Retiring LA County workers collect $48 million for unused time off (Bakersfield: home, employment)

[Hwy phantom]

Originally Posted by steel7

The female cop (Hannah Montana) who retired in 2010 was a lt. in the L.A. county sheriffs office. Her base salary was $139,000 a year. I dont know what her pension is though. Her vacation pay for 30 yrs service was over 180k. Im still amazed that she didnt take a vacation her entire career. Maybe she was "sleeping" with the boss or bosses. I dont know her age but im sure shes still relatively young (early 50s).

$139k is here pension, her salary was $147K.

Hannah accumulated her 325 days of vacation, sick time, comp time and holiday credit over a 30-year career. Under county rules, she was paid for all of it at her final $147,600 salary.

Retiring L.A. County workers get $48 million for unused time off - latimes.com

[slo1318]

The numbers like "Ms Montana's" above are not feasible in this or any state of the economy. They are causing governments to not hire new employees, because so much of their budgets are going out on benefits and pensions. It started out that public sector employees made a little less than private sector, but had a little better benefits. Its swung so far in the opposite direction that now they make more and have benefits packages that are not available in the private sector.
Most private companies do not have pension plans anymore, you have to work/plan and contribute to your retirement, just as public sector employees should.

[winkosmosis]

Originally Posted by slo1318

The numbers like "Ms Montana's" above are not feasible in this or any state of the economy. They are causing governments to not hire new employees, because so much of their budgets are going out on benefits and pensions. It started out that public sector employees made a little less than private sector, but had a little better benefits. Its swung so far in the opposite direction that now they make more and have benefits packages that are not available in the private sector.
Most private companies do not have pension plans anymore, you have to work/plan and contribute to your retirement, just as public sector employees should.

I don't work in California but I have looked at jobs at local governments... they pay less than the private sector. I got turned down for a job at Santa Barbara County that would have paid $45k, whereas I got an offer at an oil company for $55k+9% bonus last year. That was in Houston, so probably equivalent to $70k in California.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Originally Posted by winkosmosis

I don't work in California but I have looked at jobs at local governments... they pay less than the private sector. I got turned down for a job at Santa Barbara County that would have paid $45k, whereas I got an offer at an oil company for $55k+9% bonus last year. That was in Houston, so probably equivalent to $70k in California.

What job in the public sector is the equivalent. In IT my buddies who work for SDPD make the same as me with a much more generous pension.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Originally Posted by steel7

The female cop (Hannah Montana) who retired in 2010 was a lt. in the L.A. county sheriffs office. Her base salary was $139,000 a year. I dont know what her pension is though. Her vacation pay for 30 yrs service was over 180k. Im still amazed that she didnt take a vacation her entire career. Maybe she was "sleeping" with the boss or bosses. I dont know her age but im sure shes still relatively young (early 50s).

It depends. I know many jobs let you keep stuff off the books so long as you work for a certain % of the day. This can be done by vpn many times. Plus, they have holidays and floaters which can be more "vacation" than most get anyway.

I didn't take vaca for years and simply lost it. I took a couple of sick days. I was more concerned about keeping the very well paying job.

[slo1318]

Originally Posted by winkosmosis

I don't work in California but I have looked at jobs at local governments... they pay less than the private sector. I got turned down for a job at Santa Barbara County that would have paid $45k, whereas I got an offer at an oil company for $55k+9% bonus last year. That was in Houston, so probably equivalent to $70k in California.

Depends on the job of course and what the equivalency is in the private sector. Oil companies are not typical either.

[Dean Trails]

The real culprits in this drama is not the workers. They signed a contract and smiled as Nully pointed out. The dastardly dudes are the great unwashed, smiley ones (politicians) that tell us they will give us all we want.
We allow people, that have probably never prepared a budget or run a successful business in their lives, negotiate million and billion peso contracts. What did we expect from grinning glad handers??

SOOO, ultimately the enemy is the majority voters that place the bozos in positions of power.

(gets down off soap box, sighs and walks out to have a cup of green tea and contemplate the next problem to solve.)

[JetJockey]

I stockpile my PTO... I can hold up to 300 hours at any time without being penalized, and at this time I have around 130 hours saved up. I do this mostly because I have a medical condition where I can be hospitalized for a few days without any notice so I'm a bit paranoid about not being able to pay my bills. I haven't had more than 4 days off in a row (and that was only because of floating holidays) in almost 4 years because I know that if I take a few days off (or heaven forbid, a whole week!) I'll be playing catch up for weeks since I'm the only one in my dept.

Some people just don't do vacation. If there is no cap, then they deserve it when they leave, private or public sector.

[dober1]

A lot of cop haters on this site. Not that this thread was about law enforcement.
One thing I've noticed over many years is that people who hate law enforcement are present or past criminals or dopers. Normal law abiding citizens have nothing to fear from law enforcement and therefore do not hate them.

[nullgeo]

Originally Posted by dober1

A lot of cop haters on this site. Not that this thread was about law enforcement.
One thing I've noticed over many years is that people who hate law enforcement are present or past criminals or dopers. Normal law abiding citizens have nothing to fear from law enforcement and therefore do not hate them.

dober1, that is nonsense. Now, I'm not trying to promote cop hate in the slightest ... cops, imho, have the worst job in the world, and I dont wish to make it harder for one nano-second ... but your statement is both wrong -- and nuts. Legions of law-abiding citizens fear cops ... some good reasons, too. As with the ancient human fear of wolves, much is blown out of proportion and a stigma has become enmeshed in the cop image. But there are many many perfectly real stories of abuse of power and error that feed public perception.

The challenges of law enforcement are nearly insurmountable in many ways. It doesn't surprise me a bit that cop culture is isolated from civilian. But what happens to vast numbers of law enforcement officers over the course of a career is very very often pretty bitter stuff. And it shows, frequently. And the public picks up on it. And combined with the many true stories of police error and brutality and overzealousness -- well, you've got a very negative image problem.

For all the fine and tough and necessary work and sacrifice, hats off. For all the poor public perception? Comes with the territory given the realities. Plenty of great cops. And plenty of sh*tty ones too ... just like everything else. Combine the sh*tty with guns and power to arrest? Phbbbbt.