>Police sick day rules revised
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2012
BY JAMES QUIRK
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
The Bergen County Police Department has adopted a new attendance policy that defines the proper use of sick time and establishes penalties for patterns of abuse.
The policy was drafted by Police Chief Brian Higgins and went into effect Feb. 1. It comes three months after The Record reported that some veteran officers take as much as 520 hours of sick leave in a single year as they near retirement. One officer took 1,192 hours of sick leave — 149 shifts — in 2009, his final year of service with the department.
The new policy is the result of Higgins’ effort and additional discussions with the PBA, he said.
The first line of Section 6, “Sick Leave,” sets the tone of the changes: “Employees are cautioned that sick leave does not represent optional or additional days off, and is not a form of vacation or personal day.”
Higgins said that the county police took “a huge step” by creating this sick time policy – the first in the department’s history.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/138912989_Police_sick_day_rules_revised.html