johnwayne -- "hopefully going full time sometime between mar-july. ive been doing aux route for four years. have accumlated 100+ hours of sick leave, and another 50 of vacation time. will that transfer to the new job, will i get paid for it, or should i use it before i lose it? "
-- The sick leave will just carry over when you make regular. Usually it will be carried on the "books" for three years, even though it might not show up on your pay stub. ( keep all the stubs - literally forever )
-- The 50 hours of vacation time ( aka annual leave ) might be tricky.
-- If you are able to stay an AUX carrier until you become a regular, there is no break in your leave-earning status, so those 50 hours of annual leave will just carry over.
-- If manglement finds a way to take you off the AUX, hence break your leave-earning status, you will be paid a lump sum for the 50 hours.
-- It will be up to you to do what ever it takes to stay on the AUX until you become a regular. For example, you work the AUX through a Friday and become a regular the next day - a Saturday. ( not that manglement would try something that underhanded )
-- Whether to use or burn sick leave before retiring ( really looking ahead in your case ) will generate quite a debate, with both sides having merits.
-- A lot will depend on your general health as your career winds down as well as family medical history.
-- Besides, any unused sick leave can be converted to extend your service time. ( but not your retirement computation date ). The OPM does things a bit differently when converting sick leave into additional service. To the OPM, 6 hours equal a day. Some time down the line, Google "sick leave conversion chart". FERS retirees get 100% of their sick leave converted. ( used to be 50% prior to 01 JAN 2014 )