DATE: March 5, 2024
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Kari Gilbert
Director, Department of Child Support Services (DCSS)
SUBJECT: Application for Discharge of County Department and Officials from Accountability for Collecting Overtime Overpayments to Certain DCSS Employees from May 19, 2019, to April 16, 2023
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Adopt resolution approving application for discharge from accountability, pursuant to Government Code section 25257, for collecting overtime overpayments made to 43 DCSS employees from May 19, 2019, to April 16, 2023, in the total amount of $1,996.37.
REPORT
Approval of the recommended action would discharge County departments and officials, including but not limited to the Director of DCSS, the Auditor-Controller/Treasurer-Tax Collector, and the County Counsel from accountability for collecting $1,996.37 due and payable to the County from 43 current and former DCSS employees. That amount includes the overpayment of wages.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Your Board could decide not to approve the recommended action. However, should your Board not approve the recommended action, the County would need to collect overtime overpayments from each of the affected DCSS employees at a cost significantly greater than the total amount owed.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in net County cost associated with this recommended Board action. Release of accountability for collecting these overtime overpayments is being requested because the amounts owed are too low to justify the expense of the collection effort. A review of all overtime overpayments to 43 employees, from May 19, 2019, to April 16, 2023, has been completed, and totals $1,996.37. This period covers all overpayments owed during applicable statutes of limitation.
DISCUSSION:
On or about April 2023, DCSS discovered an error regarding its calculation of overtime for employees that took annual leave and worked overtime in the same work week, from May 19, 2019, to April 16, 2023. Upon a complete review of relevant timesheets, with the assistance of the Human Resources Department, Labor Relations Division, DCSS was able to determine that there were a total of 64 instances in which employee hours were erroneously coded by DCSS, affecting 43 current and former DCSS employees in bargaining units 2, 12, and 36. Specifically, DCSS was incorrectly coding hours worked in excess of an employee’s regular daily and weekly shifts such that it resulted in some employees being paid both daily overtime (“County overtime”) and weekly overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA overtime”), which contradicts the language of the applicable Memoranda of Understanding (“MOU”) with units 2, 12, and 36.
Pursuant to Salary Resolution 811, overtime is “authorized work performed by an employee in excess of eight (8) hours a day or over forty (40) hours in a workweek.” Further, in the MOU for Units 2 (Article 61 - Overtime/Productive Time), 12 (Article 33 - Overtime), and 36 (Article 35 - Overtime), they each contain the following language:
In determining whether or not overtime hours have been worked, only productive work hours (actual hours worked) shall apply. Overtime is authorized work performed by employees in excess of eight (8) hours a day or over forty (40) hours in a work week . . .
This clear and unambiguous language in the MOUs mean that employees are either paid daily overtime, or weekly overtime, but not both. Nevertheless, DCSS erroneously coded overtime hours in at least 64 instances in the course of approximately four (4) years by paying both daily and weekly overtime. Due to this error, each of the 43 employees affected received overpayments for which the County would have individual claims for recovery. The amounts owed by individual employees range from $1.43 to $319.95. Attachment A, within the attached resolution, provides a complete list of the affected current and former DCSS employees, the pay period in which they were overpaid, and the amount overpaid. In total, 155.34 hours were incorrectly coded by DCSS as overtime hours, paid at one and one-half the employees’ rate per hour, instead of their standard hourly rate, resulting in an aggregate total of $1,996.37 in overpayments.
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
On file with Clerk - Resolution
CAO ANALYST:
Fine Nai