One issue that is not on the table in the talks between BART and its unions is the system’s generous buy-back policy for unused sick, holiday and vacation leave — which can be a gold mine for all workers, but particularly for managers.
The most prominent beneficiary of the policy was Dorothy Dugger, BART’s former $298,700-a-year general manager, who amassed 80 weeks of unused vacation and sick time in 20 years at the agency.
To pay it off, BART allowed Dugger to take “terminal leave,” which kept her on the books as an employee for more than 19 months after her exit in 2011. She earned $333,199 during that time without so much as ever setting foot in the place.
What’s more, staying on the payroll allowed Dugger to accrue an additional 17 weeks of sick and vacation time totaling $98,000 — some of which apparently came on top of the $333,000 and change.
All this was on top of the $920,000 that Dugger collected as part of a settlement with BART directors who had botched an attempt to fire her.
Although Dugger’s case is the most extreme, she is not alone.
According to BART payroll records, a former $152,660-a-year assistant treasurer, Roberta Collier, cashed out last year with an eye-popping $289,534 for unused vacation, floating holiday and sick leave that she had accumulated during more than 21 years on the job.
Assistant Controller Edgardo Pangilinan, who also earned $152,660 a year, retired with $214,321 in banked holiday, sick and vacation pay, plus a $1,500 lump sum that was in lieu of not having gotten a raise in 2009.
And Thomas Parker, a $177,000-a-year executive manager for safety and environmental compliance, cashed out with $145,632 in vacation, holiday and sick pay.
It should be noted as of 2009, BART employees can no longer store up large amounts of unused sick time — they get 12 days a year — but the other policies that allowed Dugger and others to cash out with hundreds of thousands of dollars are still in place.
And with BART employees entitled to as much as 43 days a year in vacation and floating holidays, those payouts can still add up quickly.
“When you have employees on the books for many years and retiring, there is going to be a large cash-out of time off never taken,’’ said BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost.
As for “terminal leave,’’ which was negotiated with the managers’ union and applies to all upper-level employees, Trost said General Manager Grace Crunican plans to take a closer look to see just how much it’s costing BART.
Apparently, she won’t have to look far.
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