10:02 AM PDT on Wednesday, October 13, 2004

By CHARLES E. BEGGS, Associated Press Writer

SALEM -- Oregon state employees use sick leave more often than their counterparts in other states, a state audit says.

National Institue of General Medical Sciences.

The report issued Tuesday by Secretary of State's Bill Bradbury's office also said Oregon is one of only six states in which most employees have no incentive to save unused sick leave.

For every 100 hours of paid working time, auditors said, state agencies pay for 2.3 hours of sick leave. The national average is 2.0 hours.

The report estimated the value of the above-average rate of sick leave at between $14 and $16 million.

"Reducing sick leave use may or may not result in immediate savings," auditors said, noting that less use sick leave "would reduce the amount of unproductive time for which employees are paid and further eliminate indirect costs associated with sick leave," such as overtime pay.

Most full-time workers accrue eight hours of sick leave per month, which they use for personal or family illness or injury.

The report said 44 other states provide financial rewards for employees to conserve unused sick leave. Because most Oregon state workers have little incentive to save their leave, auditors said, they might see it as a "use it or lose it" benefit.

A relatively small number of Oregon state employees receive some added benefit for unused sick leave when they retire. That's limited to workers hired before 1996 who choose one of several retirement options.

For other employees, any unused sick leave balance is canceled when an employee quits or retires.

A national study indicated that more than 40 percent of sick leave is taken because of stress, personal needs or just to use up the benefit and not because of illness, the report said.

In other states, incentives for saving the benefit include reimbursing employees for some or all of the cash value of unused sick leave when they retire or quit, and converting unused leave into additional vacation time.

Auditors said paid "leave bank" programs, which give workers a bloc of leave hours instead of separate vacation, personal, and sick leave, also can be effective in reducing unscheduled absences.

In a written response to the audit, the state Department of Administrative Services said it generally agreed with the recommendations.

Kathie Best, president of the Oregon Public Employees Union, said other forms of time off "rather just sick leave should probably be addressed."

She said the biggest state employee union has been interested in working with the state toward flexible scheduling by which employees could adjust work schedules to make up for time taken off for illness or other needs.