By Ben Stanley
Rockford Register Star
Posted Feb. 3, 2015 at 3:00 PM
Updated at 7:33 PMBELVIDERE — When it comes to vacation days, it’s now “use-it-or-lose-it” for Boone County employees.
According to a new county employee vacation policy approved by the County Board on Jan. 24, county employees can now only carry over five days of vacation per year with permission from their department heads. Vacation days that carry over must be used within six months of the anniversary of employment.
Under the previous policy, employees could save up vacation days for years and cash them in for huge sums just before retirement. The saved vacation days were paid out according to the employee’s most recent rate of pay — unused vacation days increased in value if a person’s salary rose.
Thousands of dollars worth of unused days can strain the budget when claimed unexpectedly. Winnebago County released a report in 2014 regarding vacation policy abuse that revealed an unpaid bill of $805,255 worth of vacation racked up by 105 county employees.
According to county officials, similar data has not been gathered in Boone County.
Boone County Administrator Ken Terrinoni and County Board Chairman Bob Walberg said the board began discussing changes to vacation policy during executive session in December. Talks started around the same time former Boone County Public Defender Azhir Minhas was cut a $28,000 check for 10 weeks of unused vacation he had stored up during his final years in office. -
See more at: http://www.rrstar.com/article/20150203/NEWS/150209822#sthash.8TC8O5UG.dpufBoone
Additional story on Azhir Minhas go to: http://boonecountywatchdog.blogspot.com/2015/02/boone-county-benefits-from-case-of.html
Below is the revision which occurred to the vacation policy: The corrections are the recent changes. It is very interesting that Mr. Minhas is the Depart Head of the Public Defenders Office and apparently allowed the carry-over of his own vacation days.
Above is taken from: http://www.boarddocs.com/il/boone/Board.nsf/files/9SBQWE6A7C4E/$file/Personnel%20Policy_201412311240.pdf
No comments:
Post a Comment