City workers go light on sick leave

Most Evanston city employees take less time off for illness than the average for public sector workers.

Figures provided by the city in response to a request from Evanston Now show that workers in all but four of the city’s 11 departments took off less time than the national average of 3.6 hours per month for state and local government workers reported by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Here’s a list of the hours per month of sick time per employee recorded in 2011 by Evanston city departments, as reported by City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz:

• 1.91 – City Manager’s and City Clerk’s Office
• 2.60 – Police
• 2.82 – Law
• 3.01 – Utilities
• 3.06 – Library
• 3.28 – Public Works
• 3.51 – Administrative Services
• 3.61 – Fire
• 3.61 – Parks, Recreation and Community Services
• 3.73 – Community and Economic Development
• 4.10 – Health

The city performance contrasts with the sick-leave record for employees of Cook County government. A Chicago News Cooperative report last week found that county workers average 6.64 hours of paid sick leave a month last year — 85 percent above the national average.