Vacation time for judges' secretaries has now been capped at the same levels as other state employees, the state judiciary's chief administrator announced today, after attention was drawn to a state audit that found some secretaries were being granted vacation auditors deemed unreasonable.
Auditors reviewed vacation time for secretaries of Supreme Court and appellate court judges for 2007, 2008 and 2009 and found vacation time exceeded five weeks in 54 of 142 instances, totaling 442 additional days. One secretary got 61 vacation days in 2007. Another, with less than five years on the job, was granted 42 days off in 2009.
The judiciary's handbook says vacation time for secretaries is granted at the judges' discretion but that time off is generally supposed to mirror that of other state employees, which maxes out at five weeks of vacation a year upon completion of 20 years of service, according to the Office of the State Auditor.
Here's today's full statement from Glenn Grant, the acting administrative director of the courts, regarding vacation leave time:
"As I wrote to the State Auditor in my Aug. 17, 2010 letter, we have examined the process for judges' authorization for leave time for their secretaries. We have determined that the amount of vacation time secretaries may use is fixed, not discretionary. It is capped at 25 days for secretaries with 20 or more years of service. That approach is consistent with other categories of Judiciary and State employees."
Grant's Aug. 17th letter responding to auditors focused on making the process for granting extra time more formal but didn't indicate it would end. Auditors had expressed concern there was no formal documentation submitted by judges to authorize additional leave time.
Here's what the auditors said ...
"We recommend that vacation leave granted to AOC employees be commensurate with that granted to other state employees. If it is determined that additional leave is permissible for Judges' Secretaries and Law Clerks, judges should provide formal authorizations to the payroll unit."
... And here is Grant's response from last month in full:
"The Supreme Court and Appellate Division secretaries and law clerks receive leave time at the discretion of the judge. Leave time is entered into TALRS (the payroll system) only upon receipt of a time sheet signed by the judge for whom the clerk works. Any adjustment to the system require the signed document and is processed by a Human Resources staff member in a supervisory position. We will explore a more formalized process for judge authorization for extra leave time."
