Beaufort County staff propose twice‑annual paid‑leave cash‑outs to help tenured public‑safety workers

Beaufort County staff proposed on March 10 to change the paid‑leave (PLT) cash‑out practice in order to address a recurring problem affecting long‑tenured public‑safety shift workers who earn leave they cannot use because mandatory staffing prevents time off.

Staff said the practice of offering a year‑end 40‑hour cash‑out has been helpful but leaves many experienced shift workers losing accrued time. After meetings with affected departments, staff narrowed options to four approaches and reported the preferred staff option is to permit cash‑outs twice a year and increase the allowable cashed hours for those public‑safety departments to 60 hours per event (effectively permitting up to 120 hours cashed annually if the employee chose both opportunities). The departments for which staff proposed the change were EMS, sheriff’s office, detention center and animal services.

Staff described alternatives — a single larger annual payout, a rollover bank that would hold excess hours for application to cash‑out, increasing maximum accrual balances, or automatic pay‑out when employees hit the cap — and explained trade‑offs (administrative complexity, liability on the county balance sheet, and employee choice). The preferred twice‑a‑year cash‑out was presented as the option employees favored at department meetings.

Fiscal considerations and liability: staff said the county’s total PLT cash‑out program historically cost about $850,000 annually (all departments). PLT payouts for the shift‑work public‑safety departments alone have been $278,000 (2023), $281,000 (2024) and $320,000 (2025) in recent years, and staff estimated that a predictable twice‑annual program targeted at those shift departments could push expected annual payouts to approximately $1.2 million when modeled with current participation. Staff stressed the program already represents a liability on the balance sheet because leave is earned and banked over time.

Council direction and operational notes: council members generally supported the idea of making a regular practice and requested staff prepare a formal policy, budget the estimated amount and route the policy through committee for action. Staff said the preferred approach would be to codify the practice, budget for it annually and present the policy for council approval so finance could plan accordingly, rather than staff having to locate ad hoc funds each December.

Ending: staff will draft a policy to present in committee and provide budget estimates for council consideration; council members noted that improved staffing levels could reduce the cash‑out liability over time by enabling employees to take their earned leave.