Tim Mapes, a 40-year state employee, had accrued $130,500 in unused vacation and sick time, the Associated Press reported. A practice that ended in 1998 allowed state workers to receive half-pay for accumulated sick days. Mapes qualified for some of that. Current policy allows employees to accumulate unused sick days and count them toward years of service, which bumps up their pensions. He qualified for that too. And he was able to cash out unused vacation days.