2005 Arizona Revised Statutes - Revised Statutes §38-615  Payment for accumulated sick leave; limit; definition

A. An officer or employee of the state, subject to legislative appropriation, or an officer or employee of a county, subject to authorization by the board of supervisors, is eligible, on retirement, to receive benefits as follows:

1. An officer or employee who has at least five hundred but less than seven hundred fifty hours of sick leave shall receive payments equal to twenty-five per cent of the officer's or employee's salary at the officer's or employee's current hourly rate for each hour of accumulated sick leave.

2. An officer or employee who has at least seven hundred fifty but less than one thousand hours of sick leave shall receive payments equal to thirty-three per cent of the officer's or employee's salary at the officer's or employee's current hourly rate for each hour of accumulated sick leave.

3. An officer or employee who has at least one thousand hours of sick leave shall receive payments equal to fifty per cent of the officer's or employee's salary at the officer's or employee's current hourly rate for each hour of accumulated sick leave not to exceed one thousand five hundred hours of accumulated sick leave.

B. An officer or employee who receives payments as provided in subsection A of this section shall not receive more than thirty thousand dollars. If an officer or employee receives payments pursuant to subsection A of this section, the officer or employee shall be paid the amount due the officer or employee in installments over a three year period.

C. If an officer or employee dies before the officer or employee receives the total payment due to the officer or employee or if an officer or employee is eligible for normal retirement but has not retired at the time of the officer's or employee's death, the officer's or employee's beneficiary shall receive the balance due to the officer or employee in a lump sum.

D. Notwithstanding any other law:

1. The cash value of the sick leave credit pursuant to subsection A of this section shall not be used to compute the average salary.

2. The payment authorized by this section for accumulated sick leave is not salary or compensation for the purposes of making retirement contributions or computing any pension benefit.

E. The provisions of this section apply to an officer or employee of the state or a county who is eligible to participate in the Arizona state retirement system as provided in chapter 5, article 2 of this title, in the public safety personnel retirement system as provided in chapter 5, article 4 of this title, in the corrections officer retirement plan as provided in chapter 5, article 6 of this title or in an optional retirement program established by the Arizona board of regents pursuant to section 15-1628.

F. This section applies retroactively to July 1, 1998 to an officer or employee of a university under the jurisdiction of the Arizona board of regents who participates in a federal retirement system, except that this section does not apply to a participant in a federal retirement system if the participant receives any sick leave payment from the federal government.

G. The provisions of this section shall apply only to officers or employees of the state or a county whose compensation regulations provide for a forfeiture of sick leave on retirement.

H. For the purposes of this section, "hourly rate" means an officer's or employee's hourly salary on retirement, excluding overtime pay and pay for unused annual leave.