Perhaps California’s Gov. Gray Davis will start a new trend.
The perception among many if not most private sector workers is that Federal employees get a lot of time off both in terms of paid holidays and vacation days. And, in fact, the Federal personnel system does provide more generous holiday and leave benefits than most private employers.
But the Feds can’t compare to California’s state employees. Last week, Gov. Davis agreed to give employees an additional 12 paid holidays a year. That comes out to 25 paid holidays a year for California’s employees in addition to their regular vacation time.
The governor is touting the agreement as saving the taxpayers money since a pay raise for employees will be deferred. Of course, the cost of the extra 12 holidays will go on year after year. On the other hand, while he may be short on ethics, no one is saying the Governor is stupid. Having California taxpayers foot the bill for the extra time may help him survive the campaign recall and simultaneously satisfy the union that qualifies as one of his largest campaign contributors.
So, the next time one of your neighbors makes a remark about all of the holidays given to Feds, you can legitimately point out that California’s state employees get a lot more time.
