40 Hour Workweek

Union Bridge's new clerk-treasurer steps into a job that has grown from answering the phone and writing out bills by hand in a converted living room to computerized recordkeeping in a new town hall.Debra Rippeon, who started work Monday, won't be collecting money from the town parking meters, one of the tasks handled by former Town Clerk Kathleen D. Kreimer. The council has assigned parking meter collections to Council President Bret Grossnickle, but the clerk-treasurer in the town of 932 residents still has duties more varied than similar positions in larger communities with more municipal employees.

ANNAPOLIS -- How bad have state employees had it? So bad that even the calendar has conspired against them.First they were denied a pay raise. Then, because of ever-increasing budget deficits, they were stripped of automatic incremental raises and required to pay more for their health insurance. To top it off, the governor ordered those employees who were working 35 1/2 hours a week to work 40 hours a week with no increase in pay.Now they have to cope with -- of all things -- leap year.When Maryland employees opened their paychecks Wednesday, they discovered their take-home pay had actually gone down -- by about $1.05 for every $10,000 earned.

HOWARD COUNTY COUNCIL members are giving due scrutiny to a proposal that would, in effect, trade a long-term benefit for what may be a passing fad in police scheduling.The benefit is five years of veteran police experience that would be lost under a proposal to allow Howard officers to receive full retirement benefits after 20 years instead of the current 25 years. The council is being asked to trade that, costly though it is, for police acceptance of a questionable fad sweeping the country: the 12-hour workday for officers.

The retailer I work for holds a mandatory meeting one Sunday a month, even though the timing inconveniences a number of employees. The meeting takes place either at 6 a.m., before the store opens, or at 6:30 p.m., after closing. Employees like me who work Monday through Friday wind up commuting to work on our day off. The company also expects us to cut two hours from our 40-hour workweek to avoid qualifying for overtime because of the two-hour meeting. The worst part is that sometimes we arrive for the meeting only to find out it has been canceled.

Fearing a ruling that could lead to firefighters losing child custody because of their unusual work schedules, firefighters around the country are watching a custody dispute between a firefighter and his former wife that comes before Maryland's second-highest court today. A District of Columbia firefighter from Lanham is asking the Court of Special Appeals to overturn a Prince George's County Circuit judge's order that ended joint custody of his two children, ages 5 and 6. The lower court ruled against Lt. Gerald E. Burton because he had told the judge his work hours changed to meet the custody arrangement, but officially they had not. Instead, he had relied on a longtime practice among firefighters of swapping hours to meet the custody agreement.

Stung by their inability to stop a personnel overhaul hated by many employees, Howard County union leaders have already begun working to elect a more labor-friendly County Council in 1998.Forty labor leaders from around the region met at an Ellicott City restaurant on July 17 -- when it had become clear that the current council would pass the personnel plan a week later -- to stitch together a coalition dedicated to influencing the 1998 election."We think we can influence 40,000 votes in Howard County," said Dale Chase, president of the local chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents the county's blue-collar workers.

Getting McNair a plus for Baltimore I want to let the citizens of Baltimore know how fortunate they are to have Steve McNair coming to their city. He is truly the toughest quarterback I have ever seen, often playing with injuries that would force many men to the training room. He does his job and never wants to be in the spotlight. He has been so involved with community activities, and yet he never seeks recognition. He is the kind of individual you hope your son grows up to become. The business side of the NFL is truly the dark side when a team is unable to keep a McNair, Derrick Mason or Samari Rolle in the same uniform for his entire career.

An audit has uncovered numerous problems with the Maryland State Police, including failing to adequately review previously approved handgun applications and improperly paying overtime to civilian employees, which investigators said in some cases negated savings realized through furloughs. Auditors found one worker who earned six hours of overtime during a workweek that included eight hours of furlough time. With time-and-a-half, the employee was paid for nine hours of work, which auditors said "eliminated any savings" that the unpaid leave was supposed to have generated.

Q: How do you handle an ever-increasing workload and still maintain some semblance of order in a 40-hour workweek? R.G., Bear, Del. A: There are only simple solutions. Learn to work more efficiently through redesigning the job, use methods such as computer aids or other work-enhancing tools, or hire additional help. Make your boss aware that the increasing workload means that priorities must be established and those on the bottom of the list might not get done. But be sure to have the evidence to support your position.