Bill Text: HI HCR10 | 2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Correctional Officers; Sick Leave Abuse; Auditor
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2015-04-22 - Report adopted, referred to WAM. [HCR10 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2015-HCR10-Introduced.html
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.C.R. NO. |
10 |
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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HOUSE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
REQUESTING THE AUDITOR TO REVIEW AND REPORT ON STATE CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES' LEAVE POLICIES AND CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS' LEAVE USAGE RATES.
WHEREAS, public employees of the State of Hawaii, including state correctional officers, are afforded numerous different benefits, including up to twenty-one days of paid sick leave per year which can be accumulated for use upon retirement as additional service credit; and
WHEREAS, there have been numerous allegations made in the media concerning alleged abuses of sick leave by correctional officers, leading to operational problems and increased costs to the State; and
WHEREAS, a report in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser discovered that at Oahu Community Correctional Center, on New Year's Day, 2013, eighty-two of two hundred twelve correctional officers scheduled to work called in sick, and on New Year's Day, 2014, fifty-three guards called in sick; and
WHEREAS, on certain days throughout the year, such as national sporting events, reports by media outlets Honolulu Star-Advertiser and Hawaii News Now show that a substantial number of correctional officers called in sick for work; and
WHEREAS, abuse of sick leave by correctional officers can cause critical staffing shortages in correctional facilities and force the use of overtime by remaining staff members, which, according to the Department of Public Safety's 2013 report to the Legislature, cost the Department over $4,300,000 in fiscal year 2011, and $7,300,000 in fiscal year 2012; and
WHEREAS, the Department of Public Safety released numerous postings on its website throughout 2014 stating that visitation days for inmates were cancelled at multiple correctional facilities statewide due to staffing shortages; and
WHEREAS, a report by Hawaii News now covered the death of a correctional officer who, on June 15, 2013, was left alone at his post in Oahu Community Correctional Center after over sixty-six officers called in sick, and who died at a nearby hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest on the job and having to wait thirty minutes in the locked post before getting treatment; and
WHEREAS, the safety and security of inmates, other correctional officers, and residents of surrounding communities may be jeopardized due to staffing shortages at correctional facilities; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2015, the Senate concurring, that the Auditor is requested to conduct a review of all state correctional facilities' leave policies and leave usage rates by correctional officers; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor determine whether the abuse of such policies is causing operational disruptions, exposing the State to unnecessary costs, or endangering the safety of inmates, staff, and the surrounding community; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor submit a report of findings and recommendations, including proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2016 Regular Session; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Auditor and the Director of Public Safety.
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OFFERED BY: |
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Correctional Officers; Sick Leave Abuse; Auditor