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Government Workers In Hawaii Get Paid Not To Work As Misconduct Investigations Drag On For Months Or Years

A system meant to protect worker rights and resolve disciplinary cases fast has turned into something much different, with taxpayers picking up the tab for employees told not to come to work.

ByChristina Jedra/ July 10, 2024

At best, the county employee is the victim of confusing office policies, according to case records. At worst, he is allegedly guilty of the theft of $12,018.29.

In either case, taxpayers have lost out on so much more. 

While the prosecutor’s office has pursued the case, more than three and a half years have gone by. The investigator has been on paid administrative leave since October 2020, collecting a paycheck while under orders not to do his job. 

To date, the county’s effort to right an alleged wrong of $12,000 has cost taxpayers more than $230,000, a sum that continues to grow by the day.

The investigator is still on paid leave. 

The case is one of Hawaii’s most egregious examples of so-called “stay away” pay, the practice of giving employees time off from work while they are investigated for alleged misconduct. But it’s far from the only one.

Some 350 employees across more than two dozen state and county agencies were put on paid leave due to investigations into suspected wrongdoing from 2020 through 2023, according to data Civil Beat obtained via public records requests. Civil Beat’s analysis is based on responses received from agencies at various points throughout last year, providing a partial snapshot of the scope of this spending throughout the state.

An analysis of the records, which included salary ranges, shows that paying these employees not to work cost taxpayers more than $9 million in that three-year period.

At least 50 employees were paid to stay home for a year or more. Of those, eight workers were on paid leave for between two and three years. Four collected a work-free paycheck for more than three years. 

“It’s inexcusable. It’s indefensible,” said Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi, who was shocked to learn some county investigations were taking so long. “We’re going to clamp down on this.”

Correction: An earlier version of this story referenced an HHSC employee who, according to HHSC’s data, was on paid leave for more than three years. After publication, HHSC said there was an error in its data. The individual was in fact on paid leave for less than two months, the agency said. Leave time and salary totals throughout this story have been updated as a result.

Unlike workers exempt from collective bargaining, unionized public employees are protected from at-will firings. Their employers are legally obligated to investigate and validate charges of misconduct before suspending or removing them. While many cases can be resolved within a matter of weeks, a lack of trained personnel investigators, complexity, difficulty tracking down witnesses and competing priorities can prolong the process, according to government officials.

When investigations — and therefore the paid leave — drag on for years, it can waste taxpayer dollars, cause already strained government offices to be stretched even thinner and reward bad behavior. 

“If the person did what they are accused of doing, it’s basically a de facto vacation,” said Hilo-based labor attorney Ted Hong. 

These kinds of situations are one of many reasons citizens feel apathetic about their government, according to Camron Hurt, program director of the government accountability group Common Cause Hawaii.

“We get told time and again there is no money to do things that would benefit the community, yet there is money to put people on leave for years for issues that, as a manager, I’m able to conduct investigations of by myself within 48 hours,” he said. 

Brenna Hashimoto, the director of the state’s human resources department, acknowledged it’s a problem. But since investigations are generally handled by each individual state office, speeding things up would be up to each department’s director. 

“It is a concern because it’s money that we’re spending, and we’re not getting any productivity out of that employee,” she said. “It’s certainly not ideal.” 

HGEA President Randy Perreira declined to comment for this story. 

Paid Not To Work And Taking Another Job

Government employers can put most workers accused of misconduct on unpaid leave, but only for 30 days, according to collective bargaining language that has been in place for years. 

After that, the employer has to pay them – either by returning them to their job, assigning them to a different job or letting them stay home. 

Many investigations are resolved fairly quickly, with the employee getting paid not to work for a few days or weeks. The average paid leave period in the data received by Civil Beat was six months, while the typical leave – or the median – stands at around three months, the data shows. 

However, even a relatively small number of prolonged investigations comes with a hefty price tag. For instance, the combined cost of the five employees on paid leave for three or more years – over $1.1 million – exceeded the cost of putting 159 people on leave for less than three months each. 

Overall, taxpayers paid an average of $30,000 to $40,000 per employee on paid leave in the data that Civil Beat received.

Investigations are launched for a variety of reasons. 

A Hawaii State Hospital psychiatric technician was accused by numerous coworkers of coming to work late, drunk and belligerent. The technician was put on paid leave for nearly three years during which time the state paid him an estimated $120,000. 

