Some interesting facts/observations had to, for the sake of space in our print editions, be left on the cutting room floor last night when editors were preparing today’s report on the state’s little-known longevity pay program, which rewards union/non-union employees for time on the job with the state.
Here are three items I at least wanted to share with any interested readers here on the blog:
1. Elected officials who take a state job have their time in office count toward their longevity pay schedule. So say you’ve been working for state government for four years but before that served three, two-year terms in the General Assembly. You have technically served Connecticut for the minimum ten years necessary to be eligible for longevity pay.
Take Robert Jaekle, one of the Auditors of Public Accounts. Jaekle is tied with fellow auditor Kevin Johnston for having the third highest longevity payment in 2009 – $13,284. Jaekle told me that’s because his service technically began in 1977, when he was sworn in as a legislator in the General Assembly.
2. State Sen. Dan Debicella, R-Shelton, ranking Republican on the Appropriations Committee and a candidate for current Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Himes’ Congressional seat, suggested longevity payments be replaced with performance bonuses.
“I don’t think the public would have a problem with people getting bonuses based on performance,” Debicella said. “But on tenure? Maybe it keeps some here but are they all people we want? … I’m sure most getting longevity are great at what they do but not all of them are.”
3. Patrice Peterson, a state employee and union official quoted in my report, told me the problem isn’t the size of the longevity payments some non-union managers are making – but the number of managers.
“If you want to go and look at cutting out longevity for managers, you’re masking the problem – which is too many managers,” Peterson said. “It’s not that you’re giving one individual $10,000 for a job well done. It’s that there’s too many of them.”
