For the last two decades, Atascadero hasn’t enforced rules designed to limit accrued leave for employees. If it had, no employee would be able to carry more paid time off than they would accrue in two years of work. However, because of lax enforcement, the average employee has 196 hours of paid time off, or nearly five weeks.

Dealing with the enormous volume of banked vacation is a problem for the city. State law protects vacation and time off as vested as soon as it is earned, so it can’t be revoked. The city has the option to pay each employee for any vacation time that exceeds the limit, but that could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Or, the city can look into creating a two-tiered system for new hires. This would allow current employees to keep their extra time off, and would enforce the rules for any new hires.

From the Atascadero News:

The city of Atascadero has been under fire for the amount of leave liability its employees have been allowed to accrue over the years. On Tuesday, the Atascadero City Council will give staff direction on accrual options.

The Finance Committee met this past Tuesday to provide direction to staff before the item goes on to the council on Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 6 p.m.

According to City Administrative Services Director Rachelle Rickard, the city has not been enforcing its vacation accrual policy for at least 20 years.

Read the full article here.