State Court Nixes Stockpiling Vacation Time

HARTFORD (AP) — The state Supreme Court struck a blow against state employees who had hoped to boost their pensions with stockpiled sick time.

In a unanimous decision released Wednesday, the Supreme Court reversed an Appellate Court ruling that would have cost the state as much as $100 million in additional pension contributions a year.

The state’s unfunded pension liability also would have soared in 25 years from $800 million to $1.14 billion, experts calculated.

“We think it is highly unlikely that the legislature intended to bestow a substantial annual windfall on them for the duration of their retirement — in essence, a lifetime annuity — merely because they chose to stockpile their vacation time rather than to use it,” Justice Richard N. Palmer wrote, referring to state employees. “This result penalizes workers who use their vacation days and rewards those who do not.”

Donald Longley and Richard K. Greenberg, two retired assistant attorneys general, challenged the state Employees Retirement Commission, which did not factor into their pension equation the dollar value of their accrued and unused vacation pay.

The two lawyers received lump sum payments for the accrued time. For Mr Longley, it was $53,183 and for Mr Greenberg, it totaled $42,934.

The commission ruled, and the Supreme Court agreed, that the lump sum vacation pay-out could not be added on to the last year’s salary because vacation pay represents time and would exceed the statutory definition of a year as being 12 months of service and no more.