By Gemma Q. Casas
Variety News Staff

GOVERNMENT employees with accumulated annual vacation leave in excess of 360 hours may soon be denied the privilege of converting it into cash if a pending bill in the Senate is enacted into law.
According to the bill, no government employee will be entitled to receive a lump sum payment for unused vacation leave in excess of 360 hours.
House Bill 15-186, authored by Vice Speaker Justo S. Quitugua, D-Saipan, is expected to be discussed when the Senate holds a session on Feb. 22.
Quitugua said his measure intends to reduce the cash-strapped government’s large unfunded liabilities by converting annual leave in excess of 360 hours to sick leave.
Under H.B. 15-186 which was passed by the House on Jan. 25, accumulated sick leave cannot be compensated.
“Unless otherwise provided by contract as of the effective date of this Article, no government employee, upon separation from government service shall be compensated for sick leave accrued during employment with the commonwealth government,” H.B. 15-186 stated.
According to the bill, the cash-strapped government is hampered by unfunded liabilities in the form of large accruals and lump sum payments of annual leave. But the amount involved was not specifically mentioned.
“It is the intention of (H.B. 15-186) to reduce these large unfunded liabilities by converting annual leave in excess of 360 hours to sick leave. This will provide the departments and agencies of the commonwealth government… with a more stable financial footing during this time of financial difficulty,” the bill stated.
The bill proposes Jan. 1 of each calendar year as the cut-off date for computing the annual leave of government employees.
“Government employees authorized to accrue annual leave shall not, as of the effective date of this Article, accrue total annual leave in excess of 360 hours as of January 1 of each calendar year. Any annual leave accrued in excess of this amount on January 1 of each calendar year after the effective date of this article shall automatically be converted to sick leave,” the bill stated.
“Sick leave shall not be converted into annual leave for any reason. As of the effective date of this article, no government employee shall, upon separation from employment at any other time, receive a lump sum payment for unused annual leave in excess of 360 hours,” it added.
H.B. 15-186 will mandate the Civil Service Commission, the executive, legislative and judicial branches, including the autonomous agencies, to promulgate rules and regulations, to carry out the changes.