Why It Pays to Save Your Sick Leave

The Postal Service is made up of teams that work together to collect, transport, process, and deliver the mail. All team members must count on each other to get the job done. When an employee is out on sick leave, the rest of the team works a little harder to make sure our service standards are met.   

Sick leave is an important benefit to be used if you are incapacitated for duty. The Postal Service sick leave benefit accumulates every pay period, which allows an employee to build up a bank of hours that is available when needed for illness or injury, or for long term leave due to an extended illness, accident or medical condition.  

Your sick leave benefit pays your salary when you can’t work. That is how the sick leave benefit protects your future. It is like money in the bank – to be saved, and used when needed.  And few investments grow at the rate of saved sick leave – if you use an hour of sick leave tomorrow that you earned fifteen years ago, that hour is paid at your current wage – not your wage when that sick leave time was earned. 

Because you can’t predict the future – when you will get sick, or injured, or need extended time for a long recuperation period – it is prudent to bank your sick leave hours. This will offer you a safety net for those times when you are physically unable to work.   

Injury or illness can strike anyone, at any age, at any time. Protect your future and bank your sick leave.