Former city employee abused sick leave policy, audit says

A former employee of the city’s Animal Services Department misused city resources by claiming sick leave after getting a new job at Travis County, according to a report from the Office of the City Auditor.

The audit says Luis Negrete, a former animal health technician, took time off from his job in December 2021 and January 2022 under provisions of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and city rules. The employee started leave on December 19, 2021. He was supposed to return to work at the city on January 9, 2022, but he did not, instead using both vacation and sick leave until he resigned on February 28, 2022.

Auditors say that Negrete started working for the county in December 2021 in a position he applied for several months earlier.

Contrary to city regulations, Negrete did not disclose he had taken the county job and his supervisor told auditors that he was not aware of Negrete’s county job.

During an interview, auditors noted that “Negrete said he did not intend to use up his leave balances with the city and not return to work, but agreed that the timing of events ‘does make it seem that way.’” According to the audit, the former employee worked at Travis County on 13 days when he was receiving sick leave pay from Animal Services. This amounts to about $2,315.

The audit notes that after his supervisor learned about Negrete’s second job in January, Negrete offered to resign. However, the supervisor told him to submit his resignation in writing. He did so on February 14, nearly two weeks after his initial offer to resign.

Negrete did not offer any response to the audit. Animal Services Director Don Bland wrote in a memo to auditors: “Moving forward our HR coordinator will provide FMLA and city of Austin personnel policy training to all managers/supervisors, so they are knowledgeable on FMLA and the appropriate use of sick leave. Also, HR will have training with management/supervisors first, and then hold mandatory departmentwide training.” He also promised that Animal Services would hold discussions about the requirement for employees to notify the city if they obtain outside employment.

Additionally, Bland said employees would receive information about the fact that the city prohibits “engaging in other employment that interferes with the performance” of employees’ city duties or represents a conflict of interest.

Photo by SteelMaster Buildings made available through a Creative Commons license.

The Austin Monitor’s work is made possible by donations from the community. Though our reporting covers donors from time to time, we are careful to keep business and editorial efforts separate while maintaining transparency. A complete list of donors is available here, and our code of ethics is explained here.