YOUNGSTOWN – The city council is being asked by the administration to pay seven health district employees, including six who are in the administration and normally not eligible for the bonus, $ 24,298.48 in overtime for extra work they do this year during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Council members will discuss the ordinance, sponsored by Mayor Jamael Tito Brown, at a meeting of the finance committee on Monday. A vote is planned for the council meeting on Wednesday.
The money comes from a state COVID-19 grant, said Erin Bishop, health commissioner.
As a department head, Bishop is usually not entitled to overtime. If the bill were passed, she’d get most of the seven: $ 9,915.70 for 179 hours of overtime this year at an hour and a half. Her hourly wage is $ 36.93.
The last time urban health district workers were worked overtime was during the H1N1 outbreak in 2010, she said.
Bishop said, “I’ve invested a lot of time. This does not include any overtime that I did in 2020. I’ve been working here since 2011 and have never been paid for overtime. During the pandemic there are things that are uncontrollable. We didn’t want to close any clinics ”during the pandemic.
The city’s health committee, chaired by Brown, approved overtime payments at a May 3 meeting. But it needs the Council’s support so that the payments can be made.
The other big payout is $ 8,937.61 to Anthea Mickens, director of nursing, for 205.25 hours of overtime. Her hourly wage is $ 29.03.
The four other health district management staff would receive between $ 724.95 and $ 1,861.02 while Rick Dezsi, a unionized worker who works as an environmental medic, would receive $ 580.39. Bishop said overtime for her department is not budgeted in the general fund, not even for union members.
IT IS ALLOWED
City Law Director Jeff Limbian wrote a legal opinion to Bishop and Brown stating that this overtime was allowed.
Limbian wrote that “given the unique situation” of the pandemic and Governor Mike DeWine’s emergency orders, “such overtime must be paid for”.
Limbian added, “Ms. Bishop would have been irresponsible and neglecting his responsibilities if she had not fulfilled her duties as listed in the Ohio Revised Code. Of course, these tasks extend beyond a 40-hour week. It would be unreasonable to deny her remuneration for the work required by law. “
But getting city council approval could be difficult.
Councilor Anita Davis, D-6th Ward, said, “I am not at all positive about this. It sets a terrible precedent. It’s department heads and management, and it’s part of the job. From me there is no yes, no, no, a hard no, no, no, a firm no. “
Administration and health officials are “going to have to explain a lot to tell me why I should vote for it,” Davis said.
Councilor Mike Ray, D-4th Ward, said, “If we do this, it must be fair and equitable for all employees. We shouldn’t be doing this on a departmental basis. “
He also said a vote could be postponed.
“It’s not a ticking clock,” said Ray.
Alderman Julius Oliver, D-1st Ward, said the proposal may not get to the council on Wednesday for further discussion in committee.
Councilor Lauren McNally, D-5th Ward, said, “This confuses me. I need to talk to (bishop) and see what’s going on. Management doesn’t work overtime. You get compensatory time and department heads are completely exempt from overtime. “I have a lot of questions about that.”
But Councilor Samantha Turner, D-3rd Ward, said she supported overtime payments.
“I’m in favor of them getting overtime, and it’s great that it’s a scholarship,” she said. “It is the right thing. I was shocked that they didn’t work overtime. I have no concerns about that. “
Even though Brown would like to suggest overtime for other departments that they don’t normally get but allow extra hours during the pandemic, Turner said she would support that.
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