NJ Lawmaker Wants To Let Public Workers Cash In Early On Unused Sick Leave

By Dana DiFilippo, New Jersey Monitor

Novemebr 19, 2025

Public employees who want to cash in on their unused sick time wouldn’t have to wait until retirement to do so under new legislation.

Under a bill sponsored by Sen. Brian Stack (D-Hudson), government officials could “purchase” up to 120 hours a year of accumulated sick leave from employees at up to 60% of its worth. The bill would undo part of a 2007 law that allowed such payouts to be disbursed only at retirement. Employees would have to maintain at least 800 hours of accrued sick time after such a purchase.

It’s unclear what motivated the bill. Stack, who’s also the Union City mayor, did not respond to a request for comment.

Lavish sick leave payouts to retiring public workers have long been a target for reform by government watchdogs.

Acting state Comptroller Kevin D. Walsh urged state legislators in 2022 to tighten up sick leave rules after his investigators found, in a review of 60 towns statewide, that most illegally paid out millions and ignored state caps on such payouts, which can cripple local budgets. Walsh earlier this month directed Pleasantville to correct sick leave and severance policies he called “wasteful and ripe for fraud” after investigators found the city paid its former business administrator almost $84,000 in accumulated sick leave she wasn’t entitled to.

Asked to comment, Walsh blasted the bill as “a step in the wrong direction.”

“It’s effectively a taxpayer-funded bonus that will fuel waste, favoritism, and ballooning government costs,” Walsh said in a statement. “At a time when the state is facing a budget crunch and many residents are financially struggling, it’s terrible to see this bill that would invite more fraud, waste, and abuse and favoritism.”

The proposal has some cautious early support.

John Donnadio, executive director of the New Jersey Association of Counties, said it could help local officials better financially prepare for the departure of employees who are due checks for accrued sick leave by paying them smaller amounts over time instead of a one-time windfall. He also likes that the plan would allow, but not require, local governments to make these changes.

“I don’t know the politics behind the bill, but it seems like maybe you can use it as a budgeting tool,” Donnadio said.

The bill has no Assembly companion and has not yet been scheduled for a committee hearing. Lawmakers have a short window to act on legislation in the Statehouse pipeline, with the current session set to end in mid-January.

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