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Local paper has been digging into the practice common among public sector employees where unused sick time can be accumulated for decades then cashed in upon retirement for mini-lottery winnings. Besides the obvious nonsensical nature of considering time given to compensate during sickness instead being paid out to someone who is perfectly healthy, additional angles include:
1. In most cases all that sick time is paid at their peak earnings rate, often maxed out in paygrade, during retirement. If they saved sick time when as an entry level clerk and retire a director 30 years later they get it all at director pay rate.
2. Pension spiking. Many pensions are calculated on average of final x years, and a sudden cash injection in the final year at max pay rate can definitely impact their lifelong pension calculation.
Among the 12 public employers reviewed, the highest individual sick-leave payouts last year went to four Phoenix police employees. All worked for the city more than three decades before retiring. The largest payout -- $144,279 -- went to a retired Phoenix police commander whose 35 years of accumulated sick-leave payout eclipsed his final year's salary.
Scottsdale had the highest average sick-leave payout of $24,443 per employee, with 43 employees collectively receiving slightly more than $1 million. The state of Arizona, which includes all state agencies, higher education, courts and the retirement systems, last year paid $6.3 million to 502 employees, with an average payout of $12,591.
Sick time should be a benefit so that when an employee is sick they don't have an interruption in compensation, 144k bonus is just nuts.
Quote:
If officers were not allowed to accumulate sick leave and cash it out, Buividas said, they would be taking off three weeks of sick time every year. He said if that occurred, the city would have to hire additional police officers and firefighters. "Most people would find a way to use sick leave so they wouldn't lose the benefit," Buividas said.
So this union representative is basically saying that if they didn't have this benefit of accumulating sick time, their members would commit fraud and abuse the sick leave policy by calling in sick whether they are or not. Nice, way to represent with honor, dignity and trust.
Quote:
"It would be very difficult, when we haven't given raises for four years, to take something away at this point," said Sandi Wilson, deputy county manager for Maricopa County, which last year paid $2.3 million into health savings accounts for 99 new retirees who cashed in sick leave.
I don't understand this pervasive attitude that because they are government employees they cannot have their compensation practices altered to reflect the correct or wiser path. Of course it would be difficult, but in the private sector it isn't taboo, why should it be avoided because it would difficult? Do they think everyone will quit their stable county govt jobs and go where exactly? Will they go to private employer that offers 5 sick days per year and makes you bring a doctor's note if they suspect abuse?
Quote:
Kathleen Haggerty, Phoenix's deputy personnel director, also described the benefit as an incentive to keep employees from taking time off when they are not sick.
Again, you should not have to dangle rewards in front of employers to prevent abuse of a sick time policy. You dangle a stick instead.
I'm not bashing the public sector employees here (my wife is one) they are playing the cards dealt to them and have every right to, but it never ceases to amaze me the attitudes some of those in public unions and organizations have regarding benefits.
We have evolved an unrealistic and unsustainable compensation system for public service employees. It will be difficult and painful to reform it but it must be done.
My first job allowed us to bank vacation and sick time, and then trade it in for cash. That's what I did. Second job, the same thing. After that, every employer I've ever worked for did not allow this practice. You use it or you loose it. I don't think the public sector has it too good, I think the private sector has regressed. Eventually, the public sector will be forced to follow the trend, because it's use private sector worker paying their way in taxes, which many are not paying these days, or paying less of.
If that person knew that he wouldn't get paid out for the sick time, he would have called in sick a hell of a lot more times than he did I am sure.
So, let's assume over 30 years he probably was getting 10 sick days per year. That is 300 days. If he only called in sick 2 times per year, he still has 240 days to be paid out at his 40/hr or whatever he makes.
But then you have another co-worker who calls in sick ten times per year. That means they have, in essence, worked 240 less days than the guy that just got paid out for his sick time.
How is that fair to the person that never calls in sick?
You are basically encouraging people to make sure they take all of their sick time. Otherwise you will end up working two weeks more per year than your co-worker for no benefit.
I don't think it should be paid out at maximum salary. They should maybe give you 25% of what your salary is for each sick hour. Even 20%.
Some incentive to not call in all the time.
You are a good, solid, dependable worker....should have something to show for being a better worker than the person that calls in sick whenever they accumulate enough sick time to do so.
If I had an employee who used their exact number of allocated sick days every year I'd start demanding proof from a doctor to use them, not just give them cash to not lie and abuse it when they aren't sick. If you are paying public sector employees for both vacation days and sick days that are really vacation days it is far too much time allocated to miss work. My wife gets 18 days of vacation and 12 sick days, do we really need to have employees with six weeks off per year in the public sector?
If I had an employee who used their exact number of allocated sick days every year I'd start demanding proof from a doctor to use them, not just give them cash to not lie and abuse it when they aren't sick. If you are paying public sector employees for both vacation days and sick days that are really vacation days it is far too much time allocated to miss work. My wife gets 18 days of vacation and 12 sick days, do we really need to have employees with six weeks off per year in the public sector?
Of coarse not Americans don't work near enough hours. Family time is way over rated. Lets figure away to sleep at work to get in more hours and see the family on the weekend. Hell why are you at home now! You could be at work!
Completely different issue. You could have 30 days of vacation a year, that is paid time off to be used as you wish. Furthermore I'd say it is safe to say your average public-sector employee has fairly generous paid time off aside from sick time.
If an employer hires someone and part of their compensation is paid sick leave, that doesn't mean to use all of just like vacation time it means you can continue to receive pay when you are too ill to come to work. One year you might use 2 days, another year you might need 10, but just telling your boss that you are sick when you aren't to use up the days intended for when you are sick? No thanks, that isn't the employee I want and it has nothing to do with how many hours Americans work. Even stupider is thinking that we must create a cash incentive to reward people for being honest about sick time.
Completely different issue. You could have 30 days of vacation a year, that is paid time off to be used as you wish. Furthermore I'd say it is safe to say your average public-sector employee has fairly generous paid time off aside from sick time.
If an employer hires someone and part of their compensation is paid sick leave, that doesn't mean to use all of just like vacation time it means you can continue to receive pay when you are too ill to come to work. One year you might use 2 days, another year you might need 10, but just telling your boss that you are sick when you aren't to use up the days intended for when you are sick? No thanks, that isn't the employee I want and it has nothing to do with how many hours Americans work. Even stupider is thinking that we must create a cash incentive to reward people for being honest about sick time.
Not saying I don't agree with you that people shouldn't abuse their sick time...but it's going to happen. And it's not that easy to get rid of someone who is a public sector worker. You certainly can't get rid of someone because they are using the sick time that they have allotted to them.
Even if they are not abusing the system. What if someone just has a better immune system or a higher tolerance for overcoming a little sore throat.
You'd still have a difference of 1-2 sick days to 5-6.
So after 30 years you have someone that has worked 120 more days than another employee yet they have been paid the same amount through the years.
If you don't get paid out sick time at all then there is no incentive for that person other than personal pride and integrity, which not all people have.
They are working more days, it just makes sense that they get paid for it in some form or fashion to me. If that means that they get a bonus at the end of the year according to how many sick days they did or did not take, or if they get paid out when they retire at 20% of their salary.
I just think you should get paid according to how many days you show up to work. I guess in essence I am even taking a more anti-worker stance than you are in all of this. I'd be just fine if they took sick days away entirely.
Give people their vacation days and make them take sick days out of that.
Then those that don't call in sick would definitely get paid out at the end of their career according to how many days they actually showed up.
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