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| Date: | November 21, 2011 | | Contact Name: | Chris Van Guilder | | Contact Phone: | 651-296-1388 | | Contact Email: | christopher.vanguilder@senate.mn | | For Immediate Release | |
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| SENATOR PARRY ANNOUNCES LEGISLATIVE HEARINGS TO REVIEW REPORTED EXCESSIVE VACATION AND SICK TIME PAYOUTS TO PUBLIC EMPLOYEES |
(ST. PAUL) -- Sen. Mike Parry (R-Waseca), Chairman of the Senate State Government Innovation and Veterans Committee and Chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Employee Relations, announced today that he will hold legislative hearings to address recently reported excessive vacation, sick time and retirement payouts to Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) officials and other government employees.
Sen. Parry commented, “Recent reports suggest that MnSCU administrators and employees in other areas of the government workforce have received excessive vacation and sick time payouts upon leaving or retiring from their position. Reported amounts range from a single individual payout of over $300,000 to more than $86 million total paid from 2009-2011. As Chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Employee Relations, I am announcing that we will hold legislative hearings to gather more information on the depth and extent of these allegations, review the current compensation plans, and address any inadequacies in the system.”
Minnesota law governs legislative authority for review and approval of compensation plans. The Subcommittee on Employee Relations was created with the ability to approve, reject, or modify agreements.
Sen. Parry concluded, “We are aware of some issues within the current agreements that led to these allegations and large payouts. We plan to invite all parties involved to provide more information, details, suggestions and context to this discussion. If there are reforms and improvements we can make in the interest of protecting both our public employees and the taxpayers, such as possible vacation or sick time caps and payout limits, we will pursue them. I intend to be as proactive as possible in scrutinizing these agreements and improving them as we move forward.”
Additional details on dates, times and locations will be announced at a later date.
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