Double days off for some public workers

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A sign is visible on a Grand Traverse County desk Thursday inside the Governmental Center on Boardman Avenue. Record-Eagle/Keith King
Grand Traverse County workers, usually on left, are away while City of Traverse City workers, at right, are present Thursday, December 30, 2010 in the Governmental Center on Boardman Avenue. Record-Eagle/Keith King

December 31, 2010

BY ART BUKOWSKI abukowski@record-eagle.com The Record Eagle Fri Dec 31, 2010, 06:14 AM EST

TRAVERSE CITY — Don't plan on conducting any business in the Governmental Center today.

Grand Traverse County and city employees have the day off as a paid New Year's Day holiday. County employees and hundreds of other local public sector workers were off Thursday too, part of a trend of double days off for both Christmas and New Year's.

Traverse City and Leelanau County were among the few local units of government that were open Thursday, since they don't treat New Year's Eve as a holiday. Several local governments celebrated that on Thursday and New Year's Day on Friday because Jan. 1 is on a Saturday this year.

Every local government contacted by the Record-Eagle gives days off for both Christmas and Christmas Eve, a practice that goes back years.

"It's certainly a nicer benefit than some people who work at small businesses get," said Grand Traverse County Commissioner Ross Richardson.

The days off largely are driven by union contract negotiations, officials said, and aren't meant to stiff the taxpaying public. But non-union employees get the bonus holiday perks, too.

Some residents said they're irked by the practice.

"It shouldn't be that way," said Munson Medical Center retiree Amy Mueller, who stopped by the Governmental Center Wednesday with her husband, Eric. "We both worked at the hospital, and we didn't get anything like that."

Grand Traverse County spends about $131,600 in payroll on any given business day, county Finance Director Dean Bott said, and the county observes 12 paid holidays each year. Bott said payroll expenses on a holiday are generally the same as any other day, though most county sheriff's employees make more than double their normal pay for work on holidays.

County Administrator Dennis Aloia said the county tries to maintain a compensation and benefits package that's fair and competitive with other municipalities, and that the county generally sees a drop in business in the holiday season, anyway.

Kalkaska County employees get two days off for each holiday. The two for New Year's is a relatively recent addition there, said Frank Wright, the county's controller. Extra days off are just a part of union contract negotiations, Wright said.

"(Employees) probably gave up something to get an extra holiday; that's probably what occurred," he said.

Wright couldn't specify what, if anything, county employees gave up.

Leelanau County employees don't have New Year's Eve off, but do have Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a paid holiday. Grand Traverse County employees work on the latter. Grand Traverse didn't have either Martin Luther King Jr. Day or New Year's Eve until the latter was added, Aloia said.

Tammy Bowers, chief deputy county clerk in Benzie County, said plenty of people in the private sector also receive paid time off around the holidays. She hasn't heard any complaints, she said.

"A lot of businesses are that way," she said. "I haven't heard a lot about it."

Peggy Kole, an administrative assistant for Antrim County, said there's "some resentment" for government employees who get extra time off. But she defends it to her friends and associates who rib her.

"They have absolutely no idea what it takes to sit at these desks," she said. "They think it's a cake walk, but it's not."

Courts are closed, and employees off, for two days on both Christmas and New Year's. That time off is set by the state, Michigan Supreme Court spokeswoman Marcia McBrien said, though local courts could request to be open if they wanted to.

Traverse City resident Gary Welch isn't too bothered by the paid holidays. Emergency services personnel will be on duty, he said, and that's what matters most.

"I guess I'm really kind of neutral on it," he said outside the Governmental Center on Tuesday. "I don't think it's that much of a deal. There's going to be police protection, there's going to be fire protection."

Richardson, who acknowledged government employees are known for having "generous" time off, said the days off are something the county could take a look at in future contract negotiations.