Linn County adopts new rules for managers' vacation, sick leave

Linn County Engineer Steve Gannon expects he'll have no problem complying with a new county policy requiring him to take at least two weeks off each year.

“I've followed their policies, so I'll follow this one as well,” Gannon said. “It's not too hard to take two weeks off a year.”

Gannon's name came up in April, when County Auditor Joel Miller noted managers hired before 2002 who don't take vacation or sick leave could receive year-end payouts for the unused time. If a manager didn't take their full allotment for two years, they could receive cash for half the unused time.

The county paid out $86,819 in such settlements over the fiscal years 2007-'09, according to Human Resources Director Lisa Powell. The county paid another $351,590 to retiring managerial-level staff for unused time. Powell's staff is preparing a report for the fiscal year that ended Wednesday.

Under the new policy, managers must take at least 80 hours of paid time off a year to reduce their unused leave . Managers who fail to take the required time off will lose it after two years.

Gannon, with the county 32 years, gets seven and a half weeks of vacation a year. He's received payments of $5,864 to $7,725 over each of the past three years. He said he usually took more vacation before the 2008 flood, when the demands of repair and recovery kept him working long hours.

“It'll give me chance to take time off to help my kids move to the University of Iowa,” he said.

Gannon expects he'll continue to receive payouts for unused sick time.

“It's hard to use that up unless I get sick,” he said. “I haven't used a sick day since '74.”