The Ypsilanti Courier
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Board looks at work hours
Board members share concerns about employees work habits
By Dave Wak, Special Writer
PUBLISHED: January 3, 2008
Trustee Stan Eldridge led a long question and answer session during the Ypsilanti Township Board's Dec. 18 work session regarding work hours for township employees.
Advertisement
Eldridge said some hourly township employees and residents had come to him to complain. They said that some salaried employees were not putting in full work days.
"What prompted me was people thinking others were being treated differently," Eldridge said.
Most of the employees in question were salaried deputies of the three full-time officials
Eldridge questioned both board members and specifically two human resource department officials over the complaints.
"I can tell you, it is a concern," Eldridge said.
He asked Regina Myree from the HR department several questions about the hourly requirements of salaried employees, and whether they were allowed to work part time, flex time or from home.
At one point Eldridge asked Myree outright if salaried employees were required to put in a full 40 hour work week.
Myree said technically the answer was no, but said that the township strongly emphasized that salaried workers were expected to put in at least 40 hours a week before they hired them. Myree added that employees often worked more than 40 hours a week if their workload was heavy.
Several board members also told Eldridge he might have misunderstood how their deputies hours added up.
Treasurer Larry Doe mentioned one of his deputies sometimes took Fridays off, but usually worked four 10 hour days during those weeks.
Supervisor Ruth Ann Jamnick added that her deputy Virginia Kingsley was sometimes not in the office but it was common for her to take her work home.
All in all, the three full-time officials agreed they needed to look into establishing firm guidelines on salaried employees' hours. Jamnick suggested they also consult with their labor attorney when they revisit the issue in January.
The board also voted to give itself a three percent raise. One resident, who would not give her name, objected, saying the board shouldn't give itself more money when the economy was so bad and some many township residents were suffering.
Township Clerk Brenda Stumbo told the resident the move was not made out of greed or mismanagement by township officials.
She said while the board was getting a raise they hadn't had one last year. She added that the township had hired no new personal, and were having its present employees do more work with less resources.
"We run the township like a business," Stumbo said.
Dave Wak is an Ypsilanti resident and freelance writer for The Courier. He can be reached at dwak4@hotmail.com.
Not all stories are guaranteed to appear
online. The Web edition contains a reasonable
sampling of the print edition stories.
For the most complete news coverage, we invite you to
subscribe
to the print edition of the paper.
TOP JOBS
