Clark County firefighters’ sick leave drops by 57,000 hours

Clark County Fire Department employees cut back on sick leave requests by 57,000 hours in the two years county officials have been questioning whether some were abusing the system.

In a memo to commissioners Monday, Assistant County Manager Ed Finger wrote that average annual usage for fire rank-and-file employees decreased from 227 hours to 136 hours per employee during the same time period compared with 2009, the year before the negotiations and arbitration. Usage among battalion chiefs has fallen from 164 hours per employee to 16 hours.

Commissioner Steve Sisolak, who has pushed for the sick leave investigations, said he had "no idea (the hours) would fall to this extent."

"I think it verifies what I said at the time, that there was a large amount of abuse regarding sick leave," Sisolak said. "While it was unfortunate that not enough people, in my opinion, were prosecuted, the reduction in sick leave is obviously representative of the fact that there was an enormous amount of abuse. New policies and transparency have changed the abuse, and I think taxpayers are better off to the tune of millions of dollars as a result of it."

Firefighters' sick leave can be costly because the tight staffing often requires those who fill in for absent co-workers to be paid overtime and usually for 24 hours. Overtime helped push the average wage of firefighters in 2010 to $130,000 and of battalion chiefs to $180,000.

Ryan Beaman, president of the International Association of Firefighters Local 1908, emailed a statement to the Review-Journal on Thursday afternoon.

" Local 1908 has always fully supported any disciplinary actions that have been placed on the few abusers of our system," Beaman wrote. "Saving our community's lives and money is a priority. We take fighting fires seriously and abuse will not be tolerated."

Sisolak has said those who have gamed the system, whether it was improper time off, overtime or padded pensions, should pay restitution on money or other benefits.

Commissioner Tom Collins disagreed that the abuse was "rampant."

"It's not the entire workgroup; it's a few people," Collins said. "To see these changes makes a big impact on our budget. There are a lot of other budget savings that took place through negotiations. I don't want to say there was rampant fraud or abuse. That's not how you talk about your employees."

Two firefighters who were terminated last year for misusing sick leave received a total of $120,000 in severance pay and qualified for sizable pensions, the same money and perks they would have received if they had retired on good terms.

Both were fired in large part because emails they sent in 2009 indicated they used sick leave for vacation rather than for medical reasons, a breach of the labor contract and county policy.

The Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI are conducting their own probe, which could turn into a criminal investigation. Their investigation includes poring over half a million emails and documents.

County staff is preparing the annual compensation and leave report, which is expected to be completed by the end of next week.

County officials are in contract negotiations with the firefighters union.

Contact reporter Kristi Jourdan at kjourdan@reviewjournal.com or 702-455-4519.