OJAI : Employees Rally to Aid of Co-Worker

Workers and administrators at the Ojai Valley Sanitary District have come to the aid of one of their own.

A receptionist, who asked not to be identified, was recently hospitalized with a serious illness and missed 13 days of work. The worker was relatively new to the district and had little sick leave or vacation time.

This meant she would lose 66 hours of pay. But fellow workers came to the rescue.

“A number of district employees volunteered to transfer sick leave from their accounts to that of the ill employee.” General Manager Eric Oltmann told the district’s directors Monday.

The workers who gave away their sick-leave time wish to remain anonymous, Oltmann said.

The district has no objections to the proposal because acquired sick leave is owned by the employee rather than the district, he said. But approval of directors was required because transfers between sick-leave accounts normally are not permitted.

After the meeting, board President Hugh White said he was not surprised by the workers wanting to help out one of their own.

He said the workers are a tightly knit and supportive group.