By Erin Smith
During an emergency event or major storm, county employees are extremely busy. The county employs many individuals to provide numerous services for its residents and the workload sometimes doubles when there is a storm.
Behind the scenes of the Bladen County Emergency Management team some county employees ensure residents have water and sewer services. There are county staff members protecting property, lives and collecting debris from the roadways while storms threaten the area. Yet others are working at the shelters ensuring the safety and well being of displaced residents and animals.
Hurricane Florence was no exception adding to the workload for county employees.
BladenOnline.com received some questions regarding how county employees are reimbursed for work performed during the storm. Some employees have reported seeing their checks missing the extra money for the hours they pulled during the hurricane.
Bladen County Finance Director Lisa Coleman said more than 200 county employees were working during Hurricane Florence.
Bladen County Manager Greg Martin said, “Just about every department has someone who worked during the storm.”
As a result of the time worked, many county employees were faced with taking compensatory time off. Martin said during the October 1, 2018, meeting of the Bladen County Board of Commissioners, it was voted on to pay the employees who worked during the storm overtime pay rather than making them take compensatory time off.
Compensatory time off or “comp” time is when an agency or company substitutes extra time off in the place of overtime pay.
Martin explained the action by the Commissioners allowed those employees who were working during the storm to be paid their regular pay for the first 40 hours worked. After the regular 40 hours the employees are to be paid time-and-a-half for the overtime worked, but not double time. Martin said Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has historically reimbursed the County for the overtime pay.
Any county employees who were not required to work during the storm will be paid at a rate of 7.5 hours per day inclement weather pay for the time during which the county offices were closed, according to Martin.
If someone feels their hours worked are not correct, their immediate supervisor needs to be contacted and made aware of the issue.
“We recognize it is hard to have a one size fits all policy,” said Martin.
The current county Inclement Weather Policy was adopted in March 2015, he said.
In the minutes of the March 2015 meeting, it reads, “Following a presentation of the four options and upon a motion by Commissioner Blanks, seconded by Commissioner Cogdell, the Board unanimously adopted Amendment 3 which allows for compensation to be paid to non-essential employees when offices are closed for inclement weather and compensation paid to employees based on hours worked, without additional credit for inclement weather hours.”
The County’s Inclement Weather Policy also states that employees who feel the conditions are unsafe to travel and cannot make it in to work due to inclement weather must use compensatory, petty or vacation hours not worked to cover their time. The policy also notes that sick leave cannot be used to cover adverse weather absences.
The policy also reads that an employee who is deemed as “essential” to the county’s operations during an emergency must report in and failure to report in could lead to disciplinary measurers. If an essential employee cannot work a scheduled shift due to conditions that prevent them from traveling, the employee must contact their immediate supervisor to see if alternate arrangements can be made.
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