MOULTRIE — Colquitt County governmental employees who accumulate significant amounts of sick leave could get paid for a portion of that amount under a measure approved Tuesday by county commissioners.

The proposal, first broached by Commissioner Al Whittington earlier this year during the Colquitt County Commission’s annual retreat, passed by a 4-2 vote.

The policy basically mirrors one that has been in use by the City of Moultrie.

The county estimates it will cost about $28,000 annually, based on the number of employees who use very little sick leave and thus would qualify.

“I think it’s our way of showing appreciation to our exceptional employees,” said Whittington, who was joined in voting in favor of the measure by Commissioners Chris Hunnicutt and Paul Nagy and Commission Chairman Terry Clark.

Employees may be paid for up to 48 hours of sick leave that the county would “buy back.”

The policy could encourage some employees who have a minor ailment, such as a sore throat, to work, increasing productivity, County Administrator Chas Cannon said.

“This will encourage them to come to work if they’re not too sick,” he said. “Obviously if they have the flu, we want them to stay home.”

Commissioner Johnny Hardin, who along with Commissioner Marc DeMott voted no, said that the added benefit may be a hard sale to taxpayers whose jobs in the private sector probably do not have the kind of benefits county employees currently have.

“The sick leave is something you put in place in case an employee is sick,” Hardin said in a phone interview on Wednesday. “It’s there if he needs it. You want to fund it and not make him lose pay for a day and put his family in a bind.

“It (sick leave) is an item you put in the budget every year in case people are sick. If you don’t spend it, you put it back in the general fund.”

Buying back sick leave does not seem to be the kind of step a business would take, Hardin said. He added that he has no issue with employees accruing sick leave to use in case they or a family member have a lengthy illness, or allowing employees to bank extra sick leave in a pool that other employees can use if they are in that situation.

“That’s fine if something like that comes up,” he said. “It’s a benefit for employees to have that. We’ve got some good employees.

“I just don’t think we’re looking after the taxpayers’ money when we do something like that (sick leave buyback). I know we need to look after our employees, (but) I think out number one concern is to look after the taxpayers.”