- School employees: when you retire, half of your unused sick leave becomes a dollar account. PERSI uses it to pay premiums for group health, long-term care, vision, prescription drug and dental coverage your employer maintains.Using Sick Leave: School District Retirees flyer; Idaho Code 33-1228 as quoted there
- The account value is (unused sick days / 2) x your daily rate: your annual contract salary divided by your required work days. There is no cash option. You must be eligible to retire when you leave and eligible for your employer's retiree insurance.Member Handbook (2019), pp. 48-49; IDAPA 59.01.01.551-556
- Premiums are paid until the account runs out or the retiree dies. Sick leave transfers only between Idaho school districts.IDAPA 59.01.01.551-556; Member Handbook (2019), p. 49
How the account is figured
Our illustration (not PERSI's): 120 unused days on a $54,000 contract with 190 required work days. The daily rate is $284.21. Half the days, 60, × $284.21 = $17,052.63 for premiums.
What it doesn't do
- It isn't paid out in cash.
- It doesn't add to your PERSI pension or your months of service.
- It pays only for coverage your school district maintains for retirees. Your district's HR office has the list of carriers.
School employees: half of unused sick leave is converted to a dollar account that PERSI uses to pay premiums for group health, long-term care, vision, prescription drug and dental coverage maintained by the employer. Value = (unused days / 2) x daily rate of pay, where the daily rate is the annual contract salary divided by the required work days. You must be eligible to retire at separation and eligible for the employer's retiree plan. There is no cash option. Payments continue until the account runs out or the retiree dies. Credits transfer only between school districts. Idaho Code 33-1228 (as quoted in the flyer)
Signing up for coverage
- Retiring with unused sick leave doesn't by itself make you eligible for retiree insurance. Ask your employer's payroll or HR office whether you qualify for a retiree plan the sick leave can pay for.Member Handbook (2019), p. 48
- When you retire, your employer gives PERSI an accounting of your unused sick leave. You pick coverage from your district's options, contact the insurance carrier to enroll, and tell the carrier to add you to the PERSI billing file. To change or cancel a plan, contact the carrier.PERSI Insurance web page, School District and Charter Schools
- PERSI's checklist: about six months before retiring, ask your payroll clerk the cash value of your unused sick leave and for a retiree health insurance form; a month before, remind payroll to send PERSI that value.Member Handbook (2019), p. 53, Retirement Checklist
- PERSI staff can't tell you which coverage you need, what it costs or what a plan covers. Your district's HR office has the current options.PERSI Insurance web page
To use the account you must be eligible to retire when you leave, so check your date on the early retirement page or in the calculator. Medicare enrollment is on the Social Security page.
Questions
Can Idaho teachers use sick leave in retirement?
Yes. Half of your unused sick leave is turned into a dollar account that PERSI uses to pay premiums for health, long-term care, vision, prescription drug and dental coverage your employer maintains. There's no cash option.
How is the sick leave account figured?
Your unused sick days, divided by 2, times your daily rate of pay (your annual contract salary divided by your required work days).
Source: PERSI Member Handbook, Handbook revision July 2019, pp. 48-49, 53. Also: PERSI Using Sick Leave flyer; IDAPA 59.01.01; PERSI retiree insurance page; Idaho Code § 33-1228 (as PERSI quotes it). Last reviewed .