Director of Human Resources Sonny Thompson has issued an explanation on the subject of annual leave and sick leave, following a Samoa News article on the subject last Monday.

The HR Director said there have been many calls by ASG employees seeking clarification and explanation on the said matter, and he referenced the American Samoa Code Annotated (ASCA) to thoroughly explain the issue:

Title VII, Chapter 12, Leaves and Holidays; Section 7.1202 Sick Leave: Section 7.1202:

(a)            Sick Leave, means absence from duty because of illness or other physical disability or exposure to contagious disease.

(c)            Sick Leave shall accumulate at the rate of one-half day per biweekly pay period, and the accumulation is not limited.

(d)            Employees terminated for reasons other than retirement, employees who are medically separated and employees who retire with the maximum service credit of 30 years are entitled to compensation for unused accrued sick leave at the rate of 50 percent of sick leave in excess of 239 hours."

Thompson said the interpretation is that “there is no limit on the accumulation number of sick leave, and when an individual fulfills the requirement to retire after 30 years or medical reasons, subtract 239 from the total number accumulated, divide by 2, equals the payout.

ANNUAL LEAVE

Title VII, Chapter 12, Leaves and Holidays; Section 7.1203 Annual Leave

(a)            Employees in the career service shall be entitled to annual leave, which shall accrue as follows:

            (1)            four hours for each full biweekly pay period in the case of employees with less than 3 years of service;

            (2)            six hours for each full biweekly pay period, except that the accrual for the last full biweekly pay period in the year is 10 hours, in the case of employees with 3 but less than 15 years of service;

            (3)            eight hours for each biweekly pay period in the case of employees with 15 years or more of service

(f)            Annual leave not used by an employee shall accumulate for use in succeeding years until it totals an amount not to exceed 60 days

(i)            The payment of money in lieu of leave shall not be allowed except on termination of employment.