Government Exec reported that on Friday legislation was introduced that would allow Federal employees to donate their unused sick leave to an agency wide leave bank. The bill was sponsored by Representatives Gerry Connolly, Jim Moran and Chris Van Hollen and all have stated that the bill will be nearly cost neutral. Government Executive reports:
Federal workers currently can apply accrued sick leave toward their annuity calculation in full year or month blocks, but employees nearing retirement have to use or lose any remaining sick leave. That has led to millions of dollars in annual lost productivity, according to the bill’s sponsors.
The legislation would allow feds to donate their excess sick leave to agencywide leave banks. The Federal Aviation Administration is the only federal agency that allows employees to donate both annual and sick leave. FAA employees donated more than 22,000 hours of sick leave in fiscal 2010.
Representative Conolly stated: “This is a proven policy in the private sector, and I witnessed its success firsthand during my years with Fairfax County [Va.], which has a similar policy,” Connolly said. “If the federal government is going to continue recruiting and retaining highly qualified employees, this must be part of the menu for a competitive benefits package.” I think this is a fair point, and lots of options should be put on the table for hiring reform and drive highly qualified employees to the public sector.
Would you participate in this kind of program within your agency?