Betrayed"
Worker sick over pay policy


GUILDERLAND — How many town workers take sick leave when they aren’t really sick"

Carl Burnham says many. Supervisor Kenneth Runion disagrees and says that any employees, like Burnham, who are caught taking sick days when they aren’t sick will be penalized either by pay or vacation time.

Burnham, who is 60, told The Enterprise this week that his plans to retire from the town’s water department last month were wrecked when the town supervisor told him his vacation time had to be used to cover the sick days he took when he wasn’t sick.

This isn’t fair, Burnham said, since his boss in the water department told him, and many retirees before him, to take the sick days off; it wasn’t his idea, Burnham said. Now, without the $3,500 in accumulated vacation time he thought he had, Burnham is working part-time at a saw mill to pay his bills.

Runion told The Enterprise this week that using sick days when an employee is not sick is simply a violation of town policy.

Burnham says William West, the town’s superintendent of water and wastewater management, told him to use his sick days as vacation days. West declined comment to The Enterprise since, he said, this is a personnel matter.

Whether West told Burnham to take the sick days off or not is irrelevant to the town’s allowing the action, Runion said.
"What Bill West may have told him was not in conformance with town policy," he said.

Retirement plans

Burnham has worked for the town’s water department for almost 14 years. He was a laborer, he said, operating backhoes and doing maintenence and repair work.
"It was a good job; I liked it," he said.

Burnham had originally planned on waiting until he was 62 to retire. But, he said, he changed his mind and decided to retire at 60.

Both of his parents and his brother died from heart problems, he said. Burnham decided to retire while he’s still healthy, he said.
"I wanted to ride my horse and have a good time," he said.

Burnham, who lives alone in Schoharie, spoke fondly of his horse, Jeff, whom he named after his grandson. Burnham got the five-year-old horse when it was a colt. It replaced another horse that he had for 30 years, he said.

Months before Burnham was to retire, he told his foreman of his plans, he said.

A few weeks later, he said, West told him to work three days a week instead of five. This is because, Burnham said, he had accumulated almost 28 sick days.
Burnham said it wasn’t his idea to take his sick days off for pay, it was West’s. "He approached me. I never said a word," he said.

Burnham spent weeks taking days off to use his sick time. Then, on Sept. 28, he worked his last day.

His retirement check wasn’t to come until the end of November, but he planned on being paid for the five weeks of vacation time he accumulated, he said.

Burnham took little vacation time when he was working for the water department, he said. He took days off only during hunting season or when a family member needed him, he said.

After Sept. 28, Burnham went to the water department to find out when he would be getting his vacation pay, he said. West told him to go to Town Hall, Burnham said.

There, Burnham met with Supervisor Runion, he said. Runion told him he wasn’t allowed to use his sick days unless he was sick, Burnham reported.
So, Burnham said, Runion told him that he wouldn’t be paid because he had no vacation time left. His vacation time was to be transferred to the "sick days" he took.
Asked what his reaction was, Burnham said, "I didn’t say very much then. I knew if I did, I’d go into a rage. They’d have to take me to the other side of the building, where the police department is."

Burnham is losing $3,500 in vacation pay, he said.

What angered Burnham the most is that he’s seen numerous workers from the town’s water department take their sick days off before retiring. They weren’t given any problems, he said.

Town policy

Shirley Gage, the town’s human resource officer, told Runion that Burnham was wrongfully using his sick time, Runion said.
"Sick days are for when you’re sick," Runion said.
Asked if she knew West told Burnham to use his sick days, Gage said, "That’s between Mr. Runion and Mr. West."

Asked if she knew of other employees who have used their sick days this way, Gage said she didn’t. She would have reported those people to Runion, as she did Burnham, Gage said.
"If someone had done this, I’d have known about it," she said. "All retirees come through my desk."
"No one’s done it since I’ve been here," Runion, who has been supervisor since 2000, said of using sick days as vacation time. "We have to follow the town policy very strictly. It’s very simple."

Accumulated sick time can be used when a person retires to extend his or her health insurance, Runion and Gage said.

Vacation time, Runion said, can also be accumulated. Many people retire and then get paid for a few more weeks because they have unused vacation time, he said.

Both Runion and Gage said that Bob Cardinal, a building inspector who just retired, used the balance of his sick time for health insurance and was paid after he retired for unused vacation time.

Full-time workers get eight hours of vacation time and eight hours of sick time each month, Gage said.

In the town’s policy, it states that sick pay can be used: by an employee due to the illness of his or her spouse, child, or parents, or for the illness of anyone residing with the employee; for doctor or dentist appointments; and for an employee to attend the funeral of relatives who are not members of his or her immediate family, as defined under the bereavement leave.

If a person takes five sick days in a row, the policy states, he or she must provide to the town a written excuse signed by a doctor.
"This is so there isn’t abuse," Runion said.

Employees must also provide an excuse if they call in sick the day before or after a holiday. If they do not, the employee will not be paid for the holiday and the holiday, too, may count as a sick day.
"It’s pretty clear," Runion said. "We have union contracts that are even clearer when you are to use bereavement time, sick time, and personal time."

Burnham said that West agreed to speak to Runion about the water department’s policy. He came to the Enterprise office, hoping that telling his story would help him get his vacation pay.

Runion, however, said this week that Burnham used his vacation days before he retired and he will not be paid any more.

In the meantime, Burnham is working part-time at Rudy’s Rough Cut Lumber, in East Berne. He’s doing this because he otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford to pay his bills, as he’s not getting his retirement check yet, he said.

At the saw mill, Burnham is piling and moving wood that had been cut into slabs and boards, he said.
"It’s hard work, but I’m not worried about that. I know hard work," he said.