June 02, 2008
"Body Part" Bills
Early detection of cancer saves lives. Having said that, let's consider pending bills to give government employees in New York additional leave time to be screened for breast, prostate, colon and cervical cancer.
The well-meaning bills seek to encourage state and local employees--regardless of age, gender or medical history--to take time off to be tested for four life-threatening diseases annually--far more frequently than the National Cancer Institute or American Cancer Society recommends for the general population. Employees could not be required to use sick time, personal time or vacation time.
The bills do not apply to private sector employees, who somehow manage to find time for such tests. Nor do the bills assist individuals without health insurance.
Current state law grants up to four hours of excused leave annually for public employees to be screened for both breast cancer and prostate cancer, two deadly diseases. The laws exclude employees of New York City.
Legislators want to add: up to four or eight hours leave annually for colon cancers screening; and up to four hours annually for cervical cancer screening.
Another bill stipulates public employees get paid leave time for breast and prostate cancer. It also expands coverage to employees of community colleges, BOCES and public authorities as well as workers covered by a state pension system. According to bill memo, the "fiscal implications for state and local governments: none."
However, local government officials--careful to acknowledge the importance of early detection--say that if a bus driver, toll collector, nurse or teacher takes time off for a medical appointment, employers must pay overtime for replacement workers or hire substitutes. In an opposition memo, the New York State School Boards Association says:
...these mandated time off provisions are so cost prohibitive as they require not only leave for the employee, but salary for substitute teachers and other staff that can easily reach hundreds of thousands of dollars per district, annually.
According to a survey of school districts, the average teacher gets 14 sick days and 3.36 personal days. They work an average of seven hours a day and 184 days. That leaves them plenty of free time to schedule to their medical appointments.
In a "memorandum in opposition," New York State Association of Counties says:
Under the Taylor Law, terms and conditions of employment are a mandatory subject of collective bargaining. Under contracts negotiated between county employees and their collective bargaining agents, county employees receive an average of 12 to 15 sick days per year....Unused sick time can be accumulated by the employee generally for over 200 days and often with no cap on total days accumulated.
For state workers, leave time policy also is generous.
These bills invite the questions: What about time off for testing for skin cancer? High blood pressure? High cholesterol? Glacoma? Diabetes?
As NYSAC asks, "Where does it all end?"
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