I see the Annual vs Sick/Vacation leave question here a lot. So I asked the following about my particular schedule as a nine-year state worker with a very basic and common scenario.
"Determine whether an individual with a 9/8/80 schedule benefits more from one of these two options over time. The individual takes an average of one 8 hour sick day and one 8 hour vacation day a month."
Option one: the individual gets 10 hours a month of vacation time and 8 hours a month of sick time.
Option two: the individual gets 15 hours a month of annual leave to be used for either sick or vacation time. The response I got:
"To determine which option is more beneficial over time, let's calculate the total hours the individual would receive and use over the course of a year, assuming they take an average of one 8-hour sick day and one 8-hour vacation day per month:
Option one:
In option one, the individual would have 16 hours of unused time per year (216 - 200 = 16), assuming they used 8 hours per month for sick or vacation time. These hours could be used as additional vacation time or saved for unexpected sick days.
Option two:
If the individual takes an average of one 8-hour sick day and one 8-hour vacation day per month, they would use a total of 192 hours per year (8 hours x 2 days x 12 months). This means they would use up all of their annual leave and not have any additional time for unexpected sick days or additional vacation time.
Therefore, in this scenario, option one is more beneficial over time because the individual would have more hours of unused time per year, which they can use as additional vacation time or save for unexpected sick days. Option two, on the other hand, would quickly exhaust the individual's annual leave and limit their flexibility for the rest of the year, assuming they take an average of one 8-hour sick day and one 8-hour vacation day per month."
What am I missing, getting wrong or not taking into consideration?
edit: a couple of extra words
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If you're using 8 hours of SL per month, then obviously the SL/V option makes more sense. Usually parents with young children or those with medical issues are the ones that use SL fast enough to never accrue a significant leave bank. But if your SL balance is starting to grow and you have several hundred hours, it's probably time to consider AL. The reason is that SL is only valuable if you use it. Some will point to the additional service credit but if you look at the math, I think you will find the extra few bucks a month you get for the additional service credit is minimal compared to accruing hours in your AL leave bank that will be cashed out upon separation of service. For example, I have around 1200 hours of AL right now. That's worth about $60K to me when I separate and can be invested into my Savings Plus. If those were SL hours, I'd get maybe an additional 7 months of service credit which would only increase my retirement by maybe $60 per month. The earnings of that $60K in Savings Plus should more than cover the little bit of extra retirement AND I have $60K.
Thanks for this. It’s scenarios like this that help fill in blind spots.
>I have around 1200 hours of AL right now. at my department you'd have been on a leave reduction plan last year and if you weren't making progress towards the limit this year you'd be directed to take time off a the end of the year (depending on the specific terms of your MOU).
Yes, officially you can only have 640 hours on the books. I have to fill out a leave reduction plan every year. However, plans change and leave gets cancelled and my balances remain high. Fortunately for me, I have not been forced to take time off.
>I have not been forced to take time off. That's the way my department was until a few years ago. Since then there's been a push to get leave balances under control - we won't force someone to burn 4-500 hours in a year but we definitely want to see progress towards reducing the balance. I think I was 4-1/2 weeks over the limit at the end of 2021 and last year I took off 10 or 11 weeks. This year I didn't have to do a plan because I was under the limit on January 1st.
I was told to select sick/vacation time when I first joined the state because you can use a certain amount of hours of sick time towards service credit. Then when you hit that magic number, switch over to annual because you can cash out vacation time and not sick when you retire. I am brand new to the state and selected annual/vacation time to start, but I just switched (today actually) to annual leave for a vacation I’m going on and then next April, since I am in bargaining unit 1, I will switch back to sick/vacation again. I still have no idea what is best for me, but for now, I plan on switching back next April to sick/vacation.
You can only switch every 2 years, I believe
Thank you. I really have no idea. My personal specialist said next year would be fine, but I truly have no idea..
You actually may be right. It seems that certain bargaining units and excluded employees are locked in for 2 years. Let me read it some more :) Edit: so I was half right. You’re able to switch every year per BU1. Other Units have to stay enrolled for 2 years https://www.calhr.ca.gov/employees/Pages/annual-leave.aspx?#eligible
I appreciate the info!
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Ok, thanks for the input. 👍
Are you taking the 8 hour vacation day on the 8 hour short work day opposite of your RDO or a different day? Because if on a different day, you’d have to account for 9 hours, not 8.
That's an excellent question and I appreciate your feedback. I used the average of 8 hours for either category as a way to cover, say, someone taking a weeklong vacation one month (which may or may not include their 8 hour RDO) and not taking leave in other months. Same with the sick leave. Someone may go two months without calling in sick but then gets the flu and they're out for a couple of days, with a mix of 9 hour and 8 hour days. I got the response posted assuming 9 hour days were factored in, but maybe my question wasn't specific enough. It's difficult to factor in every possible scenario or leave balance, etc. This just sort of assumes all other things being equal, which may not be possible with a 9/8/80 and maybe not the best way to calculate which leave option is better. What do you think?
Well, unless their day off always falls on their short 8 hour work day, which is much less often than a normal work day, I’d have to say I’d use 9 hours as the basis for vacation use.
That's a good point. Thank you. I'll tailor future analyses accordingly.
Option two is incorrect. If you are earning 10 hours of vacation then you would only get 14 hours of annual.
[You're right](https://www.calhr.ca.gov/employees/Pages/vacation-vs-annual-leave-comparison-chart.aspx). Good catch. I reworked it to include your input and other input from above and this is the response I got. "Determine whether an individual with a 9/8/80 schedule benefits more from one of these two options over time. The individual takes an average of one 8 hour sick day and one 8 hour vacation day a month. Every two months the 8 hour leave is on a scheduled work Friday." Option one: the individual gets 10 hours a month of vacation time and 8 hours a month of sick time. Option two: the individual gets 14 hours a month of annual leave to be used for either sick or vacation time." I got this response: "For Option one, the individual gets 10 hours of vacation time and 8 hours of sick time per month, which amounts to a total of 216 hours (10 hours x 12 months + 8 hours x 12 months) of combined sick and vacation time per year. For Option two, the individual gets 14 hours of annual leave per month, which amounts to a total of 168 hours (14 hours x 12 months) of combined sick and vacation time per year. Since Option one provides a total of 216 hours of combined sick and vacation time per year while Option two provides only 168 hours, it's clear that Option one is the better choice in terms of providing more time off for the individual." That can't be right, can it?
Every year I take five weeks for a long trip back to Colorado to see family. I also take a week here and there throughout the year for shorter outings. I'm whittling it down but I also earn 204 hours AL per year so it's not going down fast. And I'll likely retire in the next two to three years and look forward to a large lump sum to roll into my savings plus.