July 02, 2026
Colleen Claggett/for PhillyVoice
The School District of Philadelphia may have violated labor agreements in its failure to process termination payments to 729 former employees, an audit by City Controller Christy Brady concludes.
The School District of Philadelphia owes 729 former employees a combined $2.8 million in unused paid time off, a new audit released Thursday by City Controller Christy Brady shows.
The audit found the School District of Philadelphia had not paid leftover PTO to the workers, who are entitled to this compensation within 30-75 days of their departure. In some cases, employees who left the school district over five years ago had not received payment.
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"Every employee deserves to be paid accurately and on time for the work they performed," Brady said in a statement. "When former employees are still waiting years after leaving the school district to receive compensation they earned, it raises concerns about accountability and compliance."
The controller's office had discovered a similar discrepancy in last year's audit, when the school district owed $2.2 million to over 400 former workers. Though the school district resolved 272 of these cases from 2023 and earlier, it accrued another 938 from the fiscal year 2024. As the latest report notes, the school district "appears to be in violations of applicable labor agreements" with relevant unions.
The district did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers and Service Employees International Union, which represents custodians and bus drivers, also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Per the audit, the school district also may be in violation of Pennsylvania law. The Disposition of Abandoned and Unclaimed Property Act stipulates that wages and other compensation for personal services that remain unclaimed more than two years after they are distributed belong to the state. The school district owes roughly $320,600 to Pennsylvania under this law, the report concluded.
Brady urged school officials to prioritize the processing of these payments and outstanding PTO to its former employees. Workers under 55 are entitled to a check, while those over 55 receive a contribution to a tax-sheltered annuity plan.
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