Some discussion is floating around our county, like a stiff breeze from Hereford, about revamping the county's leave policy. Specifically, employees accrue both vacation leave and sick leave. Employees are paid for any unused vacation leave when their employment ends, but not for unused sick leave.

Some elected officials are suggesting that we move to a unified system of leave (referring to it as something like "personal leave"). Does your county have such a policy? If so, would you mind sharing with me your experiences with and evaluation of such a policy?

We have changed our policy to reach closer to the proposed winds from Hereford. Cons: It allows employees who want to be out to be out more, no wait that might be a pro. It allows flexibility for the employee in utilizing the leave. Pros: It allows a bigger payout. What we did was combine Sick with Personal. You get a percentage of that total on retirement. Vacation is still seperate and you get all of that up to a max based on years of service.
The real question will be under what circumstances may you take the leave? and Secondly, how much do you get paid when you leave?

Good point, Ray. Am I to suppose by the fact that Ray is the lone responder, though, that every other county in the state has a bifurcated (it's always a good day when you get to use that word) leave system? Or, perhaps, the sundry leave systems across the state are matters of strict security that cannot be discussed over a wide-open medium like the Internet. In that case, I'm hoping to hear viewpoints and examples at Wanna Wanna. Actually, that's not true. I'm hoping to hear seagulls, beer bubbles and mindless chatter at Wanna Wanna.

Waller County policy is to distinguish sick leave from vacation leave. On "separation" an employee is paid for accrued vacation, but not sick leave.

We also have "civil leave." A county employee is paid by the county for the time spent in jury duty (including selection process)and for time spent as a subpoenaed witness for the county, state or US.

In a time and place far distant from this, I worked for an employer that put sick and vacation into "personal leave." I think it helped employees inform the bosses ahead of time if they needed to be out (not so many calling in "sick" at 8:00) so the bosses could schedule substitute workers if necessary. This may not be useful for county employees for whom there is NO SUBSTITUTE.

Ours looks a lot like Waller County - bifurcated leave with payment for unused vacation. We did create a sick leave pool last year. We also have the miscellaneous junk - funeral, military, and civic leave. Since these are not considered a benefit of employement - we just don't dock you for them - there is no compensation for them upon leaving our employment.

Scott,

Our county has the bifurcated leave described by Brother Ray above. But the hospital district has a unified system of 'PTO' or 'paid time off'. If you want to talk to someone from the hospital's HR office, let me know and I'll put you in touch.

adiamond@tarrantcounty.com

Do I hear my name ??
Truth is that I would think most counties follow tradition, therefore thou should be deafened by the silence.

I do know of one massive, major international accounting firm that does not differentiate between vacation, sick or personal time. You get so many paid days a month stuck in one category that are called "paid leave" and you get a maximum number of carry over per year--hence use it or lose it. It actually seems to work quite well, no more calling in sick when out shopping at the mall or cruising in the South Pacific ( I could tell you a story that you would not believe
about cruises and sick leave, but it's true ). But once used, they are gone, and if you get sick, then you simply do not get paid.

Lubbock County uses a "unified" system of "Personal Time Off." Most employees accrue 6 hours PTO for every bi-weekly pay period (156 hrs / yr + 12 paid holidays.) There is no distinction between "sick days" and "vacation days." Carry-over at the end of each year is 144 hrs. Long-time employees (over 8 yrs of service) accrue 8 hrs per pay period and carry over 216 hrs.

Keeping mind that every system has supporters and detractors, this system seems to function fairly well. Most complaints come from (1) employees who were here when the old bifurcated system was in place (who lost a hundreds of hours of accumulated time) and (2) new hires who use their PTO as fast as it is accumulated...and then get sick.