Posted: 12/18/07
County board denies grievance appeal made by local LELS Union
By Charlie Warner
Argus News Editor
Not wishing to set a precedent, the Houston County Board unanimously approved a motion to deny a grievance filed by two Houston County deputies over the interpretation of the union contract and how it deals with overtime compensation. The issue was brought before the county board during the Dec. 11 meeting. Because the county board did not resolve the grievance, the issue will be brought before a representative of the Bureau of Mediation Services.
The grievance was filed by the Law Enforcement Labor Services Union, representing deputies Jon Kulas and John Tvieten.
According to Ken Pilcher, LELS business agent, the two deputies attended a meeting and training session on Oct. 10 from 11:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. The actual training session was two hours, while the meeting ran just over two hours. The current union contract specifies that "employees attending training classes on their own time shall receive straight time pay for all hours spent in such training." The contract doesn't specifically address "meetings" and the two deputies felt the extra hours they were required to put in while attending the meeting should be considered overtime hours and should be paid time and one half.
"This has nothing to do with the two deputies or their work performance. They both do an excellent job," county Personnel Director Tim Comstock noted. "It's a matter of the language in the current contract we have with the union. And it is something I feel we need to address during our upcoming contract negotiations."
Comstock went on to state the current contract does not differentiate between training and meetings and pointed out the county has been very consistent in the past, as far as its handling of such manners.
Houston County Chief Deputy Scott Yeiter told the board he had conducted quite a bit of research, concerning the overtime issue. He found the county has not paid overtime for these types of meetings in the past.
"This issue needs to be hammered out during the contract negotiations. But as far as in the past, I spoke with one officer who has served for 24 years, and he's never heard of anyone receiving overtime pay for something like this," Yeiter said.
Pilcher said since he would be the person representing the union during the upcoming contract negotiations, he didn't see any harm in granting the overtime request for the two officers.
Comstock and the county board felt differently.
"I feel if we have been handling this issue this way in the past, we need to continue being consistent with it. If it needs to be changed, then let's change it. But I don't feel right approving this (the overtime hours request)," Commissioner Tom Bjerke said.
Comstock suggested the county and union should work out the language issue during negotiations and recommended the county board deny the grievance appeal and have it brought before a mediator. "I feel Step 4 (going to mediation) would be a better setting to handle this," Comstock said.
It was pointed out the amount of overtime was approximately $60.
"This is larger than the $60," Bjerke said. "If we approve this, we would be setting a precedent."
A motion to deny the grievance was made by Commissioner Dave Corcoran, seconded by Commissioner Larry Connery, and approved 5-0.
According to Article 22 in the grievance procedure, if a grievance is not resolved in Step 3 (which was the hearing before the county board), it may be appealed to Step 4 within 10 calendar days following the county board's final answer in Step 3. Any grievance not appealed in writing to Step 4 by the union within 10 calendar days shall be considered waived.
Step 4 brings the matter to mediation with the Bureau of Mediatiion Services. According to Pilcher, it could be two to three months before a mediator could review the case. He added the mediation service is free.
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