Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter has instituted a "use-it-or- lose-it" vacation and sick leave policy for his top appointees.

"These rules are fair and they protect taxpayer dollars," Ritter said in a news release.

The policy comes after an outcry over practices by Ritter's predecessor, Republican Gov. Bill Owens.

Owens initially had a similar use-it-or-lose-it policy when he took office in 1999.

But that changed effective July 1, 2004, when Owens allowed Cabinet directors and other appointees to accrue unlimited vacation and sick leave, so they would have hefty final paychecks.

In a 2004 memo, then Chief of Staff Bob Lee wrote:

"The intent of this policy change is to provide an incentive for employees to remain in the governor's office through the end of the governor's term."

But the directive - which Lee now admits was confusing - was misinterpreted by some payroll departments, which recalculated leave back to 1999.

One Owens appointee, Human Services Director Marva Livingston Hammons, received a final paycheck of $55,528.

Governors' policies compared

RITTER'S LEAVE POLICY

• Vacation: 20 days annually

• Carryover: Capped at 240 hours for any director with five or more years of service to the state, at 192 hours for those with less than five years. After hitting the cap, the director loses the hours.

• Payout: Paid for all unused vacation.

• Sick leave: 10 days annually

• Carryover: Regardless of years of service, the maximum that can be accumulated is 45 days.

• Payout: Only employees who are retirement-eligible are paid a portion of their unused sick leave (one hour for every four hours) when they quit.

UNDER GOV. BILL OWENS*

• Vacation: The amount of days earned depended on years of service, with a minimum of eight days and a maximum of 20 days annually.

• Carryover: After July 1, 2004, there was no cap on the amount they were eligible to accrue; some departments mistakenly recalculated leave for directors back to 1999.

• Payout: Paid for all unused vacation.

• Sick leave: Maximum of 12 days annually

• Carryover: 45-day cap

• Payout: No matter the employees' ages, they were paid a portion of their unused sick leave (one hour for every six hours) when they left office.

* New policy instituted on July 1, 2004.

Source: State records

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