|
|
|
A
majority of federal employees would be able to cash out part of their unused
sick leave at retirement under a bill introduced yesterday by Rep.
James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.).
The
employees are covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System, which has a
use-it-or-lose it requirement for sick leave -- a policy, Moran said, that
encourages people to call in sick in the months before they retire.
The
abuse is probably costing taxpayers $68 million a year, Moran said, citing an
estimate from the Office
of Personnel Management.
Congress
created FERS, as the system is known, to restructure federal retirement
benefits. It covers those hired since 1983, now about three-quarters of the
workforce. Most of the remaining employees are in the older Civil Service
Retirement System, which is being phased out.
Employees
covered by the older system can convert unused sick leave at retirement into
credits that increase their pension. FERS does not include a sick-leave benefit.
When
FERS was created, Congress sought to make it roughly equal in value to the old
system in other ways. For example, though FERS does not offer a sick-leave
credit, it does provide matching contributions to the Thrift Savings Plan, a
401(k)-type program.
But
the differences in the retirement systems seem to encourage FERS employees to
use more sick leave. FERS employees eligible to retire used nearly 35 percent
more sick leave than comparable employees in the older system, according to a
study released last year by the Congressional
Research Service.
Payroll
data examined by the OPM show that FERS employees eligible to retire use, on
average, 20.2 hours more sick leave annually than employees in the older system.
FERS employees nearing the time they would qualify for retirement also use an
average of 13.5 hours more sick leave annually, the OPM said yesterday.
The
higher rate for FERS employees has raised questions about whether a substantial
number may be gaming the system, by treating sick leave as vacation time.
Officials say it is relatively easy to take sick time in small amounts because
most agencies do not ask for a doctor's note for absences shorter than several
days.
Concerned
that the FERS use-it-or-lose it approach hurts productivity, Moran hopes to
create an incentive for FERS employees to build up sick leave balances.
Under
his proposal, FERS employees would be eligible for a lump-sum payment of up to
$10,000 for their unused sick leave.
The
proposed benefit would apply to accrued sick leave exceeding 500 hours. That
would ensure that employees have at least that much sick leave available for an
illness, injury or disability. Employees would receive 15 percent of the value
of their remaining sick leave.
For
example, a federal employee earning about $75,000 with 1,250 hours of sick leave
saved up would receive a $4,000 lump-sum payment upon retirement under the Moran
proposal, his office said.
Moran
announced his proposal at a meeting of the Federal Managers Association
yesterday. The bill has drawn support from the association and several other
groups that represent executives, managers and supervisors in the government.
In
a statement, Darryl Perkinson,
president of the Federal Managers Association, said that "by placing a
value on sick leave, FERS employees are encouraged to use their leave
responsibly. As a result, the benefit to the government is increased
productivity and morale, with minimal financial cost to taxpayers."
An
aide to Moran said a bill will be sent to the Congressional
Budget Office for a cost estimate. If the proposed benefit
appears too expensive, it may be scaled back, the aide suggested.
Nancy
H. Kichak, an
associate director at the OPM, cautioned against jumping to conclusions that the
different treatment of sick leave by the two retirement systems is behind the
higher rate of use by FERS employees.
There
are more women in FERS than in the older system, and it possible that women tend
to use more sick leave because of family responsibilities, she said.
In
addition, sick leave today can be used for more reasons than 20 years ago, she
said. Employees may take sick leave to care for an ill child or family member,
to provide time off for an adoption and for the funeral of a close family
member.
"We're
not attributing sick-leave usage being up to any particular thing," Kichak
said. "Times are different."
Health
Insurance Proposal
Children
of federally employed parents lose their government-sponsored health insurance
coverage at 22, but Rep.
Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.)
would like to extend the maximum age for dependents to 25.
At
a House hearing last week,
Raising
the maximum age for dependent coverage "will increase worker morale"
and help create "a more family-friendly environment for federal
employees,"