EDITORIAL: Let's revisit benefits for public sector
News Star (excerpt)

Those in the private sector sometimes are amazed at the benefits afforded government and education workers. While the argument can be made that these workers often are employed at lower wages than they could earn in the private sector, the very generous health, retirement and employment guarantees are not generally matched in the private sector.

Recent news stories about the various state retirement programs, overtime management at Monroe City Hall and layoff notifications at the higher education level lead us to believe some government practices are outdated and should be reviewed. For instance, many retirement plans in the private sector have been "frozen," and new employees in the system receive other forms of compensation to plan for their retirement years, such 401(k) contributions. Yet our governments are struggling to come up with their mandated contributions to some of the systems, such as firefighter retirement, because the system management has made poor investments.

Time management is another place the private sector has streamlined its practices. If an employee is called out after normal hours, for instance, other working hours in the pay week are adjusted. Overtime pay is tightly managed to control expenses. But at Monroe City Hall, government is paying overtime pay whether the employee works or not in a practice that conforms with its union contract. And layoffs or furloughs? Well, we all appreciate the University of Louisiana System taking steps to tighten its procedures to announce belt-tightening measures. But again, few in the private sector are afforded the luxury of eight or nine months' notice — two semesters — that we won't have a paycheck. Employees at local businesses, even at the professional level you might equate to university faculty, would be lucky to get eight or nine hours' notice before a layoff.