As a long-term employee (39 years) at the University there has been one topic that has consistently come up among fellow employees — the compensation paid to retiring employees for accumulated sick time.

The rate being paid by the University hasn’t changed in the last 30-plus years. The University giving a maximum amount of $2,500 when you have accumulated 120 sick days is grossly unfair. That is equivalent to at most one month of pay for an employee’s six months of time.  

As it is with everything as time passes, all things being equal, the cost of everything goes up. Somehow this has been overlooked or ignored for way too long. The subject has been brought to Staff Council a number of times by various employees.

Staff Council apparently either has been ineffective in addressing this topic or deemed it not a priority to pursue. Either way it seems from staff’s viewpoint that we have been let down on this matter. As our elected representative body, Staff Council should present issues that staff as a whole have and communicate any results (good or bad).

What was the administration’s response? Is this an item that is on Staff Council’s agenda for the future?

In closing, I have heard the common response to be “use as many sick days as you can before you leave or retire,” which is not the option we want our employees to be considering as it adversely affects that particular department.

Sincerely,

Raul R. Valles 
System engineer, Computing Services and Systems Development