Paid administrative leave adds up for Idaho state employees

Paid leave among Idaho state employees over 11 months cost the state about $2 million.

The Idaho Press reports in a story on Sunday nearly 3,000 state employees were on paid administrative leave at some point between July 1, 2018, and May 31, 2019.

Experts say the most common reason for paid administrative leave is an allegation against an employee requiring an investigation. An allegation can make it difficult to have an employee remain at work, but it’s not clear the employee did anything wrong so withholding pay wouldn’t be appropriate.

The Idaho Press in its investigation found 90 state employees had more than four weeks of paid administrative leave during the 11-month period it examined.

The state has about 25,000 employees.