How many days are paid time off? Beaufort Co. to offer employees sick leave, more holidays
Beaufort County employees will likely soon have more time off and paid sick leave — a new benefit for the more than 400 local government workers.
The county’s finance committee unanimously approved plans Monday to provide employees with paid sick leave, two additional holidays and a personal day. The plan, which will go before council for final approval on Dec. 9, will go into effect in January.
Previously, county employees were not offered sick leave, and they had 10 paid holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, the Friday after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
With the new plan, employees will also receive holiday pay on Good Friday, President’s Day and a personal holiday. They also will have as many as 12 days a year for sick leave, depending on hours worked.
Deputy Administrator Chris Inglese presented the plan to the committee Monday and said better benefits help to “attract and retain quality employees.”
The new policy is part of Jacobs’ plan to improve the culture of the government she has led since April. She said she wants employees to feel more recognized and energized at work, which leads to better performance.
Employees who have worked for the county for a year or more already receive between 15 and 25 paid days off a year. Inglese said employees have used these days as sick leave — or instead, have come to work “visibly sick.”
“The benefit to employees is apparent,” he said. “We want to make sure we have a healthy working environment.”
The new sick leave policy would offer full-time and part-time county employees paid time away from work for illness, whether personal, for immediate family members, for doctor’s appointments or recovery. The committee also agreed that legal guardians may take sick leave to care for their wards.
The sick leave balance will accrue at the end of each two-week payroll period:
- Full-time employees accumulate 3.69 hours every pay period or 12 days a year. A maximum of 720 hours may carry over from one year to the next.
- Employees working 12-hour shifts accumulate 3.87 hours per pay period and may carry over up to 756 hours.
- Employees working a 24-hour shift receive 5.2 hours of sick leave per pay period and may carry over a maximum of 1,008 hours.
- Regular part-time employees who work at least 20 hours per week receive sick leave pay on a proportional basis.
The committee also agreed to require employees who work a regular eight-hours-a-day shift to provide a doctor’s note if they miss three consecutive days of work. Supervisors may request employees who work 12- or 24-hour shifts to provide medical documentation for an illness at any time.
With the added three paid holidays, Beaufort County will be in line with the 13 holidays offered to South Carolina state government employees. Instead of Good Friday and a paid personal holiday, however, the day after Christmas and the controversial Confederate Memorial Day are considered state holidays.
County employees who are required to work on holidays, such as police officers and firefighters, receive a holiday allowance equal to one day’s pay on top of the regular rate for hours worked. All other employees who are scheduled to work on a holiday, but who do not work, are paid for one day of work. Employees not scheduled to work on a holiday do not receive holiday pay.
This story was originally published December 3, 2019 at 4:50 AM with the headline "How many days are paid time off? Beaufort Co. to offer employees sick leave, more holidays."
