Government Workers A Protected Class In 2020

A police officer in the Wayne County city of Westland received gross pay of $221,331 in 2020. That officer retired and received payments of $63,813 for sick time and $60,848 in compensation time.

Another Westland police officer had a gross pay of $197,402 in 2020, with $40,745 in vacation time and $50,721 in sick time paid to him. That officer also had $21,979 in what the city called a “non-pension” payout.

Other police officers in the city received six figures due to retirement payouts. One officer had gross pay of $148,716 in 2019. This included money from 19 different forms of compensation, including: compensation time payout ($12,556), retroactive pay ($2,817), sick time “sell back” ($7,226), an education stipend ($2,500), a clothing stipend ($1,500) and seniority pay ($3,500).

The officer retired in 2020. He appears to have worked a nominal number of regular hours that year, for which he was paid $1,813. But he also collected $44,229 in vacation payout and $76,109 in sick time payout, for a gross pay of $127,917.

Another city of Westland police officer who retired in 2020 collected $1,271 for regular hours and had a gross pay of $112,862. Most of that came from a $64,857 payout for sick time and a $41,036 payout for vacation time. In 2019, this officer’s gross pay was $133,602.

In 2020, the private sector in Michigan was hit by government lockdowns that cost many residents their jobs and income. In contrast, public sector employees appear to have been protected to an extraordinary degree from anything comparable.