Must a Louisiana employee repay crisis leave awarded beyond the pool balance because of an agency error?

Plain-English summary

Louisiana State Civil Service asked what happened when an agency mistakenly gave an employee more crisis-leave hours than employees had donated to its shared leave pool. In October 2015, the Attorney General concluded that the agency, not the recipient employee, should replace the deficit hours through future employee contributions. The opinion’s synopsis said the erroneous allocation did not violate the constitutional restriction on donations of public funds.

Civil Service Rule 11.34 allowed an agency to run a pool of donated annual leave for employees unable to work during a crisis and lacking enough paid leave. The AG treated administration of that pool as the agency’s responsibility. Its answer depended on the excess allocation resulting from the agency’s administrative error.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2015. 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 employee have to return leave hours after the agency’s error?

The AG said no. It placed responsibility for replacing the deficit on the agency, through later employee contributions to the pool.

Could the agency leave the pool with a negative balance permanently?

The opinion said the agency should recover the deficit hours through future contributions. It did not approve leaving the shortfall unaddressed.

Did the AG decide every mistaken leave payment case?

No. The request involved hours from a crisis-leave pool administered under Civil Service Rule 11.34 and an excess allocation caused by agency error.

Background and statutory framework

The opinion described Civil Service Rule 11.34’s crisis-leave program and examined the public-funds restriction in La. Const. art. VII, § 14. It concluded that the agency responsible for administering the pool should replace hours erroneously allocated beyond its balance.

Citations

• La. Const. art. VII, § 14 (public-funds restriction considered).
• Civil Service Rule 11.34 (crisis-leave pool administration).

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/15-0098

Original opinion text

~tat.e of %ouisiana
DEPARTMENT OF JUST,ICE
P.O. BOX 94005
BATON ROUGE
70804·9005
JAMES D. "BUDDY" CALDWEll
ATIORNEY GENERAL

OCT 2 9 2015
OPINION 15-0098

90-A-1 PUBLIC FUNDS & CONTRACTS
Ms. Adrienne T. Bordelon
La. Const. art. VII, § 14
General Counsel
It would not be a violation of La. Canst. art. VII, § 14 for an
Louisiana State Civil Service
employee to receive more hours than was available in an
Post Office Box 94111
agency crisis leave pool due to an administrative error by
the agency. The agency should recover the deficit hours
Baton Rouge, LA 70804
through future employee contributions.

Dear Ms. Bordelon,

Your request for an Attorney General's Opinion has been assigned to me for research and reply. On behalf of the Louisiana State Civil Service ("Civil Service"), you have asked our opinion concerning an administrative error regarding management of a crisis leave pool established pursuant to Civil Service Rule 11.34.

Civil Service Rule 11,34 authorizes an agency to establish a policy to implement and administer a pool of shared annual leave which may be used by employees who cannot work due to a crisis situation and who have insufficient appropriate paid leave to cover the absence needed for the crisis situation. Such a policy must meet certain conditions and must be presented to the State Civil Service Commission for approval. Once established, employees are allowed to donate up to 240 hours of unused leave per year into such a crisis leave pool. Specifically, you have asked:

1. Does it constitute a gratuitous donation in violation of La. Const. art.
VII, § 14 if an employee receives more hours than what was donated to the pool as a result of an administrative error?
2. If it does constitute a donation, must the receiving employee repay the hours received or can the employee retain the hours and the hours be subtracted upon additional hours being donated to the pool?

This office has previously concluded that pooling leave time is not expressly prohibited by any provision of state law and thus, may be permitted as a matter of office policy.
See, e.g., La. Atty. Gen. Op. Nos. 91-0678, 94-0504, 94-0530, 00-0407, and 13-0216.
Additionally, we have recognized that the payment of wages, which includes sick leave

Page 2

Ms. Adrienne 1. Bordelon
Opinion 15-0098
Page 2

benefits, constitutes an expenditure of public funds. La. Atty. Gen. Op. Nos. 92-0121 and 10-0256. As such, the payment of such benefits must be examined in light of La. Const. art. VII, § 14 which provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

A. Prohibited Uses. Except as otherwise provided by this constitution, the funds, credit, property, or things of value of the state or of any political subdivision shall not be loaned, pledged, or donated to or for any person, association, or corporation, public or private.

The Louisiana Supreme Court has determined that this constitutional provision "is violated when public funds or property are gratuitously alienated." Board of Directors of the Industrial Development Board of the City of Gonzales, Louisiana, Inc. v. All Taxpayers, Property Owners, Citizens of the City of Gonzales, (La. 9/6/06), 938 So.2d 11, 20 (the "Cabela's" case). Our office has further interpreted Cabela's to say that in order to comply with La. Const. art. VII, § 14(A), a public entity cannot set-aside, reduce, or otherwise forgive a debt owed to the public entity. La. Atty. Gen. Op. Nos. 10-0264, 10-0287, 13-0079, and 13-0192.

Applying these principles to the facts you have presented, state agencies are permitted to establish a crisis leave pool and allocate available annual leave hours from the pool to an employee who has insufficient paid leave to cover the absence needed for a crisis situation. Civil Service Rule 11.34 assigns the responsibility of administering the crisis leave pool to the public entity. In the event of an allocation that creates a deficit in the pool and which is due to an administrative error by an agency, it is the opinion of this office that the agency, and not the employee who received the additional hours, should replace the deficit hours through future employee contributions to the pool.

We hope this sufficiently answers your inquiry; however, if we may be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact our office.

With best regards,

JAMES D. "BUDDY" CALDWELL
ATIORNEY GENERAL

By: OvndvJif\ ~i1A j Pi{ L
Andrea Barient
Assistant Attorney General