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Old 12-22-2011, 05:18 PM
 
Location: Metro Detroit, Michigan
29,820 posts, read 24,885,583 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by houstonlibrarian View Post
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.
Not saying I don't agree with your mentality, but the business won't get an advantage, while the worker will ultimately lose. That extra money saved on labor costs for the company will be used to further reduce prices. This "price advantage" will be useless because every other company would do the same thing. That's part of the race to the bottom strategy employed by American businesses and corporations. Take as much away from labor as possible to offer the best price, just to compete. No one really gets ahead in the end. The consumer would have spent the money anyways, so there are no winners, but labor is the ultimate loser.

I'm wary of any suggestions that American businesses should take away from labor to stay competitive, because it's ultimately harming the consumers, who are merely employees themselves. These companies are actually killing their own customer base inadvertently.

And that "pay out" at the end of the career is achieved by virtue of everyone else loosing their share of income, not the worker making more then they would have otherwise earned a decade ago.
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Old 12-22-2011, 05:30 PM
 
11,151 posts, read 15,830,538 times
Reputation: 18844
Quote:
Originally Posted by slackjaw View Post
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.
Don't assume it's "common among public sector employees." I accrue personal time on a monthly basis and it doesn't carry over year-to-year and it's not payable upon retirement.

However, at my last private sector job (a major insurance company), it DID.

Carry on.
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Old 12-22-2011, 05:36 PM
 
8,263 posts, read 12,194,543 times
Reputation: 4801
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dark of the Moon View Post
Don't assume it's "common among public sector employees."
I don't need to assume, it is a common practice regardless of your anecdotal experience. Of the many government agencies discussed in that article at both city, state, and county level they had exactly one that didn't allow sick time to pile up until retirement.

I think that fits the definition of common pretty well.
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Old 12-22-2011, 09:01 PM
 
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,550 posts, read 81,103,317 times
Reputation: 57750
Perhaps other public agencies should do it the way ours operates. We have sick leave only for circumstances such as hospitalization, requiring proof. Then we have PTO that can be used for vacations or routine illness. If you call in sick for a hangnail or sniffles, you reduce your available vacation time. Yes, you can sell back some PTO any time,
as long as you leave a minimum amount, but have to sign a statement acknowledging that it will not be counted toward your retirement benefit
calculation.
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Old 12-22-2011, 09:39 PM
 
5,730 posts, read 10,123,668 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by slackjaw View Post
I don't need to assume, it is a common practice regardless of your anecdotal experience. Of the many government agencies discussed in that article at both city, state, and county level they had exactly one that didn't allow sick time to pile up until retirement.

I think that fits the definition of common pretty well.
Sorry, not saying (nor do I know) which way it goes, but "of the ones discussed in the article" is ALSO antidotal.
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Old 12-22-2011, 09:55 PM
 
Location: Sierra Vista, AZ
17,531 posts, read 24,689,422 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by slackjaw View Post
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.

Retiring Arizona public employees get to cash in years of unused sick days

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.


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.


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?


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.

Carry on.
Another Tea Party Grump,

Stop the buy back and Police Officers will take their sick time, as a result you will pay another Police Officer time and a half to replace him/her.
At least most Police, Firemen, Teachers and other Public Employees know who the enemy is now, those who are after their pensions and benefits, the GOP
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Old 12-23-2011, 05:56 AM
 
Location: Great State of Texas
86,052 posts, read 84,450,777 times
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Corporate world, for years, allowed employees to save vacation days and they claimed that windfall when they retired. Then, when pensions started falling by the wayside in favor of 401K they changed vacation days to annual "use it or lose it".

I don't know why the public sector didn't follow the corporates when they started changing things a decade or so ago.
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Old 12-23-2011, 06:00 AM
 
11,151 posts, read 15,830,538 times
Reputation: 18844
Quote:
Originally Posted by slackjaw View Post
I don't need to assume, it is a common practice regardless of your anecdotal experience. Of the many government agencies discussed in that article at both city, state, and county level they had exactly one that didn't allow sick time to pile up until retirement.

I think that fits the definition of common pretty well.
Common, perhaps, for the state of Arizona, but that's only one among 50 .....
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Old 12-23-2011, 06:27 AM
 
8,263 posts, read 12,194,543 times
Reputation: 4801
Quote:
Originally Posted by Boompa View Post
Another Tea Party Grump,

Stop the buy back and Police Officers will take their sick time, as a result you will pay another Police Officer time and a half to replace him/her.
At least most Police, Firemen, Teachers and other Public Employees know who the enemy is now, those who are after their pensions and benefits, the GOP
Tea party? Gotta love when those who see the world in shades of political spectrum toss around political labels, especially when I'm able to get called a Tea Party Grump and a ******* within a 48 hour period.

So what you are saying is the attitude that baffles me in its approving nod to fraud. If we don't give the cops (yeah the ones serving with honor and integrity) cash reward for unused sick time they will lie about being sick to use it all, costing the taxpayers more money to hire more cops that will also lie about being sick. Great racket I guess, but I'm not so accepting of a simple acknowledgement of blatant dishonesty, nor do I think a reward should be needed to coax integrity out of public servants.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Dark of the Moon View Post
Common, perhaps, for the state of Arizona, but that's only one among 50 .....
Does at least half the states qualify as common?

ABQjournal.com: Albuquerque Journal login page
At least half the states allow eligible employees to turn unused sick time into cash when they retire or quit. Among those is New Mexico, which allows eligible employees to cash out up to 400 hours of sick leave at half their salary rate – which translates into about five weeks of pay.
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Old 12-23-2011, 07:14 AM
 
11,151 posts, read 15,830,538 times
Reputation: 18844
Quote:
Originally Posted by slackjaw View Post
Among those is New Mexico, which allows eligible employees to cash out up to 400 hours of sick leave at half their salary rate – which translates into about five weeks of pay.[/i]
The ABQ Journal requires a login, so I can't read the article.

However, if half the states allow people to cash out a career's worth of unused sick days to receive a measly 25 days of pay, I'm fine with that. It's hardly the "mini-lottery winnings" you describe in your opening post.
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