Waste of the Day: Audits Flag UConn Payments

In the last 11 years, the University of Connecticut Health Center has spent more than $690,000 on payments to employees for unused paid time off that either went against state policy or were explicitly not allowed under collective bargaining agreements.

Audits caught Uconn making improper payments to staff

The issue has been flagged in six separate state audits, most recently in a July 2026 report.

Key facts: UConn Health employees earn compensatory time when they are required to work longer hours or on a state holiday, among other reasons. The compensatory hours can be used as paid time off at a later date.

State policy dictates, “Compensatory time earned during the twelve months of the calendar year must be used by the end of the succeeding calendar year and cannot be carried forward. In no event will compensatory time be used as the basis for additional compensation.”

In 2013, state auditors found two UConn Health managers who were each paid more than $12,000 for their unused compensatory time when they left their jobs. The health center argued it had “managerial discretion” to authorize the payouts.

The practice later became even more common. The health center spent almost $611,000 on the payouts from 2015 to 2018. Some of the money went to administrative employees and maintenance and service staff, whose contracts “prohibit compensatory time balances to be paid out upon retirement or separation from employment.” 

In 2023, the health center did not even dispute the auditors’ findings. They wrote that a $6,391 payment to an employee still working at the university was “made in error.” 

Improper severance

The 2026 report found another $44,123 paid to employees who were not contractually eligible to receive separation payouts. The health center said it has now “re-configured” its payroll system to prevent mistakes in the future.

Auditors also wrote that they were “unable to determine” whether $140,195 of compensation for unused paid time off from 2019 and 2020 was proper.

Background: Even without the compensatory time payments, UConn Health already pays some of the highest public salaries in America. Its leadership earned up to $2.1 million last year. Seventy-one employees made at least $500,000.

Summary: UConn Health has been warned about improper paid-time-off payouts for more than a decade. Six audits and nearly $700,000 later, taxpayers are still paying for it. 

The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com.

This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.