*I sure those of us in private industry could convert unused sick leave into cash...if we don't use them, we lose them.*

This is why people abuse sick leave.

Just give people a certain amount of "personal time-off days" [neither "sick" nor "vacation"] and have done with it.

dk, I pay $358 per month for health insurance (with copays and deductibles) and another $100 per year for parking. I also work year round. In fact, summers are the busiest for my department as that is when we roll out new and updated systems. Another story here talking about tech workers and the pay rates they get show that my hourly is about 80% the private sector. So what exactly is included in my "free" benefit package?
Am I complaining about my job? No, I love my job and the work I do. Just don't go saying that just because I am a state employee that I am overpaid, under worked, and given a huge free benefit package. (It shows how little you know.)

dk,
If you know people that are abuseing their sick time then they are crooks. What the professors did was wrong no other state employee can do that. As for the rest of us honest state employees we do not abuse it. We need it so someday we may be able to retire. As for someone else's money we are tax payers also. There is tons of waste in the state but it is not at the employee level look at what your elected officals waste not us. We take pride in our work and know that any waste or damage to equipment comes out of our pockets too. As for the people that work only 9mo. I can't speak for them but for the most part state employee make much less then the privite sector. I know people that do the same job as i do that start more then me after 10yr. They also get good benefits and don't have to pay to park at work. I have asked people I know that wanted a new job to look into a state job, they laughed when they found out what the pay was. They could not take the pay cut even with the benefits. It sounds to me like the media and politicians have done a good job and made you think all the state problems come from the paying the employees.

I'm not sure your info is correct "greenst". I believe the state compensates their employees quite nicely, especially those professionals that only have to work 9 months out of the year. There is a lot of waste that goes on with state workers that private industry workers would never get away with. I would challenge you to find one private company that pays their employees for time they are not at work without having to take vacation or sick time. In the private industry world, you are lucky to even get sick time and when you do have it, you have to practically beg or be dieing to be able to take off. I know a lot of people who work for the state who abuse their sick time and benefits because they have always been able to get away with it. It's about time the state workers start to be accountable for the benefits they have been handed all of these years. If you don't want to be accountable, then don't work somewhere that you get paid with someone else's hard earned tax dollars. If you think you are getting paid less than private industry, think again. You have probably never had to contribute to the cost of your health care, your own retirement account or many other benefits that state workers take for granted. Working in private industry, part of your pay is your benefit package. When you work for the state, you get the higher pay as well as the "free" benefit package.

I'm not sure your info is correct "greenst". I believe the state compensates their employees quite nicely, especially those professionals that only have to work 9 months out of the year. There is a lot of waste that goes on with state workers that private industry workers would never get away with. I would challenge you to find one private company that pays their employees for time they are not at work without having to take vacation or sick time. In the private industry world, you are lucky to even get sick time and when you do have it, you have to practically beg or be doing to be able to take off. I know a lot of people who work for the state who abuse their sick time and benefits because they have always been able to get away with it. It's about time the state workers start to be accountable for the benefits they have been handed all of these years. If you don't want to be accountable, then don't work somewhere that you get paid with someone else's hard earned tax dollars.

must be nice to get paid sick time , even nicer to stock pile it to pay for insurance .

It is one of our benefits because the state does not pay like the private industry nor do they give their employees an health insurance after retirment. This report is about the professors not the staff, if we are sick we have always had to use it.

I sure those of us in private industry could convert unused sick leave into cash...if we don't use them, we lose them.