When you are getting ready to retire, you can earn up to one year of additional service credit for your unused, unpaid sick time if you meet one of the following conditions:
| If your final employer is: | You can use the unused, unpaid sick days you earned | The effective date of your pension must be within 60 days of |
|---|---|---|
| A non-school district IMRF employer | With the IMRF employer you are retiring from | Your last date of employment with this employer |
| A school district covered by IMRF |
|
Your last date of employment with this employer |
| A special education cooperative, vocational system, or one of certain other educational employers* covered by IMRF |
|
Your last date of employment with this employer |
| Teachers’ Retirement System and IMRF reciprocally | While working in an IMRF-covered position in a school district | Your last date of employment with your Teachers’ Retirement System Employer |
| In all cases your sick days must have been accumulated under an established sick leave plan available to all employees or a class of employees | ||
* If you think your educational employer might fall into this category, ask IMRF during the retirement process
How Much Service Credit Do I Earn?
You will earn one month of service credit for every 20 days of unused, unpaid sick time you have at retirement. If you have a fraction of 20 days, you will also earn a month of service credit. For example:
| Number of Unused, Unpaid Sick Days | Additional Months of Service Credit |
|---|---|
| 1-20 | 1 |
| 21-40 | 2 |
| 41-60 | 3 |
| 61-80 | 4 |
| 81-100 | 5 |
| 101-120 | 6 |
| 121-140 | 7 |
| 141-160 | 8 |
| 161-180 | 9 |
| 181-200 | 10 |
| 201-220 | 11 |
| 221-240 | 12 |
| The maximum amount of sick days you can convert to service credit is 240 | |
Contact IMRF
We want to hear from you whenever you have questions or concerns.