A teacher was on paid leave for over a year and a half following allegations of sexual contact with a student, costing between $73,849 and $138,791. 

The person who appears to have received the most expensive stretch of paid leave in the data received by Civil Beat was a registered nurse in the health department who was off the hook from work for three and a half years. While the state investigated allegations that the nurse engaged in discrimination or harassment, the employee raked in between $332,864 and $436,180. 

Paid Leave: 3.5+ years

• Department: Honolulu Department of the Prosecuting Attorney
• Title: Investigator III
• Annual salary range: $62,136 – $91,968
• Reason for leave: Alleged falsification of mileage

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Total cost to taxpayers: At least $228,797

Paid Leave: 3.5 years

• Department: Hawaii Community College 
• Title: Not provided 
• Reason for leave: Alleged refusal to comply with employer directives
• Annual salary: $44,292

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Total cost to taxpayers: $155,447

Paid Leave: 3+ years

• Department: Hawaii Department of Health
• Title: Registered Nurse III
• Reason for leave: Alleged violation of discrimination/harassment policy
• Annual salary range: $96,732 – $126,756

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Total cost to taxpayers: At least $332,864

Paid Leave: 2.5+ years

• Department: Hawaii Department of Education
• Title: Secondary Teacher
• Reason for leave: Use of Unauthorized Substance
• Annual salary: $65,441- $93,225

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Total cost to taxpayers: At least $174,091

Paid Leave: 2+ years

• Department: Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting
• Title: Supervising Clerk II
• Reason for leave: Alleged criminal conduct
• Annual salary: $42,684- $65,568

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Total cost to taxpayers: At least $88,292

Paid leave can drag on so long that employees sometimes get other jobs, allowing them to earn two incomes.

Jocelyn Godoy, one of the Honolulu permitting workers busted in a bribery scandal in 2021, was on paid leave for two years after the feds announced her indictment. During a court appearance in which she pleaded guilty, Godoy told a federal judge that she had gotten another job while on Honolulu’s payroll. 

“People who are on paid leave, who are investigated — no one should be working another job. We’re going to put an end to that,” Blangiardi said. “I’m actually angry about that.”

Even if the allegations are substantiated, there is no mechanism for government employers to claw back months or years of unearned pay, Hong said. 

And during the paid leave period, the employee continues to accumulate sick leave, vacation time and years served that count toward their pension. They can also continue to get union-negotiated raises. 

One Kauai County employee’s paid leave was so protracted – 373 days – that their pay range increased twice during their hiatus. The county declined to release the person’s name, title or alleged misdeeds. But the situation was apparently serious enough that the individual was ultimately suspended, demoted and made to sign something called a “last chance agreement,” according to the county. 

In addition to the financial impact, extended periods of paid leave can create resentment among remaining employees who have to pick up the slack left behind by missing colleagues. 

Employees whose charges are not substantiated are entitled to compensation for that 30-day unpaid period.

The Hawaii Health Systems Corporation, which runs medical centers like Kauai Veterans Memorial Hospital and Hilo Medical Center, was the most frequent user of paid leave in the data received by Civil Beat. 

While HHSC’s shortest instance of paid leave was three days, many investigations took weeks or months, and a few took over a year. One clerk at Hale Ho‘ola Hamakua hospital on Hawaii island was on a paid absence for nearly a year and a half following “alleged disruptive workplace behaviors.”  

Juanita Lauti, HHSC vice president and chief of HR, said some investigations are held up because they need an investigator with specialized expertise, like in patient abuse or financial misconduct. In those cases, HHSC may have to contract the work out. Sometimes, cases involve navigating complicated legal requirements, she said.

Overall, the system, which employs about 3,000 people, does its best to resolve issues quickly because it is funded in part with taxpayer dollars.

“We are sensitive to that,” she said. “Not all the investigations take about two years. There’s only a few, and it’s just because these are complex cases.”

Hawaii Health Systems Corporation

• Number of employees on paid leave 2020-2023: At least 120
• Average days of paid leave: 2.5 months
• Total salary cost: $1.6 million

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Common reasons for paid leave

• Patient abuse/neglect
• Workplace violence
• Falsification of records

Hawaii Department of Education

• Number of employees on paid leave 2020-2023: At least 70
• Average days of paid leave: 10+ months
• Total salary cost: $3.2 million

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Common reasons for paid leave

• Hostile Work Environment
• Unsafe Learning Environment
• Inappropriate physical contact with a student (either sexual or non-sexual)

Hawaii Department of Health

• Number of employees on paid leave 2020-2023: At least 33
• Average days of paid leave: 10 months
• Total salary cost: $1.5 million

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Common reasons for paid leave

• Patient abuse/neglect 
• Workplace violence
• Insubordination
• Discrimination/harassment

The Department of Education was another relatively frequent user of paid leave, with 69 employees in the data received by Civil Beat accused of misconduct ranging from misusing school funds to inappropriate contact with a student. 

