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ID: 4771164
Publication Date: November 7, 2010
Day: Sunday
Page: A1
Edition: FIRST
Section: News
Type: Local
Dateline:
Column:
Length: long
Headline: Firefighter sick time raises eyebrows **In Easton, 46% of sick
days taken have been paired with other non-working days.
Nearly half of all sick days taken by Easton firefighters so far this year
have been combined with other paid time off, city records show, a pattern
that city officials say suggests the department may be misusing its leave.
A Morning Call analysis of city payroll records obtained through the state
Right-to-Know Law found that 46 percent of the total sick days taken by
firefighters through mid-October have been combined with holidays,
personal days or vacation days for extended time away from work.
While Easton has not uncovered any hard evidence of any firefighter
breaking the terms of the union contract, which allows for 21 sick days
per year to be used for personal illness or injury, City Administrator
Glenn Steckman called the results of the analysis "troubling."
Unlike in other city departments, sick days in the fire department almost
always result in overtime and cost taxpayers because of a contract
provision requiring a minimum 10 people per shift. The city's budget
estimates fire overtime will hit an all-time high of $530,000 by the end of
this year.
Mayor Sal Panto Jr. has called Easton's overtime one of the largest drains
on the city budget. He said last week that any employee, fire or otherwise,
with a pattern of unusual sick time use has been put on notice.
"I don't believe that you need to use all your sick days before you can be
charged with abuse," Panto said. "You can have 100 days on the books,
but if you take a sick day when you're not sick and we find out, you're
going to get disciplined. You may even get terminated."
The problem of sick time and the resulting overtime is not unique to
Easton. Allentown and Bethlehem have struggled during the past decade
with the same problems. Across the country, cities once flush with cash
find they can no longer afford not to crack down on abuses.
For example, Steckman said, one firefighter took sick time when he had a
lot of family illness. But the contract allows sick time only when the
firefighter himself is ill. In another case, Steckman said, a firefighter used
sick time when he did not get cleared for vacation days.
The problems stem from an ingrained culture throughout City Hall and all
departments, including fire, that has allowed sick days to be used more
liberally than prescribed in city rules and union contracts, Easton officials
say. Changing that culture, Panto said, is like trying to turn the Titanic.
Bast said some firefighters had good reason for calling out sick, and
others were counseled on the sick time policy. When asked if sick time is
a problem in the department, as the city believes, he said, "As of today, I
don't expect to see a problem."
Some firefighters get injured during their vacations, he said, which may
result in sick days following a period of other time off. Some firefighters
get sick right before a vacation, he said, which would explain sick days at
the beginning of a break from work. But those situations would not be
unique to firefighters.
Hand added that firefighters also may choose to use holidays, personal
days or vacation days rather than sick days for scheduled surgeries or
other extended medical procedures because sick days accrue year to year,
while the other time off does not.
In those cases, if they cannot get regular time off, they may use sick time
during a long break, he said.
When asked about The Morning Call analysis, he said "the numbers mean
absolutely nothing."
Easton firefighters work a 24-hour shift every third day. For example, a
firefighter may work 24 hours on Monday, be off Tuesday and
Wednesday, and work again Thursday. They receive 21 sick days per
year, but must use two sick days to call out an entire, 24-hour shift.
Though actual sick time abuse would require a firefighter being caught
away from home on a sick day, which city officials said has not happened,
patterns revealed in The Morning Call analysis reinforced concerns in
City Hall about how the time is being used.
For example, city records show William Williams III began a two-month
break this summer with a sick day on June 25, followed by two holidays,
another sick day, seven holidays, seven vacation days, a personal day,
another sick day, and a final holiday Aug. 24.
That would have given him 65 days away from the fire hall.
On four occasions this year, Leo Engelhardt combined sick days with
other forms of time off, records show. In February, he sandwiched a
personal day between two sick days, the analysis found. In June, he paired
a sick day with a holiday, and later that month took a sick day with two
vacation days.
In September, he again paired a sick day with a vacation day, the analysis
found.
He did not elaborate on why he took the sick days, and did not address
two other times he paired sick days with other time off.
"The fact that I have to even defend myself in this matter makes me sick,"
Sepulveda said.
"It should be assumed that when they're using their sick time, they're
using it right," Hand said.
The Morning Call analysis also found that about 39 percent of sick days
were used for a single shift and were not paired with any time off. In these
instances, firefighters also would not have been required to provide a
doctor's note, leaving city officials with few ways to prove misuse.
Only 15 percent of sick days were taken on consecutive shifts and not
paired with other time off, the analysis found. Two or more consecutive
sick shifts require a doctor's note, though Steckman concedes that rule has
not always been enforced.
But should the city not see changes in the patterns of sick time, Steckman
said, officials will consider actions against individual firefighters.
Questions from city officials about Easton's firefighter sick time came
about the time Allentown fired firefighter Richard G. Gawlik Jr. for
playing rounds of golf in August on days he called in sick. A Morning
Call analysis last year found Allentown's department to be using sick time
that drove up overtime. Nothing in their contract prevented them from
using it that way.
The Bethlehem fire department earlier this decade struggled with sick
days and the resulting overtime until the union and city officials agreed to
reduce the number of sick days allowed without a doctor's note. A change
in 2003 reduced the amount of sick days being used.
Five Easton firefighters have made more than $90,000 in overtime since
2007, bolstering some annual paychecks by nearly 50 percent, The
Morning Call analysis shows. John Hartman, an 11-year veteran of the
fire department, earned $106,350 in overtime during that time, the most of
anyone.
Hand said the long hours and strenuous work cause more sick time among
firefighters than employees in other professions. In terms of overtime, he
commended those working the most and blamed the city for not hiring
enough people to prevent shifts from falling below the 10-firefighter
minimum.
The city would need 42 firefighters for a full complement of three shifts
of 14. In terms of overtime, a full complement is important because the
department is allowed to schedule up to four vacation days, personal days
or otherwise excused days per shift.
Add to that any sick days, injuries and military duty, and sometimes five
or six men can be on overtime on one shift. The department currently has
two shifts of 14 men and one shift of 13 men.
SO FAR IN 2010
* 192 (46 percent): Sick days paired with a holiday, vacation day or
personal day
ALL SIDES
no firefighter admitted to sick time misuse and the pattern in The Morning
Call analysis shows nothing. Firefighter jobs are strenuous, and there is no
hard evidence of any misuse.