By Shawn Regan
The Eagle-Tribune, North Andover, Mass.
HAVERHILL, Mass. — Mayor James Fiorentini is looking to crack down on what he says is widespread sick-time abuse across numerous city departments.
The issue of excessive sick leave by city employees was thrust into the spotlight when it was revealed at a City Council meeting last week that the School Department overshot its budget to pay substitute teachers and other school workers by $256,000 last year because as many as 25 high school staff members were absent from work on an average day.
But Fiorentini said it’s not just school employees who are abusing sick time. He said there appears to be “excessive sick time use” by firefighters, highway workers, building inspectors, non police officers in the Police Department, and employees in the city clerk, tax collector and auditor’s offices. Among the worst offenders are firefighters, who missed an average of 11 days last year, and highway workers, who missed 9 days on average.
The mayor said these types of abuses led the city to insert tough sick-time language into recently negotiated contracts with police patrolmen and superior officers and water employees.
The new language allows the city to send someone to the home of Water Department employees who call in sick to make sure they are there and really ill. If the employees aren’t home or can’t be reached by phone, they can be logged for an unexcused absence and denied pay for that day.
The new police contract allows the chief to require a doctor’s note before officers can be paid for sick leave and return to work if he believes they have shown a pattern of excessive absences. He can also require officers to submit to an examination by the city doctor.
Those simple changes in the union contracts have helped the city curb sick-time use by more than 500 hours compared to the first six months of last year, said Fiorentini, who wants to include similar provisions in new contracts with teachers and other city workers.
“Controlling and managing sick leave and overtime is a major administration goal over the next year,” Fiorentini said, adding that he now receives sick-leave reports every three months that identify employees who appear to be calling in sick excessively. “Department heads are instructed to meet with and warn employees who have no known medical problems that their sick leave appears to be a difficulty. Employees are warned that sick-leave abuse will not be tolerated and that sick leave is not to be taken as a matter of right.”
Like teachers and most other school workers, city firefighters, police officers and other municipal workers receive 15 sick days per year and at least three days for personal business. While city employees work 12 months a year, however, teachers get the summer off. Teachers also don’t get paid vacation time, which all other employees do.
Firefighters had the highest call-in rate among city departments with more than 10 employees, according to information provided by the mayor. The city’s 101 firefighters called out sick 1,099 days last year.
Ironically, the Fire Department has the most generous incentives for employees not to use sick time. The city pays retiring firefighters for 40 percent of their unused sick days, based on their salaries. The only other employees with a similar “buy-back” incentive are police officers, who can sell the city 20 percent of their unused sick days when they retire.
Fiorentini said he doesn’t think the buy-back incentive is an effective deterrent to calling in sick.
“People who are 30 years from retirement aren’t worried about holding onto their sick days,” he said. “And the buy-back encourages the attitude that sick time is an entitlement, which is the root of the problem.”
City Personnel Director Mary Carrington said the high rate of absenteeism among firefighters might have been influenced by unrest over the absence of a permanent fire chief for several years.
The firefighters union had strongly objected to Fiorentini’s reluctance to name a permanent chief, saying it was causing undue stress and anxiety among firefighters and supervisors. That dispute ended in May when the mayor appointed longtime Haverhill firefighter Richard Borden as chief. The president of the firefighters union, Tyler Kimball, could not be reached for this story.
The highest call-in rate overall, 18 percent, belonged to the nine non police officers at the Police Department, including dog officers, clerks, secretaries and building-maintenance workers. The city clerk’s office, where four workers called in an average of 11 days last year, is also a concern, the mayor said.
“Contract language is critical to curbing sick time,” Fiorentini said. “The police chief and DPW director have tried to discipline their employees for calling out excessively, but the labor unions complain and file grievances because there is nothing to prevent it in the contract.”
The only provision in the current teacher contract aimed at curbing sick time use, for instance, is that school officials can require a medical note from teachers who are out sick multiple days in a row, Assistant School Superintendent Kara Kosmes said.
The news regarding sick time use is not all bad, Fiorentini said. In addition to the fact that sick time use is down by 500 hours over the first half of this year, more than 100 city employees had perfect attendance last year, he said.
“Some of our departments have sterling attendance and sick-leave records and should be commended,” he said.
The mayor said he recognizes employees with perfect attendance during the holiday season with a congratulatory party and free lunch.
Fiorentini, who is pushing to combine several school and city departments, including finance and human services, said concerns over excessive absenteeism by teachers and other school workers bolster his consolidation argument.
“We would like to be able to do some of the things we are doing to curb sick time for city workers on the school side,” he said.
Copyright 2008
The Eagle-Tribune (North Andover, Massachusetts)