Overtime pay???

[Janet Harrington]

Go look it up.

No Wilma, I'm more interested in issues involving abuse of power, mismanagement, failure of fiduciary duty, apparent incompetence, conflict of interest, manipulation of funds for personal gain, violation of law and lawful regulation than I am about prevailing wage issues.  Prevailing wage issues for non-management employees are, frankly, secondary.  If you insist on focusing on such  issues ahead of those I've mentioned, try comparing the wages for a grader driver, maintenance supervisor or truck driver here vs. Sedgwick county or even Wilson county.  We're cheapskates to be sure, but that fact is secondary to the matters of why we're cheapskates.

Patriot, Elk County has always underpaid the road employee. I don't know why. Seems as if it is more important to have rock for the roads. I believe that the EMS budget and the road budget are mill levy budgets. EMS brings in money (income) from ambulance fees. The road budget has very little income if any coming in. So, my question to county commissioners would be this...why not raise the wages of the road employees and pay for those raises by raising the mill levy? We taxpayers pay for it anyway by paying real estate and personal property taxes. Give our road employees the raises that they deserve. And I don't understand why road employees have to take comp time instead of gettng paid time and a half. Answer that one for me, county commissioners.

[Janet Harrington]

Mother, I believe that was Christmas Day and our road employees gave up time at home to open up roads. However; they get paid not much over minimum wage to do this. As I said in a previous post, the road employees have always been given the shaft when it comes to wages from Elk County. I worked for the county for 25 years and saw many commissioners come and go. None of those commissioners have ever rectified this issue.

As for the 10 hour days, I think, (my opinion only), that the courthouse people like the 10 hours days, so that's why the road department works 10 hour days. I am probably wrong. 10 hour days do work well during daylight savings time. I have worked 10 hour days and had 3 days off at a time and I loved it. I don't blame anyone for wanting 10 hour days, but how productive is it for a road department? Only road department people can answer that. However; I'm sure all we will hear is smart ass answers and we will be blasted and told how stupid we are for asking questions.  It seems as if that is the only way anyone can answer anything on this forum. Don't have a different opinion because they are the only ones who are right. Call me stupid, ignorant, my favorite putdown "you were a worthless sheriff when you were sheriff", I don't care. My wages don't depend on taxpayer money anymore and, I, for one, am thankful to the voters for that. Less stress and I can ask the questions and call everyone stupid. LOL

[Ross]

Janet,
How stupid can you be?
Asking questions.
So you can be called stupid.
Oh, ny word.

Don't slap me for being stupid enough to ask,
Jusr kidding.
LOL

[Janet Harrington]

Ok. Found my notes from talking to the county clerk's office. Here is what I learned.

We have two Mobile Intensive Care Technicians, (MICT), or paramedics. They both get paid $2,686.18 a month. The director, who is one of the MICT's, gets $911.79 a month. So, the director is making $3,597.97 a month. But, keep in mind, the director is working as a MICT and being the one responsible as the director. This is two different jobs. I cannot answer as to how the EMS employees are on the schedule. I also did not ask about the Emergency Medical Technicians, (EMT), that work for the county.

Now, while I was talking to the lovely lady at the county clerk's office, she asked me how we paid the EMS crew when they had to work calls on their days off when I was director. You know what! I can't remember. That was 7 years ago. Anyway, she told me that if an EMS person is called to take a run on their day off, they are paid for a day's wage, no matter how long the call is. A person really needs to study the Fair Labor Standard laws to understand how EMS people should be paid and how law enforcement people should be paid. There is a difference. However; I am not up on the current laws, so I will not speak any more about that.

Now, an Elk County MICT is being paid $32,324.16 a year gross pay. I do not know what the benefits are. A Sedgwick County MICT is making $2,592.00 a month, (starting), making $31,104 a year gross pay. Remember, this is a starting wage. Our MICT/Director has about 10 years' experience under his belt. Our other MICT, I can't answer for that one.

Now, back to the MICT/Director. Yes, with his monthly salary of $911.79 to be the director combined with his $2,686.18 a month to be a MICT, he is drawing $43,175.64 gross pay a year. Then, if he takes a call on his day off, he gets a day's pay there, I am sure it adds up to quite a bit. However; Elk County EMS sure doesn't have very many people on the payroll and when that second ambulance needs to go out, who do you suppose gets called? The EMS people who are on day's off. Is it fair to the road department personnel who do not get paid enough to put beans on the table to feed the family? Nope, but that is comparing apples to oranges.

