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Public
employee nest eggs…
The Columbus Dispatch
Editorial: Unhealthy
Unused sick days
should not spell “jackpot” for public-sector workers
Thursday, March 3, 2011 02:54 AM
Public-sector workers enjoy a number of perks that most workers in the
private sector don’t, and one of the hardest to justify is a sick-leave
system that allows employees to amass mountains of unused days and turn
them into a substantial cash bonus upon retirement.
For most employees in the private sector, sick leave is a humane
benefit allowing workers to receive pay when they’re too sick to work.
They’re allowed a fixed number of sick days each year. If they’re lucky
enough to stay healthy, that’s that. Their sick-leave “bank” returns to
the standard number each new year.
Beyond that, many private employers have a separate provision for
workers whose illnesses or non-job-related injuries keep them away from
work for more than a week or so: Short-term and long-term
disability-insurance policies, usually purchased or self-funded by the
employer, provide a certain percentage of the employee’s pay during
longer medical absences.
Compare that with teachers and local-government employees, who, under
state law, are granted a minimum of 15 sick days per year, days that,
if unused, remain credited to workers. The best part for employees -
and the expensive part for taxpayers - comes later: State law says they
must be paid a lump sum for unused sick time. The law specifies the
number of days that can be cashed in, but most school districts, cities
and counties have negotiated far richer terms with their unions. Some
employees retire with six-figure bonuses, thanks to their contracts and
the fact that they didn’t get sick a lot.
Separate provisions for unused vacation add to the tab.
This has generated some eye-popping payouts and is a huge expense for
local governments. A Feb. 14 Cincinnati Enquirer story explained that
more than 900 Cincinnati city employees already are in line for more
than six months’ pay when they retire. Thirty-eight workers are looking
at payouts of $100,000 or more. A Dispatch story the previous day noted
that, already this year, Columbus taxpayers have paid nearly $4.3
million to newly retired workers for unused sick and vacation time. The
largest payment was $239,829, to retiring police Cmdr. Curtis K. Marcum.
Why should the good fortune of good health translate to a giant
retirement bonus?
In many cases, public employees say the sick-leave stash is justified
by the fact that they don’t have disability insurance. If they’re sick
for an extended time, they have to draw on their accumulated sick leave.
OK, then why not skip the cash payout, but still allow public employees
to bank the days in case of extended illness?
The response to this usually is that, without the incentive of the cash
payout to encourage employees not to use all their sick days, some
would abuse the system by taking those days off when they aren’t sick.
The common private-sector approach is much more reasonable: Provide an
appropriate amount of sick leave, plus short-term and long-term
disability, for use only when people are sick.
Good health is a blessing in its own right. It shouldn’t also provide a
giant nest egg at the expense of taxpayers.
Read it in the Columbus Dispatch
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