Sick Leave

No sick leave granted

TRS will not grant service credit for sick leave days that are

• lost as a result of a district imposed sick leave cap,
• not reinstated sufficiently far in advance of retirement,
• not granted sufficiently in advance of retirement,
• granted contingent upon a future event such as retirement or not retiring under the early retirement option,
• only available for catastrophic or extended illnesses,
• accumulated in excess of a per illness limitation.
• granted from a sick leave bank to preserve a member's personal sick leave balance in the final year(s) of service and not in compliance with the 3-step formula, or
• recorded in other states, even if the member purchased out-of-system credit.

Personal leave days

A member may earn service credit for unused, uncompensated personal leave days if the days were available for use in the event of illness.

Days withdrawn from a sick leave bank

Service credit is available for sick leave days withdrawn from a sick leave bank upon retirement provided certain requirements are met.

• The number of days a member individually contributed to a sick leave bank must be recorded.
• The days withdrawn must reduce the available balance of sick leave days remaining in the bank.
• The number of days reported for a member cannot exceed the number of days deposited and unused by the member.
  
  For example, a retiring teacher has contributed two days to the sick leave bank during her career and has never used any days from the bank. She begins her final year of employment with 150 accumulated sick leave days on her record and doesn’t use any sick leave during the final year. At retirement, she is permitted to withdraw the two days she had contributed to the sick leave bank. The district should report 152 sick leave days to TRS.

TRS will not grant service credit for any days withdrawn by the member from a sick leave bank in excess of the days deposited and unused by the member. In addition, sick leave days lost as a result of a district imposed cap, which are deposited into the sick leave bank, are not reportable for sick leave service credit.

Unused vacation days

TRS will not grant service credit for unused vacation days.

If you have questions, e-mail us at employers@trs.illinois.gov or call (888) 877-0890.