A “boat check” is a sick leave payout given to an employee (usually in government) at retirement. The sick leave days are usually paid at the highest hourly rate, not at the rates the employee experienced throughout employment. The checks are often so large that the retired employee can purchase a boat with the money.
 
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie popularized the term “boat check” in April 2011. Christie attempted to put a limit on sick leave payouts.
 
     
WorkplaceChoice.org
Christie Targets Boat Checks To Workers
by NEWS on APRIL 20, 2011
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie wants to end one of the biggest union retirement perks in the state, which he calls the “boat check.”

Christie was at a town hall meeting in Jackson, N.J. on Tuesday as part of his on-going budget war with Democrats and union officials.
   
South Jersey Local News
Gov. Chris Christie holds town meeting in Evesham (VIDEO)
Published: Thursday, May 12, 2011
by Dubravka Kolumbic
The Central Record staff
(...)
One bill not passed was a reform of the sick leave payout for state employees which allows the employees, at retirement, to receive pay for unused sick days. Christie claimed public employees refer to that payout as “the boat check.”
 
“In just one year alone, taxpayers paid out $43 million in boat checks.” He went on to say that “statewide, municipalities face over $825 million in accumlated sick leave payout liability.”
 
The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ)
‘Boat check’ madness: Public employees sailing away with massive sick time payouts
Published: Monday, May 23, 2011, 12:06 AM   Updated: Monday, May 23, 2011, 9:59 AM
By Brian Donohue/The Star-Ledger
What do you think you’ll get when you retire? A good-bye cake? A watch? A decent party, maybe, if you’re lucky? How about a check for a cool $75,000 or a hundred grand? If you answered the latter, you are likely on the list of thousands of New Jersey public employees who have been allowed to bank their unused sick and vacation time, then cash it all in when you head out the door.
 
In the cynical vernacular of burned-out public servants, it’s been called a “boat check” - money to buy the boat on which you can sail off into the sunset. On today’s Ledger Live video, we hear from various sides in the battle over boat checks: Gov. Chris Christie, who wants them sunk; an unapologetic retired firefighter who received a $200,000 payout; and, of course, a guy who sells boats.
 
KVUE.com (Austin, TX)
Taxpayers are funding unused sick leave payouts or “boat checks”
by ANDY PIERROTTI / KVUE News and photojournalist ROBERT MCMURREY
Posted on September 17, 2012 at 9:29 PM
Updated Wednesday, Oct 31 at 9:52 AM
AUSTIN—Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey first coined the phrase in 2011.
 
“They call it the ‘boat check.’ You know why? Because it’s the check they use to buy their boat upon retirement and it’s your money,” Christie said late last year.
 
According to a 2010 human resources survey, only six percent of private sector companies still payout unused sick time.
 
Companies like Dell, for example, the largest private employer in the Austin area, does not allow employees to cash in unused sick time.
 
Austin city records show fire and police employees reeled in $8.8 million in so-called “boat checks” over the past two and a half years.