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Ex-UNL professor sues for unused vacation hours

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BY MELISSA LEE / Lincoln Journal Star

Wednesday, Aug 20, 2008 - 04:55:07 pm CDT

A former University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor is suing the NU Board of Regents, claiming the university owes him more than $276,000 for unused vacation time he earned before retiring last year.

Allen Blezek says NU paid him for only 392 of the 4,392 unused vacation hours he racked up during his 32 years in the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication.

Because his pay at the time of his retirement on Sept. 1, 2007, was equivalent to $69.12 per hour, Blezek says NU owes him $276,480.

Story Photo

His lawsuit was filed Aug. 14 in Lancaster County District Court.

Reached at his Lincoln home Tuesday, Blezek declined to comment.

Before fall 2006, NU had a “use it or lose it” vacation policy. But then came Roseland v. Strategic Staff Management, in which the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled employers must pay workers for earned unused vacation time when they leave a job.

After that ruling, NU pulled its “use it or lose it” policy.

The university’s current policy, adopted in spring 2007, allows full-time employees to earn 16 vacation hours per month, provided they do not accrue more than 280 hours of unused vacation.

In his lawsuit, however, Blezek contends NU’s new policy also specified employees would not lose accrued vacation time in excess of 280 hours. He also says that under his retirement contract, NU promised to pay him for all his unused vacation time.

John Wiltse, NU senior associate general counsel, said in a statement: “Counsel for the university will file an answer to the complaint in due course, which will be publicly available and set forth the university’s legal position.”

Reach Melissa Lee at 473-2682 or mlee@journalstar.com.


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bob wrote on August 20, 2008 5:22 pm:
" Pay the man. I paid enough to go to school there, they CAN certainly afford to pay a UNL teaching "lifer." "

 me wrote on August 20, 2008 5:38 pm:
" good luck!! this happens all the time to employees. "

 Sounds Fair wrote on August 20, 2008 5:55 pm:
" I never took as much vacation as I accrued, but had the option to sell it back. If you consider that it's more disruptive overall to have people off on vacation than to have them at work, I'd actually encourage people to take only the vacation they want, and pay them 1.5x for their unused vacation beyond some upper limit. That way, you'd use temps as little as possible, and no one else would be disrupted as often covering the work duties of others. "

 Alum wrote on August 20, 2008 6:12 pm:
" Amen bob...for as much as I paid for my education there, they should be able to fairly compensate devoted career-long employees. "

 A Community College employee says wrote on August 20, 2008 6:45 pm:
" He should have been looking up his vacation time a couple of years BEFORE he even submitted his retirement notice. I work at a college too and we can have 4 weeks "on the books" at the end of the fiscal year without losing it. We look up our vacation to see where we are at during the yearour our computers. Each year before a fiscal year ends, I know exactly where I stand. You would think he knew he had over 4,000 hours of vacation. You don't need to be a professor to figure this one out, sorry I don't think UNL needs to do anything,UNL might have sent him e-mails notices on vacation accurals. But hey I just work for a CC...LOL "

 Joe wrote on August 20, 2008 7:06 pm:
" I don't think that anyone earning over $69 per hour really needs back pay for unused vacation. "

 CS wrote on August 20, 2008 7:39 pm:
" If it is a benefit that was part of his contract it really doesn't matter what people think about it-it is owed under contract, period. Or do we pick and choose what we want to be forthright and upstanding about in NE now? "

 Dont think so wrote on August 20, 2008 7:45 pm:
" I don't think so. This man knew that he couldn't carry over vacation and thus he would lose it. It's too bad that he didn't use his vacation yearly like most people. I'm sure he could have used a break some time. I don't think the University owes him anything. "

 CS wrote on August 20, 2008 9:51 pm:
" The court nullified that argument, though, saying that vacation was a benefit to be given after termination, then UNL ruled that current people before it wouldn't lose theirs, either. "

 tuition prices wrote on August 20, 2008 10:16 pm:
" Anyone care to take a guess as to why it is so DARN EXPENSIVE to go to UNL. Let's see, Perlman makes somewhere over a quarter million annually, J.B. Milliken gets even more. Professors? I could go on and on. The fact is that in my opinion, these instructors do not deserve this kind of money coupled with the benefits. People can say all they want about the doctorates that these professors have, but these professors are life-long students. Nothing more, nothing less. Most have never done anything outside the institution and giving them 24 days paid vacation three months summer vacation, one month Christmas vacation, etc., etc., etc....see where I am going with this. Being a professor pays around what medical doctors are paid, and to think that some of these are teaching subjects that do not offer advancement in pay in the real world (I have a political science degree that does ZERO for me) and the U still keeps them for a diverse curriculum? Time to start slashing pay and tutition at UNL. This is a perfect example. "

