Islip Town noted for money-saving policy

Islip Town has won a national award for the way it manages workers' compensation and disability, the first time in 20 years the award has gone to a municipality.

The Theodore Roosevelt National Workers' Compensation Award comes after town officials, particularly Supervisor Phil Nolan, made increased town worker productivity a top priority in 2007. The award was given by Risk & Insurance Magazine.

The town introduced a number of policies, several of which the union charged were improper labor practices. The town and union later settled.

Among the policies: employees making workers' comp claims were required to check in daily at the town safety office and to undergo regular interviews evaluating their readiness to return to work on light or restricted duty. They also were required to watch up to five hours of safety training videos at the town office each month. Employees who provided medical evidence they were unable to walk or drive had to call the town daily and were also interviewed.

And the town used its third-party insurer's private investigators to track potential abuse. It instigated more than a dozen disciplinary actions when surveillance and video showed employees had lied about their inability to drive or report for work or return-to-work interviews.

Nolan, a Democrat running for re-election in November on a platform of fiscal prudence and sound management, said the policies slashed sick leave and workers' comp claims and saved the town $6.5 million over the past three years.

"This is proof-positive of the way we've been able to reform and streamline our workforce," he said. "The employees have really stepped up here and met the challenge we laid out to be more professional. We're running the town like a private-sector company, mindful of the bottom line every day."

Nolan touted an 88 percent drop in injuries to employees and a reduction in compensation claims from 353 in 2007 to 107 in 2010. "That change in culture is proven conclusively by this award and we accept it with a lot of pride," Nolan said.

Islip labor relations director Robert Finnegan praised employees and said reductions in sick leave use and workers' comp claims equated to having 25 additional employees every workday. "That's had a massive impact on reducing overtime costs, improving productivity and reducing accidents because the existing workforce isn't strained," he said.

In 2007 Islip had 1,029 year-round positions, down from 1,300 in 1990. It now has 740 employees. About 10 percent are part-timers.