 1,000 but less than 1,500 sick leave hours; 50%

The hourly pay rate will be calculated using the following methods:

    Hourly pay rate for fiscal year employees = Annualized Pay x FTE / 2080 hours
    Hourly pay rate for academic year employees = Annualized Pay x FTE / 1520 hours

The maximum benefit will be 1,500 hours of sick leave not to exceed a benefit of $30,000. Appropriate FICA, federal and state income taxes will be deducted prior to the payment of the benefit.

Policies Table of Contents
October 1, 2004