Kinda buried in the article about overtime/sick time abuse by unionized State prison guards:
Officers earn three to four weeks of sick leave a year, and can carry over their sick leave from one year to the next. Unused sick leave can be tapped to pay for health care in retirement
Helluva deal.
In the real world, sick-leave hours are "use 'em or lose 'em," and NOBODY gets 120-160 hours' sick leave/year. NOBODY.
But those poor, stressed-out, overworked folks in the Union---my oh my, how the State mistreats them, eh?
The non-solution: more of the same.
Lawmakers agreed to hire 50 new officers in October to cut overtime costs. The move is expected to drop overtime costs to $26.3 million this fiscal year, down from $38.2 million last fiscal year
Cut overtime costs, increase "sick" leave accruals and pension obligations.
Yah, that's smart.
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8 comments:
It's not quite that simple.
The guards could be screwing themselves in the end because of what's actually a well-reasoned policy to discourage sick leave abuse.
The state does not pay retiree health insurance (many school districts and local governments do). What the state does is use an employee's unused sick leave to create an insurance fund at retirement and retirees pay their own health insurance from that fund. Think of it like COBRA.
The guards may be fudging the system now but at the end of the day the state could have a last laugh when the guards don't have much left in their insurance account. Of course, if they don't plan to retire, that sick leave is lost.
"Use it or lose it" sick leave is not beneficial to any employer. I worked at places with those policies and it's amazing how many people were "sick" 13 days a year.
As for public-vs.-private industry comparisons, that's not apples for apples. In private industry I had a company car, gifts and bonuses, tuition reimbursement, yacht parties, discount from vendors and the like. In the public sector those would mostly be called bribes.
Hmm. I my real world, I don't work, I don't get paid. My company does give us 3 paid days for the death of a 1st tier family member such as a spouse or parent. That's it.
Wow, Bill. I feel for you.
Perhaps the "private industry" you joined was susceptible to bribery. Maybe that's why you got out of it.
In the non-bribery real world, company cars are no longer issued except for on-the-road sales types and maybe the top two or three officers of the Company.
Bonus, yes--earned, not given. Yacht parties? No big deal. Lotsa parties in the old days, fewer these days except from firms which obviously are over-charging their customers.
As to "vendor discounts"? That's dangerous.
Back to the top: sounds like your "private industry" was susceptible to all sorts of semi-ethical practices.
And we wonder why the ChiComs are taking business left and right...
Actually it was a very ethical business.
Though the number is decreasing, there still are good companies that take care of good employees.
I'll stand by my comment, rag.
The business you were in was seriously overcharging its customers.
And you're right: the serious over-chargers are becoming few.
No surprise. People are paying attention these days.
Benefits are almost as good as when I worked for a predecessor company 30 years ago.
Health Care Coverage
Comprehensive medical and prescription, dental, and vision coverage.
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Basic Life Insurance provides a benefit of 1 1/2 times annual base earnings. Optional additional, spousal, and child life insurance are also made available for purchase.
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Fully funded short-term disability benefits may continue for up to 26 weeks per calendar year. Employees can also elect long-term disability coverage.
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If eligible, employees may request leave for events such as military duty, the birth of a child, the adoption of a child, bereavement, or illness (their own or an immediate family member’s). Except for military leave, leaves of absence must be approved by management and may be granted in six-month intervals.
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The EAP provides assistance with a wide range of personal issues and concerns on a confidential basis.
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Comcast reimburses up to $5,250 per calendar year for approved undergraduate and graduate degree-completion programs.
Vacation/Holiday
Through a combination of vacation days, flex-time, and floating and paid holidays, newly hired employees can have up to 22 paid days off during the first year of employment.
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The ESSP offers employees an opportunity to purchase shares of Comcast stock at a 15% discount. Each quarter, eligible employees may elect to contribute up to 10% of their pay (not to exceed $10,000 per year) toward the purchase of Comcast stock through payroll deductions. At the end of the quarter, the contributions will be used to purchase shares.
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Comcast offers voluntary benefits including prepaid legal services, property casualty insurance, pet insurance, and long-term-care insurance through convenient after-tax payroll deductions.
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rag, there's nothing there that is extraordinary--22 paid days? No big; there are 6 paid holidays at minimum, and most companies add 4 to the minimum. Add 10 days vacation, and 2 days personal, and you have 22.
I recall the days of the 'cable wars' for the Milwaukee franchise. There was a great deal of.....h.uh....spending going on.
It was bribery, no doubt.
And that bribery included hiring ex-high-level staffers of various Gummint types due to their connections.
Call it "persuasion" if you like.
So. You claim that benefits are unusually good at Comcast, and in fact they do NOT include a fixed benefit pension plan; it's likely that the health insurance policy includes a $3K/family co-pay and deductible combo. Most likely the employees are now making a premium contribution--which was not mentioned in the blurb, but...
Concentrate on real expensive items like the terms of the health plan and the fixed-bennie pension and you'll figure out what all of us know:
Public sector people live large in comparison.
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