Massive sick time payouts for public workers may come to an end. Here's why

Top Democratic lawmakers are lining up behind strict new limits on sick time payouts for public workers, angering unions and reigniting a debate that raged during the administration of Gov. Chris Christie.

Payments for unused sick time has grown into a $1.9 billion liability for New Jersey taxpayers, according to an analysis by NJ Spotlight last year, with headline after headline of six-figure payouts feeding the perception that some workers are abusing the system.

But union representatives see any new limits as an assault on collective bargaining rights and a grab for compensation that many public servants rely on for retirement. Most rank-and-file union members are already bound by payout limits of $15,000 or less, they say, with larger payouts the exception.

Christie, a Republican who often disparaged the taxpayer-funded payouts as “boat checks,” had sought — and won — some caps on the accrual of unused sick time, although a final compromise with the Democratic-controlled Legislature remained elusive.

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In 2010, Christie signed a $15,000 cap for municipal, county and school employees hired after that date — the same that has long applied to state workers. But the same year, Christie vetoed a bill that would have also capped existing employees at $15,000, saying he wanted a plan to eliminate the payouts altogether.

It is those legacy employees, especially police chiefs and school superintendents, that are still able to accrue eye-popping payouts for unused sick time.

A bill advanced by an Assembly committee Wednesday, A-1851, would impose a limit for all public employees of $7,500, which could only be claimed, with a few exceptions, in the form of payments toward health care coverage or other medical costs over five years.

Public employees who had accumulated more than $7,500 in cash payments before the effective date of the bill would get to keep the money, but further accumulation would be frozen.

Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, have signed on as sponsors of the legislation, indicating that the measure is likely to sail through the Legislature with minimal resistance.

The bill would then be sent to Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat who was elected with substantial union backing. Asked the governor’s position Wednesday, Murphy spokesman Dan Bryan said vaguely that the governor would support a plan that “protects taxpayers, respects collective bargaining and most importantly supports fairness.”

Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt, D-Camden and another bill sponsor, defended the measure at a hearing Wednesday as what many union leaders had agreed to under Christie when he was calling for the total elimination of sick time payouts.

But, as was pointed out by Ginger Gold Schnitzer of the New Jersey Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, “that’s not the environment today” with the more union-friendly Murphy in office.

Instead, Gold Schnitzer said, her union now opposes the bill.

“It further limits our members’ ability to bargain their compensation,” she said. “It is an attack on collective bargaining and by extension, it is an attack on the sustainability of the middle class.”

Donna Chiera, president of the American Federation of Teachers New Jersey, another teachers union, added that the bill would hurt many low-level school employees who depend on sick time payouts of a few thousand dollars to transition into retirement.

Patrick Colligan, president of the New Jersey State Policemen's Benevolent Association, which represents about 33,000 members, said most rank-and-file police officers already have negotiated caps on sick time payouts around $15,000.

“We are not the problem,” he said, placing blame for six-figure payouts on the special contracts that local leaders often reach with chiefs or deputy chiefs.

The payouts remain a major burden for taxpayers. An analysis last year by The Record and NorthJersey.com found that municipal employees in Bergen, Morris, Passaic and most of Essex counties are owed more than $273 million in retirement payouts, including for unused sick time.

Just this month, The Record and NorthJersey.com reported that Lodi Superintendent Frank Quatrone can retire with at least $177,122 worth of sick days.

That came a few months after his brother, Lodi Police Chief Vincent Quatrone, retired with a payout of $232,097 for unused sick, vacation and personal days after serving 28 years.

Email: pugliese@northjersey.com