In one ironic example, a school’s administrative assistant was investigated for theft of time and was put on paid leave for more than two years. In that period, the state paid the employee between $90,000 and $134,000 not to work. 

A decade ago, DOE was under fire for its costly leave practices and pledged to speed up investigations. School-level investigations were supposed to take 45 work days or less, and administrative investigations were meant to last under 120 work days. Under Board of Education pressure, DOE’s investigation backlog was trending downward as of 2016, the .

However, since then, DOE has not been meeting its goals, and its caseload has returned to the that caused concern in the first place.

The department is doing the best it can, according to Sean Bacon, DOE’s assistant superintendent for the office of talent management.

“We really want to make sure we’re providing our employees with a thorough, fair, objective process here,” he said.

But there are challenges. The district can’t call in witnesses during summertime or other school breaks, he said. Sometimes investigations require an interpreter, or a key witness is also on leave. And the school system has struggled with a lack of investigators. Bacon said DOE recently established a list of outside vendors who can help investigate school system employees and offers ongoing staff training on personnel probes.

Under the union agreement covering administrators and teachers, there is no unpaid leave window, and workers go straight to paid leave, Bacon said. He noted, though, the number of employees on paid leave is a small fraction of DOE’s workforce of 25,000 people.

At the Hawaii Department of Health, 33 employees were put on paid leave. Several of them were health care workers at the Hawaii State Hospital. DOH did not respond to an interview request. 

Long periods of paid leave are not limited to the government’s executive branch. The state court system put 20 workers on paid leave in the three-year period. A judicial clerk allegedly caught altering government records was on paid leave for almost two years at a cost of over $92,000. 

While some investigations may involve some complexity and require time to unravel, some cases focus on behavior that would seem to be straightforward. 

For instance, a school custodian was paid to stay home for more than two years over a report of “inappropriate language,” costing the Department of Education more than $115,000. 

Honolulu electrical inspector Arthur Suverkropp was terminated in April more than a year after Civil Beat revealed that he had approved his own electrical company’s work. Taxpayers shelled out between $72,000 and $106,000 for him to stay home during a 16-month county investigation into conduct that took Civil Beat a few days to examine. 

“If it’s not requiring a forensic investigation, it makes no sense that an employee could be on leave for years,” Hurt said. 

In a statement, permitting director Dawn Takeuchi Apuna attributed the delay in the Suverkropp case to limited staffing and the need to follow proper procedures.

“Although Civil Beat took a few days to examine the Suverkropp records, an investigation by the City requires much more thorough and extensive review and investigation, which may include various interviews with witnesses and the subject of the interview, which involves scheduling with union representation and other processes,” she said.

“The thoroughness of an investigation is necessary to ensure appropriate due process afforded to the subject.”

‘Get Rid Of The Bad Eggs’

The system is designed to respect workers’ due process rights while encouraging employers to complete investigations quickly, according to Hong, former Gov. Linda Lingle’s chief labor negotiator

Years ago, employers would put workers on unpaid leave indefinitely as a sort of “pseudo-suspension,” Hong said, during which time the worker couldn’t contest it. 

“It was kind of a loophole in the law that allowed, government employers to essentially punish employees,” he said. 

The 30-day deadline, in theory, is a win-win, Hong said. A fast investigation allows the employer to either exonerate or discipline the worker quickly without excessive costs or major impacts to workflow. Once discipline is meted out, Hashimoto said the paid leave period ends, even if the employee appeals.

“The whole intent from HGEA’s part was: Get it done fast and get rid of the bad eggs upfront, and that increases morale in terms of the rank and file,” Hong said. 

In reality, Hong said, “they’re doing the direct opposite.” 

Some government agencies, such as DOE and Honolulu’s permitting department, have pointed to a lack of resources for investigating these cases. But if a department doesn’t have an in-house investigator, Hong said the director can ask another agency if they can loan one.

“It’s a matter of political will,” he said. 

