City leaders clash over employee pay

Columbus city officials don’t like using words like “withheld” or “missing” when referring to wages city employees won’t see in their paychecks come August.

Deputy City Manager Pam Hodge, City Finance Director Angelica Alexander and Human Resources Director Reather Hollowell say employees will actually receive more money by September due to a 20-hour pay bonus issued by the city. So they prefer to call it a “lag” in pay instead.

“When you’re talking payroll periods, no one’s being short anything because they’re being paid for the time that they worked, it’s just a matter of when they get paid for that time,” Alexander said Monday during an interview with the Ledger-Enquirer. “For the bi-weekly people, it’s one week later than it was scheduled originally, but for the same period of time.”

Alexander made the comments nearly a week after some city employees complained to Columbus Council about the lapse in pay scheduled to occur as the city converts to a new payroll system. Most were public works employees currently paid on a weekly basis.

Some councilors have also expressed concern about the pay lapse, but Mayor Teresa Tomlinson and city officials see it differently, arguing that employees will actually be making more during the month of August, not less. Council will reconsider the issue Tuesday at a specially called council meeting scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at the Citizens Service Center.

“Twenty hours is 20 hours and it’s not 40 hours,” said Councilor Bruce Huff in a Monday interview with the Ledger-Enquirer. “... If the numbers add up, I would be the first to say that. But I don’t see it right now. Right now, it seems to me they’re missing 20 hours of money.”

Under the conversion, the weekly payroll cycle would be eliminated, moving all Columbus Consolidated Government employees to a common bi-weekly pay period. It also would create a lag-time for current bi-weekly employees, who account for about 81 percent of the city’s workforce.

If plans move forward, employees would receive a 20-hour bonus on Aug. 11 to help with their financial obligations. The bonus would be equal to 1/2 of a weekly salary, 1/4 of a bi-weekly salary, or 20 hours. The first bi-weekly paycheck after the conversion will be issued on Aug. 18. Current federal and state taxes would apply.

Officials have said employees won’t see their full annual earnings reflected on their pay stubs until a January paycheck.

On Monday, Hodge said weekly employees are currently paid in arrears. They work one week and get paid the following Friday. So they will be minimally impacted by the pay conversion.

She said it’s bi-weekly employees who will have to make the biggest adjustment because they’re usually paid before some hours are actually worked, and the new system will create a lag time.

At last week’s meeting, Alexander presented council with two scenarios — one for a Grade 11 employee paid $571.20 per week and the other for a Grade 11 employee paid $1,142 every two weeks.

Under the first scenario, the weekly employee would receive $571.20 on Aug. 4, a bonus of $285.60 on Aug. 11, and then $1,142.40 paychecks on Aug. 18, Sept. 1, Sept. 15 and Sept. 29. The total would amount to $5,426.40, which is $285.60 more than the employee would’ve received without the changes, according to information provided by the city.

Under the second scenario, the bi-weekly employee would not receive a $1,142.40 paycheck on Aug. 11 as he/she normally would. Instead, they would receive a $285.60 bonus on Aug. 11, and then $1,142.40 on Aug. 18, Sept. 1, Sept. 15 and Sept. 29. Normally, paychecks during that period would amount to $4,569.60 by Sept. 22. But with the changes, the employee would receive a total of $5,426.40 during that period, receiving a paycheck for the pay period ending Sept. 22 on Sept. 29. The amount also is $285.60 than what the employee would normally receive.

But Huff said the pay will still be short by December 31, which means the 20 hours are still missing.

“They said it would come out to 25 pay periods, and if it’s 25 pay periods you can’t make it up by getting a check in January,” he said. “That’s the beginning of a new year.”

This story was originally published June 26, 2017 at 9:01 PM with the headline "City leaders clash over employee pay."