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Colorado paid nearly $60 million to departing workers
Posted: Oct 9, 2011 3:55 PM by Dr. Anya Winslow
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) - State statistics show Colorado paid nearly $60 million to departing workers for unused leave and sick time over the past three years and could owe $367 million more to current employees.
The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reported Sunday the figures came from its analysis of expenditures reported by the State Controller's Office.
Republican state Rep. Laura Bradford of Collbran says her own research found that a single state worker who retired in 2010 was paid more than $60,000 in unused leave and sick time.
Bradford is considering a bill that would stop the practice of accumulating such benefits.
The Legislature capped the number of leave and sick hours state workers can accrue in 1988, but departing workers can still get huge final paychecks, particularly longtime employees who earned higher salaries.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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