The day the Seattle Seahawks beat the Denver Broncos, 68 Oahu Community Correctional Center guards called in sick. That’s roughly a third of the 214 adult corrections officers scheduled to work.

It’s not a new problem. On Super Bowl Sunday 2013, 69 guards were out sick.

The ongoing practice of OCCC prison guards calling in sick on weekends and big sporting event days appears to have consequences for everyone except the guards who abuse leave.

Loved ones of those held at OCCC have been denied all but four of the 22 visitation days that should have been afforded to them in the last 21⁄2 months, for the most part because guards called in sick, leaving the prison understaffed and unable to accommodate visits.

Oahu residents are allowed to visit only one weekend day a week. Not a single Sunday this year, and not a single day this month has been available as of Saturday. (Visitations on March 8 and 9 were canceled because of plumbing repairs.)

Sick leave abuse also costs taxpayers millions, since guards who do show up to work are often asked to work a double shift to cover for those who don’t. The cost of overtime at OCCC was at $2.6 million for fiscal year 2013, and $3.2 million for fiscal year 2012.

OCCC’s attendance did dramatically improve on another traditionally high sick leave day: On New Year’s Day, 53 guards called in sick, well below the 87 on Jan. 1, 2013.

Department of Public Safety Director Ted Sakai said corrections officers are encouraged not to abuse leave for the sake of the public, other officers, the inmates and their families.

But given the environment, the high stress and the fact that "it isn’t a real pretty place to work," there’s a high level of leave-taking, he said.

"We’re the first to acknowledge our correctional officers take a lot of leave," he said. "It’s difficult for us to do anything about it. We’re managing the best we can, but the rules say if you call in sick, and it’s not your fifth consecutive day, you don’t need to bring in a doctor’s note."

Like all state workers, corrections officers are entitled to 21 days of sick leave annually, amounting to 1.75 days every month.

"We have to grant them leave, or we have to pay them at the end of the year," Sakai said.

But if they run out of sick leave, eligible officers can take leave under the Family and Medical and Leave Act (FMLA) for family and medical reasons such as caring for an immediate family member with a serious health condition or one’s own illness.

"FMLA is a big issue for us and (prisons) across the country," Sakai said. Eligible officers can take up to 60 working days a year.

Although unpaid, "it still costs us," he said. "We have to use overtime to cover posts. It can be expensive."

Making a case against a guard is difficult.

"If we suspect someone is abusing their leave, we’re going to have to prove it," Sakai said. "Sometimes, if we get evidence, we pursue it, but the burden is on us. We don’t have enough investigative staff."

Public Safety spokeswoman Toni Schwartz added: "Even in the private sector, you can’t just fire someone. You have to prove they aren’t sick. It’s the same situation."

A Kailua resident was astounded to learn that guards calling in sick allegedly to watch the Super Bowl thwarted his efforts to visit his mentally ill son at OCCC.

When he arrived at the prison one Sunday, a worker in the OCCC parking lot told him visitations were canceled because too many adult corrections officers, or ACOs, had called in sick because of a football game.

"Next Sunday will be probably worse because it’ll be the Super Bowl," the guard added.

"I was incredulous," said the Kailua man, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation by guards against his son. "Really? They do this because of a football game?"

He added: "Having visits for somebody who is an inmate there is really important. It’s not only for their peace of mind. If there’s going to be any kind of positive effect, it’s helped by people on the outside who still love them and care about them. It’s bad enough the visits are so limited."

The Kailua man also noted that OCCC serves as a jail for those detained on misdemeanor charges such as shoplifting, trespassing or minor drug offenses until their trials.

"It’s basically people we all know," he said. "It’s people who are family."

As a marriage and family therapist, "almost all my clients have been there," he said. "The worst thing you can do is to make them feel like an outcast. If that’s how you treat them, then that’s how they will be.

He added: "For a lot of people in there, their main offense is that they have a mental illness. Most of the people with illness are in jail. Not in hospitals, not in treatment. In jail."

Sakai noted that emerging research shows the family connection is important to rehabilitation, and if an inmate is able to keep that connection, chances are better he or she will be successful when released.

"If they don’t get visitation for too long, they’ll get agitated," Sakai said. "Our managers recognize that."

At the Legislature, solutions also have proved elusive.

"Obviously we’re dealing with the ACOs and their union," said Sen. Will Espero, chairman of the Senate Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs Committee. "I’m certain the majority of the UPW union members are hard-working, responsible employees. However, the situation at hand has not made progress as we wanted it to. It’s sad and unfortunate."

Espero said Sakai is "at the very least … looking at the type of individuals we want to be hiring" — those with a strong work ethic.

"We’re looking at the recruitment process, the training, and ways to impress upon the employees their responsibilities and being the best worker they can be," Espero said. "This has been an ongoing problem for years, and it doesn’t seem to be getting much better. I wish I had the magic bullet, but it’s not an easy problem to overcome."

Sakai said: "We’ve halted recruitment and training. We decided we’re going to see if we can get people who are more committed to our profession. We started to administer a physical, which made it more difficult to become an officer. We simply want people who are committed to a career."

Espero has introduced legislation on hiring retirees on an 89-day basis to bolster the ranks.

"If someone does call in sick, we don’t have to bring in full-time employees and pay them overtime," Espero said.

"I tried to legislate it, but we ended up holding the bill because I was told they were in negotiations and things were being worked out. It may be still the same or getting worse."

Sakai said most guards are professionals who want to do a good job.

"The majority understand their responsibility, but because our margins are so thin, when a handful don’t come to work, we have to make major adjustments in our schedule," he said.

It requires filling key positions considered essential to health and safety by shifting personnel around, and a lack of staffing is handled by canceling programs for inmates.

Furthermore, unexpected complications can arise, requiring an officer 24 hours a day, such as when an inmate is hospitalized.

But on June 16, 2013, a nonessential post filled by one person instead of the usual two may have contributed to the death of that guard.

The guard, inside a locked control room, suffered a heart attack and fell unconscious on the floor.

A guard doing checks every half-hour saw him. Guards tried to get a key in a lockbox, but the person assigned as temporary captain forgot or didn’t have the code and the door had to be broken down.

The guard was taken to the hospital, where he later died.

Since correctional officers have one of the most stressful jobs, Public Safety officials are exploring a wellness program to address the high stress with a holistic approach that includes physical fitness, stress reduction, diet and nutrition.

The department is also considering video visitations, which would require fewer officers, but that would be an expensive proposition since OCCC is an old facility and it would require rewiring, Sakai said.