Nearly a quarter of Westmoreland County employees were forced to sit home without a paycheck for several months last year while furloughed during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. Other staffers, though, more than doubled their annual salaries though hazard pay and overtime.
A Tribune-Review analysis of overtime and pandemic pay earned by the county’s 1,800 workers found that more than $11 million in added personnel costs were paid out. Certain staff earned time-and-a-half wages during 2020 through pandemic and overtime pay.
“Because of our rolling furloughs and the use of our covid (CARES Act) funds, we were able to offset that for 2020,” said county Commissioner Sean Kertes. “If we didn’t have that money, we would have been in worse shape.”
The Trib’s review of overtime and pandemic pay expenses found one staff nurse at Westmoreland Manor, whose annual standard pay is listed about $39.20 an hour, earned an additional $35,000 in overtime and another nearly $36,000 in pandemic pay.
Two 911 emergency dispatchers also earned more than $42,000 in overtime — figures which nearly doubled their annual salaries, according to the analysis.
The county’s 911 department led the way in 2020, paying out more than $822,000 in overtime expenses. Manor nurses received $764,000 in overtime, and guards at Westmoreland County Prison were paid more than $430,000 in overtime. All three employee categories received the most overtime pay during each of the last three years.
Commissioner Gina Cerilli said those departments, along with others including juvenile detention center staffers and the sheriff’s department, required around-the-clock staffing and, as a result, overtime was needed to ensure each shift is adequately covered.
“Obviously, I would like to see overtime limited as much as possible,” Cerilli said.
Counting costs
In all, overtime paid out in 2020 was about $300,000 less that from the previous year. The county had nearly $3.7 million in overtime costs in 2020, $4 million in 2019 and $3.9 million in 2018.
New to the list of departments that topped the county overtime list last year was the Elections Bureau, which struggled last fall in preparing for the presidential election as it dealt with new system of mail-in voting that stressed the staff in the weeks before and after the election.
Staffers worked late into the night and on weekends to process mail-in voting applications and man drop box locations leading up to the election. A coronavirus outbreak among elections bureau staff left the department shorthanded and required employees from other departments to work overtime hours to ensure the election results were counted.
The county paid out more than $117,000 in overtime to staff who worked in the elections bureau last fall.
“I don’t believe we will have the same amount of overtime this year,” said Elections Bureau Director JoAnn Sebastiani, noting that fewer mail-in ballots are expected to be used this year for municipal election that traditionally sees a far lower turnout among voters.
Overtime, though, will still be needed in 2020 to ensure that departments such as the Manor and 911 dispatching is adequately staffed.
Kertes said a nursing shortage requires that some Manor nurses work additional hours to ensure the residents receive proper care. Two private nursing companies were also hired to provide additional staff as needed.
Overtime was required to meet minimum staffing requirements at Westmoreland County Prison after a coronavirus outbreak last fall shortened the guard roster for several months, officials said.
‘Staffing crisis’
While both the Manor and jail had backup staff and part-time employees to fill in some of the personnel gaps, the county’s 911 center had no such alternative.
Scott Stepanovich, the deputy director of the county’s Public Safety department, said personnel shortages and the nature of the 911 dispatching job makes part-time help impossible. As a result, dispatchers work 12-hour shifts plus mandatory overtime to ensure the call desk is adequately staffed 24-hours a day.
The department currently operates with 45 dispatchers, with another 11 in different stages of training. Even with a full roster of 60 dispatchers, overtime would be needed to cover for sick days and vacations, Scott Stepanovich said.
Five of the county’s top overtime earners last year are 911 dispatchers, with two who earned more than $42,000 in overtime and three more who topped $30,000 in additional salary. Most dispatchers earn annual average salaries between $43,000 to $49,000 before overtime.
“It’s a staffing crisis, and it’s really hard to fill these slots,” Stepanovich said.
At least once a day, a dispatcher is required to work four extra hours. Additional overtime shifts are gobbled up by dispatchers looking to add to their paychecks, he said.
“Some overtime shifts are voluntary. Some people make it a priority and want the overtime,” Stepanovich said.
In addition to overtime, pandemic wages were paid out to essential employees who put their health at risk to work during the pandemic. The hazard pay was issued to more than 1,300 employees in 2020, including some who made thousands of additional dollars to a few who earned just a couple of extra dollars.
A limited amount of pandemic pay is still being earned in early 2021.
In all, the county spent just less than $1 million more last year in wages at $83.9 million, than it paid out in 2018 and 2019. years, according to totals reported by the Westmoreland County Controller’s Office.
Commissioners allocated about $9 million of the $31.5 million in CARES Act funds it received last year to cover overtime and pandemic pay expenses. Officials said another $2 million in wages was saved through last year’s furloughs.
The county’s $339.7 million 2021 budget includes money set aside for overtime.
“We don’t want want offices to not use overtime if it is needed, but we are very conscious of it and make sure the offices under the commissioners only use it when we need it,” Kertes said.
Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Rich at 724-830-6293, rcholodofsky@triblive.com or via Twitter .
Categories: Local | Westmoreland
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