 Roger wrote on August 20, 2008 10:29 pm:
" Sounds to me like this gentleman is crying with loaves of bread under each arm. I was 18 when the Great Depression hit and I learned to be grateful 69+ an hour who really got short changed Mr Allen, I will pray
for you! "

 CS wrote on August 20, 2008 10:41 pm:
" Maybe you should have gone into POLITICS then-as most political science degree holders do, unless they stay in NE-then they teach HS social studies. As to the down time that the professors have, well, next time you work on curing cancer, develop a new material, or decipher a dead language let us know so we can give you some 'free time'-that's what a lot of them are doing on their 'off' time. "

 Lincolnite wrote on August 21, 2008 7:52 am:
" This guy doesnt have a leg to stand on. The policy was use it or lose it for all those years. He had the option of taking it periodically and then having the opportunity to continue to accrue. UNL need not and should not go back retroactively before this policy changed and pay this guy. There are doubtless others that will play this game for money which they are not entitled. "

 salary info wrote on August 21, 2008 8:20 am:
" For anyone interested to know what professors at UNL are making, it's all public and can be found here
http://www.nlc.state.ne.us/epubs/U0100/B003.html

Keeping in mind how much work it takes to get a doctorate and how many years many of these professors have worked there, I think the salaries are fair. If they had been working in the industry (as opposed to academics) I think they'd be making much more. "

 Scott wrote on August 21, 2008 8:25 am:
" If we're going to be paying them that much, we should keep them out of the classroom and in the research fields. I've met a dozen computers that have been far more helpful in teaching me than any of the instructors I've encountered at UNL. Maybe if we didn't pay them so much they would be more focused on the class their teaching and not so much on making plans to spend all that cash. "

 Similar boat wrote on August 21, 2008 8:56 am:
" I work in a school setting where we are discouraged from using our vacation during the school term. During the summer there are usually "major" projects to complete by the time fall gets here, so we are discouraged to use more than a couple days. The five employees rec'd pay several years for their vacation. Then we were told mandatory vacation the week of the 4th of July. Who wants vacation when everyone else has it and travel is at it's peak! The office help continued to work during this time and would call us when there was a problem, like supplies needed unloaded, toilet overflowing, etc., and we were expected to go in. We take the 4th of July week and take pay for the rest and boy the taxes that are taken out!!! I say put in for the time you want and have them turn you down, save those slips and someday you may have a case. "

 Old policy doesnt matter wrote on August 21, 2008 9:11 am:
" The old policy of use or lose doesn't matter because that's what the court case was about. The court said once a benifit was awarded it could not be taken back. Once the vacation had been given to you, you couldn't lose it. That's why UNL had to change their policy to one where once you hit a maximum, you stop being awarded vacation time. "

 jb wrote on August 21, 2008 9:14 am:
" To 'CS'..as a UNL alum and current UNL employee working in the scientific field I don't think you have ANY idea what you are talking about. Most of these professors have spent ALOT of money themselves to get through college, while making little to nothing as graduate/phd students. The next time you write a 200pg thesis devote your life to your research project and defend and be questioned over every aspect of your project, spend years in school, then you can talk. These professors do not get the summer months off, and are working on research to change the world as we know it. From curing cancer, to finding alternative fuel sources, to history, genetics, antimicrobial resistance, better utilizing feed stuffs for agriculture....seriously OPEN YOUR MIND! "

 jb wrote on August 21, 2008 9:15 am:
" I apologize to CS, that comment was posted to 'tuition prices' "

 I wrote on August 21, 2008 9:30 am:
" It seems like there should be a cap on the amount of vacation he's allowed to get paid back. That's ridiculous. "

 Sorry wrote on August 21, 2008 10:19 am:
" Quote 8/21"Keeping in mind how much work it takes to get a doctorate" Quote from one of my UNL profs 20+ year ago "Any idiot can get a PhD" "

 CS wrote on August 21, 2008 10:25 am:
" No problem. Perhaps the JS could institute some sort of timed edit feature (you post, then have 3-4 minutes to go back and edit if necessary) or a preview feature like FARK, Digg.com, and most other forums? "

 Sid wrote on August 21, 2008 10:30 am:
" As usual, know it all's comment on anything, and know nothing. Research professors work extremly hard year round and have little time off. Those guys are always in the lab. If you as a student did not learn from some of the PhD's, you are an example of why teaching is difficult. Students not interested in taking advantage of great opportunities because they are spoiled and expect entertainment are wasting their (probably parents) tuition dollars. My UNL education was well worth it, and I appreciate the things I learned from my underappreciated professors. Furthermore, Allen worked very hard, and was extremely dedicated, which is why he did not use his vacation time. Dr. Blezak was a clear role model for excellance, the type of person I want my kids to learn from. Dr. Blezak earned and deserves every penny! "

 re sorry wrote on August 21, 2008 11:51 am:
" "Any idiot can get a PhD"

