Somerset commissioners say have no evidence employees abusing time-off policies
SOMERSET ― Somerset County Commissioners have denied any knowledge of some nonunion courthouse employees taking off more paid time than they earned and union leaders have not filed any grievances in the accusation.
But county Treasurer Tony DeLuca and a group of county residents continue to press for documents that would give them proof the disparity between nonunion and union workers, who don’t get paid for unearned hours, exists.
The group has been behind an avalanche of right-to-know requests in the last few months that have overwhelmed county officials, asking for items such as workers’ timesheets and employee computer login and logout times.
Those requests are being answered slower than the group would like and speakers have been complaining about the situation at recent commissioners’ meetings. Commissioner Pamela Tokar-Ickes said there are so many requests filed that the county might have to create a position just to handle them.
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She said as of Sept. 14, the county had received 87 right-to-know requests this year. Three are in the response period from the county. She said it is likely they will exceed 100 by the end of the year.
Tokar-Ickes said the number of requests in 2023 has far surpassed what the county has seen in previous years.
"That is as many as we had for 2022, so we will surpass last year in 2023 and the trend since 2008 is straight upward," she said.
In 2022, 72 requests were recorded, and in 2021, 66 were recorded. By contrast, only 20 requests were filed with the commissioners’ office in 2010.
RTK requests
A Right to Know is a request for information from a state or local government body. The public is allowed to request any kind of information, and aside from a list of exceptions, the government body receiving the request must provide the information, in writing, as promptly as possible. The response can not take longer than five business days, according to the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association website.
Within that time, an agency must respond by granting access, denying access and explaining why and how to appeal, or if appropriate, by requesting an additional 30 calendar days in which to respond. If the agency requests an additional 30 calendar days, it must notify the person requesting the RTK and provide the reason for the review, a fee estimate and a reasonable date that a response is expected.
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If the expected response date exceeds 30 calendar days, the request is considered denied unless the requester agrees to an extension in writing. If the requester does not agree to an extension of time, the request is deemed denied and the requester can pursue appellate rights. Agencies that take additional time permitted may be acting in bad faith and could be subject to penalty. A court of law is empowered to review and impose penalties in appropriate circumstances.
What's the point?
"The point of the right-to-know requests is to explain the discrepancy between union employees and directors. The directors can take time off with pay and non-union employees who don't have the time put in are being paid," said Lester Younkin, who has been attending and speaking out at the commissioners' board meetings for the past several months. "The unionized people have to take it off without pay and get reprimanded. The pattern is directors and non-union people get paid, the unionized are not getting paid."
Both union and nonunion county employees have the same policy for time off accruals. For the first six months of service, there is no vacation accrual per month. For six months to 6 years of service is 10 working days (75 or 80 hours), 6.25 or 6.67 hours per month; for six years up to 12 years service, 15 working days (112.5 or 120 hours), 9.375 or 10 hours per month; more than 12 years of service is 20 working days (150 or 160 hours) accrual, 12.5 or 13.33 hours per month.
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The union representative said she is aware of the concerns.
"Both Jerry George, AFSCME staff representative, and I are aware that there have been accusations made that non-union Somerset County employees are being paid even if they fail to report to work and are not being required to use earned leave. At the same time, union-represented employees are not being given the same consideration," said Margaret Pastirko, staff representative for AFSCME DC 83, in an email. "Union-represented employees must use their earned leave anytime they are absent from work no matter the reason (sick, vacation, personal issues), and recently unpaid leave of absence have been given to union-represented employees, which led to the question being asked about a disparity of treatment. I understand that there has been a Right to Know request to acquire timesheets for non-union county employees, but to the best of my knowledge, information has not yet been obtained, and the union was not the party that has filed the Right to Know. AFSCME will continue to monitor the situation and file any necessary action as appropriate."
Pastirko did not respond to the question of whether or not the union employees are reprimanded if they take time off that they haven't earned.
Tokar-Ickes cited the employees' handbook that says "Essentially, employees accrue leave time according to these policies. When their leave time is exhausted (or in the case of all new employees with the exception of the AFSCME employees they can borrow up to five days from the subsequent year) they must request unpaid leave.
"If specific instances can be provided, they will be investigated. Somerset County employees are not paid for time they did not earn. If there are extenuating circumstances, and an employee does not have available time accrued, requests for unpaid leave are handled as a formal personnel action of the board," she said.
This article originally appeared on The Daily American: As RTK requests increase, no evidence found of workers abusing policy