If the county commissioners are having a problem with what the EMS people are making, then they are the ones who need to fix it. Just as they are the ones who need to raise the wages of the road employees.
Ahhhh. County Commissioners. You gotta love them.

[Janet Harrington]

Janet,
How stupid can you be?
Asking questions.
So you can be called stupid.
Oh, ny word.

Don't slap me for being stupid enough to ask,
Jusr kidding.
LOL

Ahhh, Ross. That is so nice that you asked. LOL

[Janet Harrington]

Forgot to mention this, but a county commissioner should not have brought up any information about a paid employee that is not an elected official in an open meeting. IMHO it doesn't matter that there were not any names mentioned and that the employee is the one who brought up his own name. From what I was told today, there was enough information that the employee could be identified. Could be a law suit there. I was also told that the county attorney didn't have a problem with the way the county commissioners handled it. However; if I was that paid employee, I would probably be talking to an attorney right now. IMHO that was totally wrong and should have only been handled and discussed in an executive session.

County Commissioners. Gotta love' em. Believe me. I have worked with many, many county commissioners, so I know how some of them can do what they think is right, but get the county into some hot water.

[Patriot]

A person really needs to study the Fair Labor Standard laws to understand how EMS people should be paid and how law enforcement people should be paid. There is a difference. However; I am not up on the current laws, so I will not speak any more about that.

I have and I am......

1.  Under the Fair Labor Standards Ace (FLSA), Emergency Personnel are not exempt an, as such must be paid ivertime if they work over 40 hrs per week.  Yes, there are some minor differences and other differences if either type (LEO/EMS) are trained and expected to engage in fire suppression.

2.  They may be salaried and are to be paid overtime based on an hourly rate calculated from their salary as follows:

Base Salary = $3597.97
Annual = 43175.64 (monthly x 12)
Weekly = 803.30  (annual/52)
Hourly = 20.08 (weekly/40)
Overtime rate = $30.12 (hourly x 1.5)

After a salaried employee has worked 40 hours in a week they are paid their overtime rate for each hour worked over 40 in addition to their base salary.

3.  On call employees are considered 'working' if the on call time is performed at the place of employment.  If the on call time is any place else (home for example) they are considered not working.  So, unless on a response, that on call time DOES NOT count toward their 40 hr work time. 

24 hour on call at home with a 2 hour ambulance run = 2 hours worked toward the 40.

I don't think we do that here.  We count on call time as hours worked.   

Don't want to accept this based on the poster, then go to the following link and research it:  http://www.dol.gov/whd/flsa/

[Janet Harrington]

Patriot, that is so correct. Overtime pay has to be based on "actual time worked." So, if EMS is getting paid OT for on call time, that is an incorrect way to figure their pay. Since I was not at the meeting, I don't know if this is true and this is not something that the lovely lady in the county clerk's office and I talked about. Thank you for doing the studying. I would, but I just am not up to trying to figure all this out. That is what we elect county commissioners and county clerk's for.

I can tell you that when I was in office, the county clerk, (Marvis Gaddie), the county attorney, (David Brace), and I attend a Fair Labor Standards seminar in Emporia, Kansas. I learned alot and I was taught alot from KLETC. If the current administration is not up on the laws of paying wages, then it is so sad for all of us.

[Patriot]

Forgot to mention this, but a county commissioner should not have brought up any information about a paid employee that is not an elected official in an open meeting.

Wrong, wrong, wrong Janet.  You best go study the KOMA and all AG opinions and KS Appellate & Supreme Court decisions on the subject.  I'm too tired now to cite it all here, but it can easily be found.  Additionally, our county commission have only entered legally into executive session twice since May of this year.  I have a copy of a Petition for Injunctive Relief and Mandamus that cites the specific complaints.

[Wilma]

The road employees have been working 10 hour days longer than the rest of the county employees.  I am thinking that Jimmie Rader implemented that and I thought it was a good idea until I had the time to observe the county road yard.  Winter days are too short for a 10 hour working day.  So what do they do during the time that it is too dark to do their jobs?  They can hardly take the time off and take a shorter pay check.  They don't get that much to begin with.  They have to be at work during the working hours whether they can do anything or not.  Someone needs to change things so that they can have daylight while on the job.