Clark County firefighters’ use of sick leave falls by 57,000 hours

Las Vegas Sun ^ | Thursday, March 1, 2012 | 3:15 p.m. | By Joe Schoenmann

[redreno]

Since county officials began questioning firefighters’ use of sick leave two years ago, sick-leave requests in the Clark County Fire Department have fallen by 57,000 hours.

A county report obtained in response to a Sun request found that within those 57,000 hours, battalion chiefs’ sick leave fell from an average of 164 hours a year two years ago to about 16 hours last year, a 90 percent decline.

For rank-and-file firefighters, the average hours of sick leave taken fell from 227 hours two years ago to 136 hours last year, a 40 percent drop.

The staggering decline has saved Clark County millions of dollars. Although firefighters are still paid while out sick, the department saved on the cost of an additional firefighter to fill in at overtime rates, which sometimes includes payments into the employees’ retirement account.

[driftdiver]

227 hours out of 2080 hours in the year? wow

[Jonty30]

What caused the number of sick days to fall so far?

[Jonty30]

What caused the number of sick days to fall so far?

[rocksblues]

Most paid Firemen that I know have at least 2 jobs.

[elkfersupper]

Union thugs strike again.

[elkfersupper]

Somebody accountable to voters questioned it.

[b cool]

...maybe they started to take vitamins?

[I see my hands]

They aren't "firemen" nor even firefighters. They are government unionists.

[JDW11235]

WHAT!?! You mean you don’t get 6 weeks of sick time at your job? That’s criminal!

[vette6387]

Just like the firefighter crooks here in Contra Costa County, California. When you look at county pay over $100,000 it’s in two areas: 1) County Hospital Doctors ( most of whom you can’t pronounce their names) and 2) firefighters. Of the top ten pensions in the county seven of them are former fire chiefs and four of the seven are from one small district in the county. Firefighters base pay is over $100,000 per year but most are taking how at least double that figure. Union firefighters are clearly the biggest crooks in the PE ranks. And, here’s the kicker, these a$$holes get to retire at 50, so we end up paying them in retirement on average for more years than they worked!

[gaijin]

Let me get this right; Battalion Chiefs —the men who set the tone, show leadership and a model of “how it’s to be done” —these men took an AVERAGE of 160 hours of sick leave PER YEAR...?

For a typical job that would be 20 days off per year for being sick...!!!!

Has anyone heard of benefits more lavish than this?

OMG...!!!

[rellimpank]

—Steve Sisolak—it’s been quite a ripoff—only a few got fired —should have been dozens fired who were gaming the system with the collusion of the union (which runs the FD)—

[George from New England]

Can you say ‘tip of the iceberg’

[brewguru]

I know our state employees here in Idaho used to use sick leave as extra vacation time. The guy I know worked for the liquor store. Towards the end of the year they’d take turns calling in sick.
They looked at it as a “use it or lose it” deal. A benefit they were fully entitled to take.

Sick leave is supposed to be used so you don’t have to work when you are actually sick! Also, so you can’t be fired for getting sick and being unable to work. For as hard as those guys worked, the actual vacation time we gave them was more than fair.

That was pretty common all over but probably less so in the private sector. Lots of governments and businesses are cracking down on that kind of abuse. I know my company has.

I’m hard core. Only three sick days in five years and they were all legit. I actually went 10 years once without calling in. I only got 24 hour bugs over the weekend twice in all that time.