County works to fix wage violations

COLUMBUS -- Most Platte County employees -- except for elected officials -- are paid on a salaried rather than an hourly basis, a violation of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

The county personnel committee is working to comply with the law and pay non-supervisory Courthouse staff hourly wages. The committee consists of Platte County Supervisor Joe Tooley, chairman, and supervisors Jerry Micek and Tom Martens.

Information shared with elected officials and county department heads at an Oct. 28 meeting of the three-member committee left one elected official fearing the worst.

The official, who would only speak anonymously because of fear of reprisal, said the county could be looking at a potentially expensive class action law suit for its failure to comply with the law.

Platte Conty Clerk Diane Pinger, whose office processes the payroll, refused to speak about the October meeting or a committee meeting held Nov. 3. Pinger also refused to identify the United States Department of Labor representative who presented information during the committee’s October meeting.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Pinger said. “It’s no big deal, and, no, I won’t tell you his name. If you have specific questions about specific issues I’ll address those when you bring them to me.”

Pinger did confirm that non-supervisory employees in the courthouse are salaried. She said employee salaries are determined by the elected official in charge of each office.

The Telegram learned that Steve Murray, a representative of the United States Department of Labor, attended the October meeting to clarify the federal wage requirements for non-supervisory personnel. He confirmed his attendance but would not comment further.

His session apparently was not the first time the county had been told changes needed to be made. The anonymous elected official told The Telegram that county officials were directed several years ago to change the pay system for non-supervisory personnel but decided the change was discretionary and chose not to make the change.

Platte County Attorney Sandra Allen said the Nov. 3 meeting “was a committee meeting held to get feed back from the elected officials and department heads regarding the easiest way to transition from salary to the hourly payroll for the majority of the county’s employees. The most recent meeting was held to clarify information brought forth during the presentation made by the U.S. Department of Labor.

“The meeting held the last week of October was held to help determine which employees would have to be converted from a salaried payroll and which would not,” she said.

Micek attended the October meeting. Martens missed that meeting. Both supervisors were present for the Nov. 3 meeting.

Micek said the October meeting was strictly an informational meeting during which Murray explained the county’s deficiencies regarding wage and hour laws and detailed actions needed for the county come into compliance.

“In whatever we do, when it comes to the county board the most important thing to me is that we do things according to the law,” Micek said. “I want to be clear, the gentleman from the department of labor said there would be no fines levied against the county in this situation.

“He did say that there would likely be an investigation of the payroll back for a year or two and if it is discovered that a certain number of employees were putting in more than 40 hours per week the county could be liable for that overtime.”

Assistant District Director Richard Tesarek of the Omaha, Northeast Area Office of the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division said that fines are not typically levied unless a business or government entity has a history of violations or if violations are determined to be a willful disregard of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Tesarek said each situation is investigated and resolved on a case by case basis.

“There is no standard template or time table for bringing the violator into compliance. Because each case is different and there are so many variables,” Tesarek said. “Because of this each incidence has to be handled on a case by case basis.”

Micek said discussion at the November meeting focused on procedures needed to convert county employees to the hourly payroll system.

He said elected officials will be exempt from the changes and that payroll procedures for sheriff’s deputies are different than other county employees.

“As for the highway department employees; those folks have been on the hourly payroll almost forever,” Micek said. “There won’t be any change for the highway department as far as I know.”

Micek said the conversion to the hourly wage will likely occur in January resulting in hourly wage employees being paid on the first and 15th of each month. Overtime will be paid at time and a half in compliance with the wage and hour laws.

Micek said his biggest concern is how to handle a potential gap in payroll that could occur during the payroll conversion. He said however it’s handled, the employees would certainly recoup any missed payroll.

Supervisor Tom Martens said in his opinion the most important issue to address in the transition from salary to hourly wage is the apparent gap that could occur in the payroll.

“The meeting Tuesday was basically a Q and A with the department heads and officials to work out the most efficient plan for the switch over so people won’t be left without a paycheck for that period of time,” Martens said. “We are certainly aiming to have this done by the first pay period in January if at all possible. It will take some time to get things in place and notify the employees of the necessary changes and their options.

“I’m not sure why this has not been done before and was not aware of the need for it, but now we need to do what we can to make the transition as quickly and smoothly as possible.”

Repeated attempts to contact Supervisor Joe Tooley were unsuccessful.