As we enter the fourth quarter, it is an appropriate time to remind members of the options which exist for sick and PL days under our 2023 Sick Leave Agreement.  Pursuant to that agreement, members now have a choice regarding how they use their personal leave days qualified for under Appendix N.

Prior to our 2023 Sick Leave Agreement, personal leave (PL) days not taken in a calendar year were forfeited.  While this remains to be true if those days are left as PL days and not taken, the same is not true if you convert them to sick days prior to the end of the calendar year.  It is important to remember that this option can be invoked at any time during the year.  BNSF now has an automated process in place for handling PL to sick day conversions through the BNSF intranet.   

If you are one of those people who use all your allotted sick and personal leave each year, then there is no need for the conversion.  However, it is when you have unused personal days that this conversion becomes an important step.  As mentioned, an unused PL day MUST be converted, or it will be lost.  Under the Agreement, all your unused sick leave days, as well as any converted PL days, are to be paid out the following year under one of two methods you select from.  You can choose to receive a cash payment for the total days remaining (8 hours/day), or you can choose to have the amount contributed on your behalf to your 401K plan.  Once again, if you have unused PL days, be sure to take advantage of this option before the year is up.