Original Author: Stokes, Richard
Date of Material: 08/09/2013
Subjects(s):
Personnel--Retirement--Tennessee
Personnel--Fringe benefits
Personnel--Surveys
Sick Leave at Retirement Survey (Non-TCRS)
Reviewed Date: 06/02/2021
Summary:Eleven cities were asked whether their employees are allowed to accrue sick leave; the maximum amount of sick leave employees may accrue; and upon retirement, whether employees may sell their sick leave back to the city, use their sick leave towards retirement, etc.
Sick Leave at Retirement
(Non-TCRS)
| City | Yes/No | Comment |
| Murfreesboro | Yes | Employees accrue the equivalent of one sick day for each month of full-time service. |
| Franklin | Yes | |
| Athens | Yes | |
| Farragut | Yes | |
| Gallatin | Yes | 8 hours per month (40 hours week employees) |
| Bartlett | Yes | employees are allowed to accrue sick leave |
| Germantown | yes | |
| Columbia | Yes | |
| Knoxville | Yes | |
| Arlington | Yes | 40 hour a week employee earns 8 hour per month Firefighters (24 hour employees) earn 12 hours per month . |
| Dyersburg | Yes | each employee accrues 8 hours sick leave per 30 days employment |
2. What is the maximum amount of sick leave employees may accrue?
| City | Maximum amount of sick leave |
| Murfreesboro | Sick leave accrues on an unlimited basis. |
| Franklin | No limit |
| Athens | 8 hours per month, 720 hours maximum |
| Farragut | 720 hours |
| Gallatin | No maximum limit |
| Bartlett | There is no maximum amount of sick leave that an employee can accrue. Unlimited. |
| Germantown | Max amount of sick time that can be accrued - no limit and can be carried over year to year |
| Columbia | 260 days, 2080 hours for all employees except fire. Fire is 117 shifts or 2808 hours. |
| Knoxville | No cap on sick leave |
| Arlington | Not to exceed a maximum of 720 hours on the books or 90 days. Firefighters (24 hour employees) not to exceed 1080 hours or 45 (24 hour days). |
| Dyersburg | 720 hours |
3. Upon retirement, does your city allow employees to do anything with their accrued sick leave (i.e. sell it back to the city, use for retirement, etc…?
| City | What can employees do with accrued sick leave? |
| Murfreesboro | Employees may be paid for unused sick leave as earnings during a period called “run out” that precedes their retirement. |
| Franklin | The City of Franklin pays the employee their accrued sick leave up a maximum of 120 days. |
| Athens | No |
| Farragut | With two months’ notice, a retiring employee will be paid for ½ of the sick leave balance on their last check. |
| Gallatin | Employees are eligible for a % of their sick leave depending upon age and/or years of service |
| Bartlett | If the employee is eligible for a retirement benefit, all accrued sick hours are applied to their pension service credit |
| Germantown | Upon retirement you can receive compensation for one-half of accrued sick leave at the employee's regular rate of pay |
| Columbia |
1. Effective January 1, 2004, as an incentive not to use sick leave and a reward for attendance on the job, an employee separating from the City by means of any type of retirement under the City’s retirement plan shall have all then-accrued-and-unused sick leave, up to the maximum permitted accrual shown in the table above, credited as additional time worked (what is called “credited service” in the City’s Employees’ Retirement Plan) when calculating the employee’s retirement benefits. 2. Employees hired after July 1, 2012, and who have vested in the defined contribution plan upon separation from employment shall have 50% of accrued sick leave paid into the 401(a). |
| Knoxville | If the employee has at least 960 hours, he/she can cash in 960 hours and receive payment for 480 hours. If the employee does not have 960 hours, he/she can convert blocks of 20 sick days to 1 month of credited service toward pension. |
| Arlington | Sick pay is viewed as a privilege not a right so we do not pay accrued sick leave upon separation. |
| Dyersburg | No, they lose it. One exception; employees hired before Feb. 1, 1989 are paid for their accrued sick leave. The policy once was to pay for it, the policy was changed and those here at the time were grandfathered in. |
Contact Information
| City | Contact | Phone number | e-mail address |
| Murfreesboro | Glen Godwin | 615.848.2553 | ggodwin@murfreesborotn.gov |
| Franklin | Shirley Harmon | 615.791.3216 | shirley.harmon@franklintn.gov |
| Athens | Rita Brown | 423.744.2703 | rbrown@cityofathenstn.com |
| Farragut | Janet Curry | 865.966.7057 | Jcurry@townoffarragut.org |
| Gallatin | Amy Summers | 615.451.5890 | amy.summers@gallatin-tn.gov |
| Bartlett | Peter Voss | 901.385.5515 | pvoss@cityofbartlett.org |
| Germantown | Susan Hopson | 901.757.7274 | shopson@germantown-tn.gov |
| Columbia | Connie Etzkin | 931.560.1565 | cetzkin@columbiatn.com |
| Knoxville | Vicki Hatfield | 865.215.2106 | vhatfield@cityofknoxville.org |
| Arlington | Cathy Durant | 901.867.2620 | cdurant@townofarlington.org |
| Dyersburg | Sue Teague | 731.288.7607 | steague@dyersburgtn.gov |
Thank you for your sharing your time, knowledge, and information.
Reference Document(s)
Gallatin Leave Policy.docAttachments:
Survey Results - Sick Leave at Retirement.pdf