The Boston Herald
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Hub coughs up big bucks in sick time
Critics call for changes to buyback system
By Jessica Fargen
The Menino administration - mulling parking fine hikes
and other measures to stave off a budget crisis - shelled out a whopping
$33 million in sick time and vacation day buybacks to city managers and
employees - a perk seldom seen in the private sector, a Herald review of
the past five years shows.
The bulk of the Boston buybacks, $23 million, were for unused sick time,
allowing some retiring city managers and workers to enter their golden
years with six-figure checks.
Among the biggest beneficiaries of the buyback bonanza:
= Former police commissioner Paul
Evans, who got $138,461, including $64,000 in sick time.
= Former fire commissioner Paul
Christian, who got $133,275, including $92,661 in sick time.
= Former public works commissioner
Joseph Casazza, who received $82,105, including $63,883 in sick time.
“There ought to be more focus on strong administration of sick time and
holding people more accountable - better management as opposed to a
carrot and a stick,” said Sam Tyler, head of the Boston Municipal
Research Bureau.
Added Bill Ahern, of the Tax Foundation, a Washington, D.C., fiscal
watchdog group: “Local government should consider if they are offering
too much. This is never seen in the private sector.”
A Herald review of sick time and vacation buybacks from 2003 to 2007
also found:
Boston fire department brass and jakes received $11.3 million, including
$7.9 million in sick time.
Police department brass and officers cashed in $7.7 million, including
$4.8 million in sick time.
School officials and teachers chalked up $8.6 million in sick and
vacation buybacks.
The vacation and sick time budget-buster comes at a time when the city
has been forced to bail out the school department with a $10 million
gift to stave off teacher layoffs.
All the more reason, says Tyler, to rachet up the oversight - not the
perks. “This is a policy that needs to be revisited,” he said.
Dot Joyce, spokeswoman for Mayor Thomas M. Menino, said the mayor’s main
focus during contract talks with city unions was health insurance, but
that he is always looking to save money.
“We will evaluate what the new issues will be in our contracts when they
are due up again” in three to four years, she said. “We’re always
looking for ways to reduce the cost of doing business.”
Thomas Nee, president of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, said
it costs the city more to pay a replacement officer overtime than it
does to buy back unused sick time from a retiring employee. Sick time
buybacks for cops are capped at 40 percent of 200 days - 80 days. Up to
two weeks of unused vacation time can be paid out annually, Nee said.
“This isn’t a radical concept. It allows employees to sell back their
collectively bargained benefits at significant savings to the
municipality,” he said.
At the Boston Fire Department, employees can accrue a maximum of 2,880
sick leave hours; upon retirement, they can get credit for 35 percent of
those. “It was something management looked at as a cost-savings,” said
Ed Kelly, of Boston Firefighter’s Local 718.
Boston school employees who retire, resign or die after 10 years of
service can get compensated at the rate of 40 percent for unused sick
days without limit, according to the teachers union.
Jonathan Palumbo, school department spokesman, called the policy an
“incentive” for employees not to miss work.
Joe Dwinell contributed to this report.
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this
material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes
only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml