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Employee Benefits The Supervisor’s office used a computerized payroll system to maintain leave records and to process payroll. The Town’s departments each had different internal processes for approving the use of leave and maintaining leave records. The Town had five collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) and five employees had individual employment contracts. The CBAs and employment contracts stipulated the terms and benefits for Town employees, including provisions related to leave, separation payments and opt-out payments. Paid leave time is an employee benefit generally granted to employees pursuant to CBAs, employment contracts, policies or board resolutions. When employees separate from town employment by retirement, termination, or resignation, they are to be paid the monetary value of certain unused leave time. Therefore, it is especially important to maintain accurate leave records and regularly reconcile leave balances. What Are Accurate, Approved and Supported Leave Records? Accurate leave records reflect each employee’s accumulated leave balances and are supported by properly approved timesheets and leave requests. Additionally, leave time earned or awarded must be supported by CBAs, board-approved employment contracts, board-approved policies or resolutions. Additionally, leave time used must be deducted from leave balances in a timely manner to ensure leave balances remain current. The use of leave request forms should be required for all employees to document prior supervisory approval to use accrued leave credits and to support absences covered using leave credits. The town supervisor or other appropriate official should maintain leave records and communicate leave balances to employees regularly. Communicating leave balances to employees helps ensure such balances are accurate and current. A town board is also responsible for establishing and monitoring compliance with written policies and procedures regarding leave time and maintaining leave records. These policies and procedures should clearly designate the individual responsible for maintaining leave records and the individuals responsible for recording leave usage, updating leave balances or verifying leave was recorded accurately. These policies should also require department heads, town officials or employees having direct supervision over specific departments or individual employees to periodically review and reconcile the department’s leave records with the payroll system leave records to ensure leave balances are accurate and up to date. The town board should also require periodic independent reviews of leave records and balances by the town supervisor or other appropriate official. As part of this review, officials should ensure payroll personnel properly calculate and deduct leave time used from employee leave balances and leave is both earned and carried over from year to year in accordance with the applicable agreement, resolution or policy. 2 Of f ic e of t he New York State Comptroller