Sharp urges reconsideration of state employee annual leave buyback bill

OKLAHOMA CITY – Legislation failed 24-18 Tuesday that would fairly compensate state employees for lost annual leave they are not able to use.  House Bill 1953, by Sen. Ron Sharp and Rep. Dustin Roberts, seeks to allow state agencies to voluntarily buy up to 200 hours of an employee’s unused annual leave as long as the employee maintains at least 120 hours after payment.

“We have approximately 32,500 hardworking state employees, many of whom are overworked and underpaid. Deep budget cuts in the last decade have forced many agencies to cut their staffs significantly leaving those left to take on multiple people’s responsibilities. Many of those aren’t allowed to take their vacation time because of extreme workloads and low staffing levels so they simply lose their hard-earned vacation benefit above the 480 hour annual leave cap,” said Sharp, R-Shawnee. 

State employees are allowed to carry up to 480 hours of annual leave each year.  Depending on the agency, any unused hours above that amount are lost at the end of each month or year.

“The state is essentially stealing thousands of hours of benefits from state employees annually for no reason because the funding is available to pay them,” Sharp said. “This bill will ensure those state employees who aren’t able to use their annual leave are still compensated for the time they earned. I urge my Senate colleagues to do the right thing – approve this bill and stop taking advantage of our state workers by stealing their annual leave with no compensation.”

Annual leave cannot be used for retirement like sick leave but currently state employees are paid out for their accrued annual leave, up to 480 hours, when they quit or retire. According to the Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES), the bill is revenue neutral as state agencies are required to budget for the possibility of having to buy employees’ annual leave at any given time.

HB 1953 was requested by members of the Oklahoma Public Employees Association (OPEA),

“We’re disappointed in Tuesday’s vote.  Many Senators don’t seem realize what’s happening to our state employees,” said Sterling Zearley, OPEA Executive Director.  “Nearly ten percent of current state workers lose annual leave each month or at the end of the year because they’ve hit that cap but can’t take time off due to

staff shortages or high workloads. House Bill 1953 will allow agencies to voluntary compensate their employees for unused annual leave rather than have them lose it.”

OPEA noted HB 1953 could provide numerous benefits including cost-savings for agencies.

“This is a good bill for state employees and the agencies they work for. It’ll help boost moral for dedicated state employees who feel like they’re being taken advantage of because their hard-earned leave benefits are being taken away. It could also save agencies money as it’s cheaper to pay for annual leave throughout an employee’s career rather than one huge lump sum when they quit or retire and their salary is at its highest,” Zearley said. “It’s a win-win for everyone involved, and I encourage the Senate to strongly reconsider their vote on this important measure and do what’s right for Oklahoma’s state employees.”