08.13.08
County Approves Sick Leave Pool
Via KXAN, Wilco commissioners okay sick leave pool.
Williamson County commissioners gave the go-ahead Tuesday on a new county sick leave pool policy intended to help employees who have exhausted all of their sick leave due to catastrophic illness or injury. The program allows co-workers to donate extra sick time to a pool designated to aide employees.
Commissioners voted unanimously to create the new sick leave pool policy for county employees. While the program may seem like great news for some, others could get left out in the cold.
“My concerns are more on who can qualify to do it,” said County Judge, Dan Gattis. Gattis says he worries about young parents who are barely starting their families.
While Gattis may have been concerned, he clearly wasn’t concerned enough to vote against it. The RRL has more. Also check out these two articles from back in July when this was first proposed, AAS - Williamson County considers new sick-leave policy, and TDP - County rallies behind Newsom family. There are pros and cons to this kind of policy, and there is always a possibility of abuse and favoritism. From the RRL:
A yet-to be named administrator will oversee the sick leave pool, joined by a seven-member committee the Commissioners Court will appoint.
The committee will hear all sick leave requests - taking testimony for or against - and will have five voting members; consisting of county employees, department directors and elected officials.
Two non-voting members - the human resources director and a public health nurse - will also sit on the committee.
The committee’s decisions will be final.
Let’s hope the administrator and committee along with the newly elected officials next year will be able to keep things above board.
FedUp said,
August 13, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Say I have been putting in time to the sick leave pool for years. God forbid I now need help and put in a request for that help just to be voted by “the committee” NO and tha’s final. Now what? I have to leave work without pay. Pay I would have had if I had not donated MY time and the threat of losing a lot more then just my job?
Sorry, I believe in helping people out, but not at that risk of a vote.
FedUp said,
August 13, 2008 at 1:13 pm
WCLE wrote:
Suntanadobe-He can’t save his vacation time on his hopes…..That’s part of the deal with the pool. Most of us who have known Newsom for a lot longer than you have, and have gone through this type of ordeal and have wondered why this is now an issue. Some of us have had to take FMLA and work with Hospice, so why was this not an issue at that time. This was brought up about six years ago in commissioners court and it was tossed out. It seems that Newsom is the “Golden Child” in this county. Nobody seems to like him, especially those who work under him. I do believe this is why there is so many openings in patrol. As you have pointed out via Kathy, the 2 yr old’s family needs help too. Newsom didn’t metion this in any of the articles. He only speaks of his situation. I personally assisted with the 2 year old child’s fund raiser and found it to be a success. This is what angers me.
If this is to work, it’s got to be for every county employee, not just those select few, which will be govern. It will be a done deal with Wilco employees.
I really don’t think, at this point, there will be enough people willing to put into a pool. There won’t be enough time to even help Newsom out. When employee’s are “maxed out on sick leave time, and not paid for it when they resign or retire, they begin to abuse it. I understand that Newsom is almost out of sick leave time. So wouldn’t it be better if the county commisioners raised the max. on sick leave time and then pay for half when the employee resign or retire. That way “earn and burn’em” employees would not abuse their sick leave time. By the articles about Kathy and the way I have read the commissioners agenda, Newsom wouldn’t qualify for the pool anyway. So, why is there so much fuss, Is it because it is Newsom (The Golden Child)?