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SCHENECTADY
City looks at ‘use it or lose it’ vacation, sick time policy
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter

    The city new fire chief may have to use his sick and vacation time or lose it, rather than saving it up for a big payday when he retires.
    The City Council will vote within a month on whether to change management benefits to the “use it or lose it” model, Finance Commissioner Ismat Alam said. If the benefits change, new Fire Chief Michael Della Rocco will be affected.
    The new chief will have a salary of $120,000 — which is just $1,000 more than former Chief Robert Farstad earned. But Farstad’s offi - cial salary was $106,000. Longevity, holiday pay and other benefi ts added up to a total salary of $119,000, Acting Mayor Gary McCarthy said.
    But McCarthy said he wanted his new chief to have a fl at salary, without add-ons.
    “I just want to simplify this, so people know what a position costs, so there aren’t these hidden things,” he said. “I think it’s a kind of game people play.”
    Della Rocco’s old position, as assistant chief, will also not be fi lled. The city will continue to have deputy fi re chiefs.
    Della Rocco will also get a city car to drive from his home in Guilderland to the city for after-hours fires. Farstad, who lived in the city, also had a car.
    “There will be no other compensation package,” McCarthy said. .......................>>>>........................>>>>.........................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00903&AppName=1

Some employers use that and some don't.  But for sure, there would be lots of employees calling in sick when not really sick.  Just play it carefully enough so they don't raise suspicion of playing hookie.

Some companies also have separate sick time and vacation time, usually what I understand in this case is that the vacation time is paid for, the sick time is not.

Quoted from mikechristine1

  But for sure, there would be lots of employees calling in sick when not really sick. .

It doesn't matter if they call in sick, it is figured into the operating budget and staffed properly to cover the absences year to year.  I still can't figure out how municipal jobs allow rolling over sick time year to year.  How do you budget and staff year to year when every employees has a different amount of sick time they can use?  What do you do when 3 or 4 town plow drivers have 20 years seniority and accumulated 35 sick days?  I would imagine you have to staff more and more every year to cover them in case they all choose to take off the month of January.  If they were given 5 or 8 days a year like most private companies do, you wouldn't have to over staff every year to cover for those that have 30 sick days.  But, as we know, this is a win win for the union boss and the politician.  This forces government to unnecessarily hire more employees, which equal more union dues, and the town leaders can hire more town residents that will ultimately vote for the party that gave them the job.  So the union gets more membership, the politician gets more constituents.  The only loser in the deal is the taxpayer.

use it or lose it.....there are enough 'government holidays'.....way to many entitlements that the future generations cant afford them.....get off the futures back with your
entitlements, that's why nothing can get done.....the future entitlements prevent progress and hide the criminals and waste time as podium pucks and play
red herrings when real issues need addressing....

remove the middleman