(a) Any Tier I plan member of the Teachers’ or Employees’ Retirement System of Alabama not otherwise covered by a provision to convert unused sick leave into membership service for purposes of service retirement may, at their option and in lieu of receiving payment for 50 percent of their accrued and unused sick leave at the time of their retirement as provided in Section 36-26-36, or any other payment that may be provided for such unused sick leave, use their accrued sick leave, up to a maximum number of 180 accrued sick leave days or as otherwise allowed by law, whichever is greater, to be included as membership service in determining the total years of creditable service in the Employees’ Retirement System of Alabama or the Teachers’ Retirement System of Alabama; provided that no employee of an employer participating in the Employees’ Retirement System pursuant to Section 36-27-6 shall be entitled to the benefits provided herein unless such employer shall elect to come under the provisions of this section and further elects to fund the benefits provided herein. Unused sick leave may be converted to membership service only for the purpose of applying for service retirement and may be considered in the determination of eligibility for retirement. The conversion shall not apply to eligibility for deferred retirement. It is further provided that if a Tier I plan member eligible for service retirement is also eligible for disability retirement the member may elect disability retirement and also receive credit for accumulated sick leave pursuant to this section. No Tier I plan member shall receive both service credit provided for by this section and payment or partial payment for accrued sick leave pursuant to any other provision of law.
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(b) The conversion of accrued sick leave into creditable service provided in this section shall not apply to any Tier II plan member.
