Compensatory Time

A Howard County Council employee fired last month by Councilman C. Vernon Gray has billed the county for more than $8,000 in back wages that she says she earned in 1 1/2 years as his assistant.Ann Chambers of Columbia's Harper's Choice village, who couldn't be reached for comment, was Gray's special assistant from March 1995 until he fired her Aug. 2 for reasons he declined to discuss publicly.Afterward, she requested about $8,100 for 385 hours of compensatory time she said she accumulated but never used.

Last summer my 22-year-old son worked at a performance auto shop where he installed equipment and worked at the counter. Since the store did not have the best tools for installations, I agreed to let my son take many of my tools to work. He did both jobs so well that he took over the store for a month while the owner traveled overseas. When the boss returned, my son gave notice and left. Unfortunately, he forgot to take my tools. And he didn't attempt to retrieve them for about five months.

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that state and local governments may force employees to use up compensatory time earned for overtime work, rather than letting them save it to use when they want. Dividing 6-3, the court ruled that a 1985 law allowing state and local governments to reward overtime with time off rather than with cash also permits them to dictate when workers must use that time. The majority rejected the Labor Department's argument that public agencies may not order that time off be taken unless their workers have agreed in advance.

WASHINGTON - After 532 days of negotiations, the Securities and Exchange Commission and its union employees agreed yesterday to a contract that would allow workers to telecommute two days a week, among other provisions. The agreement, which still needs approval by the union members and SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt before it can go into effect, addresses basic working conditions such as dress codes and compensatory time off. It doesn't cover pay, a sore point for many SEC professionals, who are paid less than their counterparts at federal banking agencies.

Expressing concern about the amount of compensatory time logged by legislative assistants and overtime for paid secretaries, the Howard County Council chairman said yesterday that he has taken the unusual step of asking the county auditor to audit the legislative staff.Council Chairman C. Vernon Gray, D-3rd, said he also is asking the county personnel office to study the council staff because of concerns about duplication of effort and "some frustration about the direction of the office." He declined to be more specific.

Vowing not to "roll over" and accept a ban on compensatory time, a group representing white-collar city employees is hiring an attorney to explore the legality of the action."

Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke has issued an order barring highly paid city employees from accruing compensatory time, a change aimed at limiting the amount of severance pay high-ranking bureaucrats receive when they leave city employment.The new policy will go into effect in January and affect 415 city employees who are paid more than $50,000 a year.The mayor's decision was made public yesterday by City Comptroller Jacqueline F. McLean, who had initiated an audit report that recommended tighter vacation- and compensatory-leave policies for the city's white-collar work force.

County Council chairman Paul R. Farragut was livid after the counciltabled his bill to require the county to develop a plan for purchasing recycled materials."

Still suffering from sticker shock over high payouts to retiring police officers, the Baltimore County Council is expected to give grudging approval tonight to this year's unusually high $633,000 retirement tab.It's the first time in years the council has had to transfer money to pay retirees for unused leave and compensatory time, and the amounts -- including $32,379 to a 38-year veteran patrolman -- clearly make some council members uncomfortable."

Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke has retreated from a plan to eliminate compensatory time for white-collar municipal employees, instead settling on a compromise that would allow employees to earn a maximum of 100 hours of comp time a year.The new policy, scheduled to go into effect next year, tightens the current practice that allows 1,300 white-collar municipal employees to accrue 400 hours of comp time.Also under the new plan, employees would be allowed to carry only 40 hours of comp time from one year to the next.

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that state and local governments may force employees to use up compensatory time earned for overtime work, rather than letting them save it to use when they want. Dividing 6-3, the court ruled that a 1985 law allowing state and local governments to reward overtime with time off rather than with cash also permits them to dictate when workers must use that time. The majority rejected the Labor Department's argument that public agencies may not order that time off be taken unless their workers have agreed in advance.

It's not always hard to say goodbye. Just ask former Baltimore public works director George G. Balog or Daniel P. Henson III, the city's former housing commissioner. Balog's final check from the city, which will be cut tomorrow, will be in the amount of $141,894 for unused vacation, personal and sick leave -- $22,000 more than his annual salary. Henson, who left government on Dec. 7, got an extra bump of $43,228 for his unused vacation, personal and sick days. The payouts raised the ire of the new mayor and prompted his administration to issue an order to prevent such large payments to retiring city officials in the future.

Still suffering from sticker shock over high payouts to retiring police officers, the Baltimore County Council is expected to give grudging approval tonight to this year's unusually high $633,000 retirement tab.It's the first time in years the council has had to transfer money to pay retirees for unused leave and compensatory time, and the amounts -- including $32,379 to a 38-year veteran patrolman -- clearly make some council members uncomfortable."

A Howard County Council employee fired last month by Councilman C. Vernon Gray has billed the county for more than $8,000 in back wages that she says she earned in 1 1/2 years as his assistant.Ann Chambers of Columbia's Harper's Choice village, who couldn't be reached for comment, was Gray's special assistant from March 1995 until he fired her Aug. 2 for reasons he declined to discuss publicly.Afterward, she requested about $8,100 for 385 hours of compensatory time she said she accumulated but never used.

Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke has retreated from a plan to eliminate compensatory time for white-collar municipal employees, instead settling on a compromise that would allow employees to earn a maximum of 100 hours of comp time a year.The new policy, scheduled to go into effect next year, tightens the current practice that allows 1,300 white-collar municipal employees to accrue 400 hours of comp time.Also under the new plan, employees would be allowed to carry only 40 hours of comp time from one year to the next.

Vowing not to "roll over" and accept a ban on compensatory time, a group representing white-collar city employees is hiring an attorney to explore the legality of the action."

It's not always hard to say goodbye. Just ask former Baltimore public works director George G. Balog or Daniel P. Henson III, the city's former housing commissioner. Balog's final check from the city, which will be cut tomorrow, will be in the amount of $141,894 for unused vacation, personal and sick leave -- $22,000 more than his annual salary. Henson, who left government on Dec. 7, got an extra bump of $43,228 for his unused vacation, personal and sick days. The payouts raised the ire of the new mayor and prompted his administration to issue an order to prevent such large payments to retiring city officials in the future.

WASHINGTON - After 532 days of negotiations, the Securities and Exchange Commission and its union employees agreed yesterday to a contract that would allow workers to telecommute two days a week, among other provisions. The agreement, which still needs approval by the union members and SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt before it can go into effect, addresses basic working conditions such as dress codes and compensatory time off. It doesn't cover pay, a sore point for many SEC professionals, who are paid less than their counterparts at federal banking agencies.

For years, top managers in Baltimore City's government earning more than $50,000 a year have enjoyed a benefit that has their colleagues elsewhere green with envy.By not taking time off, they have been able to accumulate up to 192 days of vacation leave plus 55 days of compensatory time. That totals more than eight months!But wait, it gets even sweeter.At retirement, many departing top officials take advantage of a liberal policy that allows top employees to turn unused leave time into sick leave and then get one day's pay in cash for every three days of leave.

Baltimore City's top managers may not receive the highest salaries around. But some of them are doing quite nicely -- and reaping a bonanza upon retirement. For years, some 415 bureaucrats making more than $50,000 a year have been able to accrue mountains of compensatory time. At retirement, they are able to convert it into cash at the rate of one day's pay for every three days owed. Stories are told of one retiring long-time department head, who departed several months early and still received a hefty amount of cash.