Utah News Dispatch
State workers ‘do not see the benefit’ of a proposal switching up their paid time off
The Capitol in Salt Lake City is pictured on the first day of the legislative session, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
A Utah lawmaker says it’s time to revamp employment benefits to make working for the state more attractive, but state workers say part of his proposal would actually shortchange them.
Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan, says melding sick and vacation hours into a single pot of paid time off is just one part of SB229, a measure that would upgrade other benefits like postpartum leave, short-term disability and state contributions to retirement savings plans.
But it’s that adjustment that’s drawing opposition from the state’s biggest union for government employees, said Matt Briggs, spokesman for the Utah Public Employees Association.
“Sen. Fillmore believes that this would help, but the state employees that I’ve talked to just do not see the benefit of the change,” Briggs said. Long-term employees in particular view the proposal and a related plan from the state’s human resources agency as a loss of benefits, Briggs added, because they forfeit hours.
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For example, Briggs, a Department of Natural Resources employee of more than 20 years, now collects four hours of sick leave and seven hours of vacation time per pay period, for 11 hours total. Under the change, he said, he would accrue nine hours of paid time off.
“I’m actually losing two hours of leave per pay period,” Briggs said.
Briggs is a lieutenant for the Department of Natural Resource’s law enforcement division but emphasized he spoke to Utah News Dispatch on behalf of the union, not on behalf of his employer or colleagues. The Utah Public Employees Association said the legislative proposal fits with a plan from Gov. Spencer Cox and the Utah Division of Human Resource Management.
The change would cap the combination of sick and vacation time employees can carry into a new year at 360 hours and pay it out when they leave or retire. Currently, sick time does not expire or get paid out, and vacation carryover from one year to the next is capped at 320 hours, according to the union.
Fillmore believes the change is positive, he said, because most employees aren’t using all their sick time and could put the new type of leave toward days off or a payout when they retire or take a new job.
“We tried to tailor a new benefits package that responded to what our employees are actually using,” Fillmore said. “As an employer, we need to think about what is going to make the state the most attractive place to get the best people to apply.”
But one state employee, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation at work, suspects the move would make recruiting harder, not easier. The employee compared the Utah proposal to current policies in neighboring states, along with the federal government, and concluded it was the least competitive.
The worker wants to stay employed with the state, but now feels less certain about the future.
“You never know what’s going to happen. And I am now much more afraid of an unforeseen health consequence that would suddenly kill all my leave, and I wouldn’t be able to take vacation the rest of the year and spend time with my family. It doesn’t feel like an empathetic policy,” the employee said. “But it’s being sold as an empathetic policy.”
Nate Crippes with the Disability Law Center said his organization is also keeping an eye on the bill. He noted changes to sick leave policies can affect those who tend to have more medical appointments requiring them to take time away from work.
“We would certainly hate to see this have an impact where people with disabilities — or with family members with disabilities — feel like they can’t work for the state,” Crippes said.
Fillmore said it’s too early to predict what will happen. Just the same, he does not expect the bill to pass easily given pushback from the union.
“I think that opposition makes it an uphill battle,” he said.
The bill could get its first public hearing at the state Capitol as soon as Thursday.
