Tuesday, May 01, 2007
That’s My Kind of Job
From March 1, 2006, through March 31, 2007, Manager Kim Bailey has been away from work on sick, vacation or administrative leave for 424 hours - or 10.6 weeks - significantly more than any other department head, according to documents obtained through a request under the Colorado Open Records Act.
That total does not include time Bailey has taken off from work since September as she works toward a doctorate.
However, Bailey estimates she’s spent 110.5 hours at school during regular business hours.
Combined, that’s 13.4 weeks off work, or more than three months. Bailey, who earns $110,423 a year, was paid for all those off-hours.
Cronyism, nepotism, or good, old-fashioned butt kissing--I’m willing to do what is necessary to secure a position with great pay, killer benefits, and all the paid vacation you can handle. Now, where do I send my resume?
Is it really any wonder that most Americans have a dim view of politicians and our nation’s bounty of bureaucrats in the guise of “public servants”? Rank certainly has its privileges, but when those perks grow too extravagant it becomes harder for us serfs to stomach the disparity. Normally I would suggest that she should have been fired, but, considering the amount of time some congressmen take off every year from doing their jobs,* I suppose a bit more than three months paid time off is showing outstanding focus.
*I shouldn’t complain. The more time congressmen take to travel and campaign, the less time they have to focus on the rest of us. Honestly, the alone time is kind of nice.
I would have thought that the Manager of Denver’s Parks and Recreation Department would have had some good reason to head to the office, though.
Comments & Trackbacks
As an employee of a different city and one who aspires to be a department head I will not necessarily try to defend so much absence from work. However, I’m not sure what her work schedule was like in a normal year. Perhaps school or other things are particularly demanding this year. 13 weeks off is not that difficult to get to. Let’s say she is a 20 year employee. She likely racked up at least five+ weeks of vacation time. She probably has a couple of floating holidays in addition to the regular holidays. Management positions also typically get something called management hours or administrative hours. They are hours they can use for personal needs. I get forty automatically and can earn more by attending after hours meetings and working over time. (I do not get over time even though I often work 60 to 70 hours per week these days.) Those hours are intended to be used here and there and not lumped together to take a week off. I imagine that she tried to use every means of covering her hours missed with vacation and leave time so as not to just be away from work.
There is something else to keep in mind. The woman does not likely work normal hours. She has to attend city council meetings and in the city where I work those meetings sometimes go until 3 AM. She likely also has community meetings in the evenings when residents can be there and events to attend on weekends.
I know, I know, I’m a brain washed bureaucrat.