St. Louis County sick leave cashouts cost about $2 million a year

Unused sick leave at St. Louis County has become a costly retirement benefit, producing multiple payouts of more than $1 million and driving an annual obligation of about $2 million. The cashouts matter because they come on top of regular payroll costs and are paid when workers leave county service, turning leave time into a direct hit to taxpayers.

The county says most of its employees are covered by 11 bargaining units, and the rules for sick leave and retirement benefits are laid out in collective bargaining agreements posted on the county’s website. A 2023-2025 agreement with AFSCME includes Article 11 on sick and parental leave and Article 24 on retirement, showing that the benefit is negotiated rather than set by a general county policy.

St. Louis County, which describes itself as the largest county east of the Mississippi River and home to Duluth, keeps its board agendas and minutes public and meets two to three times a month in open sessions. That matters because any effort to rein in the cashouts would have to move through those same public channels and through bargaining with employee groups. County commissioners themselves do not accrue vacation, sick leave, personal leave, compensatory time or holidays, underscoring that the benefit belongs to rank-and-file employees, not elected officials.

Minnesota law now requires earned sick and safe time statewide, but that law covers illness, family care and related safety needs, not retirement cashouts. The St. Louis County practice appears to flow from labor agreements, not from the state leave mandate. The county also participates in a phased retirement option program authorized by the Minnesota Legislature, a separate path that can help older workers ease out of public employment.

The county’s union contract documents page shows active and archived agreements, including 2026-2028 contracts for several units, suggesting the benefit structure is still in place for at least some employees. For St. Louis County, the fiscal question is no longer whether sick leave can be banked into retirement money. It is how much that promise will keep costing, who will eventually collect, and whether county leaders are willing to bargain a different deal.