Could Vermilion Parish pay employees for five workdays lost to Hurricane Rita?

Plain-English summary

Vermilion Parish employees missed five workdays after Hurricane Rita because of evacuation, unsafe conditions, displacement, and disruption of parish operations. The Police Jury asked whether it could pay them for those days. In 2005, the Attorney General said possibly, if a preexisting ordinance, policy, or custom allowed the paid leave and the benefit was applied with some uniformity to parish employees.

The AG distinguished lawful employee benefits from gratuitous gifts of public money. It said leave compensation needed a public purpose and a reasonable relation to the services and benefits provided to other employees. The request did not establish whether Vermilion Parish already had a relevant leave rule, so the opinion did not decide that the specific payments were authorized.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2005. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Did the AG approve paying all five missed days for Vermilion Parish employees?

It gave a conditional answer. Payment could be lawful under an existing ordinance, policy, or custom applied with some uniformity, but the AG did not know whether one existed.

Were paid leave benefits automatically unconstitutional donations?

No. The AG said lawfully authorized annual and sick leave were employee benefits rather than gifts, while other leave benefits also had to meet the constitutional public-funds standard.

Could a parish invent a special payment after the hurricane without an existing leave practice?

The opinion did not authorize that. Its conclusion depended on a preexisting ordinance, policy, or custom and reasonably uniform application.

Background and statutory framework

Article VII, Section 14(A) of the Louisiana Constitution barred gratuitous donations of public funds. The AG applied earlier opinions distinguishing authorized compensation and reasonable leave benefits from prohibited donations. It left the factual existence and application of a Vermilion Parish leave policy unresolved.

Citations

• Art. VII, Section 14(A) of La. Const. (public-funds limit cited by the AG).

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/05-0388

Original opinion text

December 12, 2005
OPINION NUMBER 05-0388

88 – Police Juries
90-A-2 Public Funds – Loan, Pledge or Grants Art. VII, Section 14(A) of La. Const.
Mr. Paul G. Moresi, III
Assistant District Attorney
The Police Jury may pay its employees for the five days of work
15th Judicial District
missed due to the effects of Hurricane Rita if it has an existing
ordinance requiring it to do so, or an existing policy or custom of
Courthouse Building
doing so, and it is applied with some degree of uniformity to all
Abbeville, LA 70511-1140
parish employees.

Dear Mr. Moresi:

On behalf of the Vermillion Parish Police Jury, you have requested our opinion as to whether the Police Jury may pay Parish employees for five days during which the employees were unable to work due to the effects of Hurricane Rita. You provide in your letter that employees were unable to work because of a mandatory evacuation order, unsafe working conditions due to the effects of the hurricane, displacement and/or total loss of their homes, and the inoperability of portions of the parish government.

There are no general state laws regulating the entitlement of municipal employees to payment for benefits such as annual leave and sick leave but such payments must be made in compliance with all requirements imposed by the La. Constitution. We have consistently opined that while La. Const. Art. VII, Section 14(A) prohibits the gratuitous donation of public funds, it does not prohibit the lawfully authorized payment of compensation for labor or services provided in the course of employment. The employee benefits of annual leave and sick leave are not considered donations. (See Attorney General Opinions Nos. 99-102, 96-525)

However, to serve a public purpose and provide a public benefit, such compensation must be reasonable. In other words, there must be some congruity with the nature of the services rendered, as well as some degree of uniformity with the same type of benefits accorded all other employees. These criteria apply to both the regime of annual and sick leave benefits earned by public employees, as well as other types of leave benefits. (See Attorney General Opinion Nos. 90-358, 96-029, 94-336, 02-227.)

Your request does not state whether there is an existing ordinance, policy, or custom in the parish regarding this type of paid leave, so we cannot directly answer your question. However, if such a policy, ordinance, or custom exists and is applied with some degree

Page 2

Opinion Number 05-0388
Mr. Paul G. Moresi, III
Assistant District Attorney
th
15 Judicial District
Page -2-

of uniformly to all parish employees, we believe the Police Jury may pay its employees for the five days missed due to the effects of Hurricane Rita.

We trust this adequately addresses your question. If you have any further questions, please contact our office.

Yours very truly,

CHARLES C. FOTI, JR.
Attorney General

BY: _________
DENISE B. FITZGERALD
Assistant Attorney General

CCF, jr./DBF/dam

Page 3

Opinion Number 05-0388
Syllabus

88 – Police Juries
90-A-2 Public Funds – Loan, Pledge or Grants
Art. VII, Section 14(A) of La. Const.

The Police Jury may pay its employees for the five days of work missed due to the effects of Hurricane Rita if it has an existing ordinance requiring it to do so, or an existing policy or custom of doing so, and it is applied with some degree of uniformly to all parish employees.

Mr. Paul G. Moresi, III
Assistant District Attorney
15th Judicial District
Courthouse Building
Abbeville, LA 70511-1140

Date Received:

Date Released: December 12, 2005

Denise B. Fitzgerald
Assistant Attorney General