By Ed Jacovino Journal Inquirer October 22, 2013
HARTFORD — The state doled out $13.6 million in longevity payments to
more than 27,000 state employees last week.
The bonuses go to employees who have worked for the state
for 10 years or more. They get the checks twice a year, in October and April.
The $13.6 million payout is down from about $17.7 million in
longevity payments that went out in April. That’s because this month’s payments
went primarily to union employees.
But nonunion managers didn’t lose out — the longevity pay
was added to their base salaries.
That change could cost the state money in the future, according
to the Office of Fiscal Analysis, the legislature’s nonpartisan budget office.
That’s because when employees retire and cash in unused sick and vacation time,
the longevity pay is figured as part of their salary rather than as a separate
bonus.
This is the first longevity payment since a two-year freeze
on increases ended. Workers “snapped” forward two years, meaning some employees
saw increased payments because longevity pay increases every five years a
worker stays on the job after 10 years served.
The bonuses have come under fire in recent years. Opponents
say they’re unnecessary and stem from a time when public-sector jobs didn’t pay
as well as similar work in the private sector. The longevity bonuses were meant
to account for that gap.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, a Democrat,
advocated to end longevity as part of the 2011
concession agreement with unions. Instead, the deal froze the payments for
current employees for two years and eliminated them for new employees.
State prosecutors and higher education employees raked in
the highest bonuses this month. Assistant
State’s Attorneys Matthew
Crockett and Andrew Slitt earned the biggest bonuses
this month, getting more than $6,000 each. After that, several administrators
in the Connecticut
State University
System brought in more than $4,000 each in bonuses.
http://www.journalinquirer.com/politics_and_government/longevity-pay-goes-out-to-state-employees/article_0f952f0a-3b1b-11e3-ba4b-001a4bcf887a.html?_dc=741576313739.6425