State employees group files a sick-leave brief

The Utah Public Employees Association is continuing its legal battle with the state by filing a brief with the Utah Supreme Court arguing that a new law that changes how sick leave is handled for retirees is unconstitutional.

The high court on Dec. 16 upheld an order issued earlier that stops HB213 from going into effect until the merits of the case have been briefed, argued and decided by the justices. The law was to have taken effect Jan. 1.

At issue is a change by the state Legislature in how unused sick leave is handled when a state employee retires.

For more than 25 years, workers could trade one day of unused sick leave for a month of state-paid medical insurance once they retired.

HB213 was approved this last year by the Legislature as a cost-cutting measure to curb mushrooming health insurance expenses as baby boomers and others begin to retire.

It changes the benefit to a dollar-for-dollar exchange for unused sick days and also requires employees to cash out one-quarter of their unused sick leave and put that into their 401(k) retirement savings plan.

UPEA and five state workers claim HB213 breaches the contract the state had with its employees for more than two decades and devalues the 25 percent of employees' banked sick leave. That devaluation is an unconstitutional taking of employee property, according to attorney Ben Hathaway, who represents the UPEA and the five workers.