Posted on 01/30/2013 1:03:55 PM PST by MichCapCon
The average state worker in Michigan is taking as many as five times more sick days than a worker in the hospitality and leisure industry or a construction worker and more than twice as many sick days as many other workers in the private sector, according to state and national reports.
State workers have called in sick on average between 9.4 to 11 days a year over the past five years, according to the Michigan Civil Service Commission annual workforce report. The report applies only to workers directly employed by the state; not public school teachers or local government workers.
"That's good work if you can get it," said Charles Owens, state director of the National Federation of Independent Business. "I don't think that would be sustainable in the private sector."
Private industry workers in the financial activities, information industry, trade, transportation and utilities and professional and business services used about four sick days a year, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report.
Workers in the leisure and hospitality industry and those in the construction industry used about two sick days a year.
Jason Ford, an economist with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, said the study was based on 2009 data and was the most recent available on private industry.
State employees can get as many as 12 sick days a year, said Matt Fedorchuk, acting deputy director for the Michigan Civil Service Commission. Fedorchuk said sick days can't be cashed out at severance for employees hired after 1980.
Government union representatives did not respond to a request for comment.
In 2011-12, the average state employee used 11 sick days on top of 18.2 vacation days.
The sick days drive up the cost of government, said Leon Drolet, chair of the Michigan Taxpayers Alliance.
"It's an incredibly high average," Drolet said of the number of days sick. "I would hope for the sake of the workers that they really aren't sick that much."
I have a private sector job and government makes me sick too.
Government Workers Average Twice As Many Sick Days Per Year As Private-Sector Employees
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Tip of the iceberg. They are also likely to earn twice as much while working half as hard as private sector workers.
Well, I know I’m shocked by this.........
There are government employees on this board. Put on your flame proof vest.
There are government employees on this board. Put on your flame proof vest.
It’s another one of those cases where in government the bosses and human resources don’t care about excess sick days because they don’t have a bottom line they need to worry about. It’s no skin off their back if you take a dozen sick days, in fact it would be extra work for them if they tried to get documentation from the employees who took off.
No need to, the system can be abused. I double checked last year's summary, and I used 32 hours sick leave. That included time off for doctor/dentist appointments, as well as taking my son to the doctor.
My accrued balance is approaching 6 weeks, and it's a relief to have that in the bank in case a serious illness comes my way.
What is this “sick day” thing of which you speak?
If I miss a day, that’s a vacation day.
If I miss a month, that’s “short term disability”, which entails being paid 3/4 of my salary, but requires a doctor’s note and entails a serious medical condition, usually with hospitalization.
More than a month is long term disability, for which I have private insurance, which pays 50% of my salary (think AFLAC).
Dems plan to fix this with mandatory paid time off laws for private sector employers.
And stocking up taxpayer money in their retirement plans, which will have shortfalls, after which they will seek taxpayer money to shore up the benefits... impoverishing many of the rest of us, while we will hear ad nauseum about what these “public servants” have sacrificed for us by working in goverment during their careers.
On the other, there are even a few Democrats and RINOs who understand we need a somewhat healthy private sector to generate the revenues necessary for the nanny state.
I can attest to the fact that many gov workers used sick days for no reason. I worked for the TX National Guard as a mechanic and later as a supervisor. When I retired at the end of 2011, I had over 2500 hours of sick leave. We were on a 4/10 work week and I made sure my doctor and dental visits were on Mondays, which were our normal day off and our work week was Tue - Fri.
“My accrued balance is approaching 6 weeks, and it’s a relief to have that in the bank in case a serious illness comes my way. “
You would not have anything like that, not even close, in most private sector jobs.
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