And if agencies and lawmakers decide to make hiring more personnel investigators a priority, Hurt said it can be done. 

“We don’t get to use the same excuse every time,” he said. “Fund them.” 

Two pieces of legislation passed this year could potentially help, according to Hawaii Rep. Scot Matayoshi, an attorney who chairs the House labor and government operations committee.

would allow unions to negotiate for higher pay – in this case, for personnel investigators – outside of the normal collective bargaining period, Matayoshi said. However, Gov. Josh Green  

And could speed up hiring of employees, such as personnel investigators, by allowing government employers to vet job applicants’ qualifications without waiting for the state HR department to do it. 

“I think that would help a lot,” Matayoshi said. “So if investigators are a priority for departments, they can prioritize it, review the applications themselves and start the process much, much quicker.”

Matayoshi also suggested unions and employers discuss a desired timeline for personnel investigations during the next collective bargaining discussion. 

Perhaps, he said, if investigations are taking more than 30 to 60 days, the agency should be required to request an extension from some authority, like the state HR department, and justify the need for more time. The state is already struggling with vacancies and can’t afford to lose more of its workforce, he said. 

Employees can be reassigned to do different work within their same department, and the state HR office does encourage that. But that’s not advisable in every case, according to Hashimoto.

Separating the employee from their work environment makes sense in cases of harassment or workplace violence, where their presence may pose a threat to coworkers, or if there is a possibility the accused worker could tamper with evidence or intimidate witnesses.

“That would be incompatible with a thorough and fair investigation,” she said. 

Hashimoto noted that employers could arrange for employees to work in other departments during the duration of their investigation. There is no restriction on it, she said, although she doesn’t believe it is commonly done. 

They could also be assigned to work from home. Lauti, with HHSC, said she would consider allowing teleworking in the right circumstances.

When employees are accused of crimes, agencies will sometimes wait for a criminal conviction before taking disciplinary action, which can extend the paid leave for years. But they don’t have to do this, Hong said. 

The burden of proof in a criminal case – beyond a reasonable doubt – is much higher than the clear and convincing evidence standard needed to suspend or fire a public employee, he said. 

“Too often the department will let the cops and prosecutors do their job for them and ride on the criminal conviction coattails,” he said. 

One education assistant, Raquel Solis, was put on paid leave for the better part of a year after she was charged with that resulted in a school lockdown. She continued to receive a paycheck even five months after she pleaded no contest to a disorderly conduct charge. Solis was subsequently fired. 

Blangiardi noted, though, that in some criminal investigations — such as the federal indictments of some city employees — prosecutors don’t always make public what they know, leaving administrative investigators little to go on. That was true in the case of Godoy, and the city did not want to interfere with the federal government’s investigation by initiating a probe of its own, permitting director Takeuchi Apuna said.

Many departmental officials are not trained in conducting personnel investigations and drag their heels because they don’t want to veer outside their comfort zone, Hong said. What they may not realize is personnel investigations don’t have to be “letter perfect.”

“The investigation only has to be objective, give the offender an opportunity to explain and the decision to discipline should happen right away,” Hong said. 

Lengthy periods of “stay away pay” are not unique to Hawaii. 

The problem has vexed . One city hall clerk in upstate New York was on paid leave for seven and a half years after being accused of records tampering. In that time, she took on a job in the private sector, the last year. The federal government has also paid the price for drawn-out personnel probes. The Government Accountability Office in 2016 for paying dozens of employees not to work for a year or more.

In 2017, Congress ordered the Office of Personnel Management to institute regulations that would cap paid leave for federal employees at 10 days, or if an extension is needed, up to 90 days.However, seven years later, OPM has and federal agencies are still paying the subjects of personnel investigations millions of dollars.  

There may be rare circumstances that would warrant an investigation extending beyond 30 days — if a witness isn’t present, for instance, or an expert is needed to examine computer activity, according to Hong. 

The accused employees themselves, who are often the last to be interviewed, can also drag out the process themselves by taking sick leave and avoiding their interview, Hong said. 

But generally speaking, Hong said, 30 days should be enough. 

Hawaii County’s parks department shows that it’s possible. It investigated or disciplined a dozen people from 2020 to midway through 2023 for issues ranging from harassment to theft. 

According to data the county provided, all of its cases were wrapped up within a month and no one was put on paid leave.  

“If the department is motivated, 30 days is sufficient,” Hong said. “The employers all thought so because that’s the language they agreed to in contract negotiations.”