WEST NEW YORK AND BEYOND – Frank Recanati, a West New York Plumbing Sub-code official since 1995, called in sick 33 times in 2010 and 2011 to work five other part-time jobs in five other New Jersey towns, according to several media reports including the New York Post.
He performs the same part-time work in Guttenberg, Carlstadt, East Rutherford, Hasbrouck Heights, and Wallington and is Carlstadt’s construction official, according to the articles.
According to town timesheets and payroll records, Recanati collected $5,450 for the sick days, a number calculated based on his annual salary, according to the reports. West New York employees who work a weekly 25 hours or more may receive the benefits of a full-time employee, which includes sick days.
“The town is saving money by having a specialized person on a part time basis,” Mayor Felix Roque said Wednesday afternoon. “The man really works hard”
But when asked about the notion that sick days should be used when an employee is sick, particularly since the employee is being paid for the time by local taxpayers, Roque referred the question to town spokesman Pablo Fonseca.
“We are reviewing our internal policies to continue to see how we can continue to cut spending,” Fonseca said. “Because of this incident, we feel if someone calls out sick in West New York, the taxpayers should not be paying for them to work in a different town.”
Fonseca added that the town would work to create a new policy within the next 30 days to address the matter. — Gennarose Pope