Non Union people are so abused you think this is unethical.
One of our leave types pays out in March any hours over 96 if we don't ask to carry it over to the next year. We can take our overtime pay as leave (at 1.5 hours leave to 1 hour worked), and bonus holiday pay as leave.
This year the local negotiated a cost of living increase and eliminating the bottom two step increases, resulting in an approximate 14 percent pay bump for most employees. I also received a promotion this year.
I banked hundreds of hours of leave earlier this year from overtime and holidays that will payout in March next year 26 percent higher than when I worked it. I've done this every year I have promoted, and we are expected to do this since it is one of the ways we can burn our leave totals without taking off. If I had been really smart I would have carried over my leave from 2022 so it pays out next year, and I would have seen a single paycheck next year that was equal to half my years base pay last year.
When that pays out I will still have nearly 6 months of leave banked.
Your employer can afford to pay you. Make them pay you.
Just made me check mine. I'm in a good union and earn 2.46 hours of sick per 40 hours of work and 3.28 hours of leave per 40 hours of work. A year of work is 2498 hours for us for reference.
I also get 48 hours of other leave, 16 hours of leave per each of 13 holidays, and I can take my overtime as 1.5 hours of leave per hour worked instead of pay. We also get 240 hours parental leave for a new child.
Leave accrues whenever we are in a paid status on straight time.