Yes, but that doesn't make it any less time consuming. It doesn't matter who can do it, it still takes a lot of work. "

 question wrote on August 21, 2008 12:23 pm:
" What was he making when he accrued all of those vacation hours? I assume in the 32 years of service, there have been annual pay increases. Say you were making, oh, $50 per hour 10 years ago, and now are making $69...is it fair for employers to pay you for hours you accrued back then at the pay rate you are currently at? There are legitimate reasons for limiting just how long you can accrue vacation hours. At 16 hours per month, we're talking about 20+ years of accrued vacation. Surely the pay has significantly changed over 20 years. If that's allowed, sounds like a pretty good investment plan, I guess. "

 Locke wrote on August 21, 2008 1:00 pm:
" How much is a professor worth? All this material about how tough or easy it is to get a degree is irrelevant except with regards to the supply of people to fit the positions. Same can be said about how difficult the job is. What is important is what is the market like? Some professions are in more demand than others, i.e. compare chemistry and political science. On the other hand, look at Political Science. Some of the older profs are earning a lot less than less senior faculty. Why? The less senior faculty are more in demand. "

 Pat wrote on August 21, 2008 2:46 pm:
" Some of you people really are amazing. Look how many of you started ranting and raving about tuition and professor pay. No mention of the issue here. About half of the people on here actually mentioned the issue at hand, which is really amazing. Locke, I love how you discuss relevance in your post...when your post is completely irrelevant to the topic at hand.

That said, this guy should not be compensated for the lost hours under the old policy and he should be compensated for any and all unused vacation hours after the policy change. Now, I addressed the issue without whining about tuition or professor pay. See how easy that is? "

 Pay the man wrote on August 21, 2008 2:53 pm:
" If UNL can afford to pay $3 million to fire the former 3yr head coach of the UNL football program surely this should be pocket change for the campus to pay out to a professor with over 30yrs invested into the school "

 do the math wrote on August 21, 2008 4:18 pm:
" So 4,392 hours/32 years/8 hours/day = 17 days per year that he didn't take as vacation. Assuming he accrued 24 days per year (16 vacation hours per month), this means that he took an average of 7 vacation days a year total. Having worked at UNL myself for 15 years, I promise you that in my department, there was NO accounting of faculty vacation time UNLESS they were gone for months at a time, and even then, they often claimed to be working remotely. The reality is that faculty are seldom, if ever, have a set 8 hour, 5 day a week schedule. Most work more than 40 hours a week before they get tenure, but many work no more than 40 (if that) AFTER they are tenured. I certainly hope UNL runs a tighter ship these days where faculty are more accountable for their hours worked and vacation taken, and perhaps it takes something like this to make it happen. "

 PAY HIM wrote on August 21, 2008 4:48 pm:
" Give him a break...pay him his money..he deserves it.

Im sure they would pay a football coach his "vacation time" since thats all everyone seems to care about at UNL. "

 Math professor not. wrote on August 21, 2008 6:10 pm:
" 32 years later he figures out he's not going to get paid! Wouldn't a good professor with communication in his title figure it out before now. Besides, who in the private sector gets to accumulate 100 weeks of vacation? "

 ME wrote on August 21, 2008 9:21 pm:
" Give me a break people. You act like professors and chancellors are suppose to make $20,000 a year! These people have Ph.D.'s and are top notch researchers and faculty. First, tuition at UNL is ABSOLUTELY NOT high. If you knew anything about the subject you would realize that UNL is one of the cheapest public universities in the country. Second, if you want to complain about the cost of tuition at UNL look no further than the Governor's mansion. The cut taxes under any and all circumstances policy has led to more of the burden being shifted to tuition.

Furthermore, whether this guy made $69/hour is completely irrelevant. Should a doctor not be given back salary just because he's well payed? Should a grade school teacher receive more backed vacation time because he/she only makes $40,000/year. That rationalization is ridiculous. I'm so sick of this "I'm entitled to every thing everyone else has even if everyone else went to college for 10 years and I have an associates degree" attitude. You shouldn't be surprised that someone with a doctorate makes more than the average joe. For god sake! "

 CS wrote on August 21, 2008 10:17 pm:
" Irrelevant. Apples to oranges-he is not in the private sector. He also would have lost is prior accrued vacation along with everyone else except for the court ruling and then UNL making it retroactive. That is the issue here. "

 John wrote on August 22, 2008 3:42 pm:
" Surely a university professor like Mr. Blezek can understand how a use it or lose it policy works. He had lost most of those 4,392 hours that he now wants to be compensated for. Compensate him for the hours he accrued from Fall 2006 onward when the policy went into effect. Before that time he wasn't accruing all of those hours due to the use it or lose it policy.

If you UN settles, expect to see more cases and tuition rise even more. "

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