Catlettsburg paying up

By CARRIE KIRSCHNER
The Independent

CATLETTSBURG April 30, 2008 10:41 pm

— Catlettsburg employees will be receiving compensation this week some have been waiting on for more than five years.
Last week, the Catlettsburg City Council approved the city’s longevity plan and will begin retroactively paying current and former employees money they earned dating back to 2002.
According to Mayor James Allen Lambert, the longevity pay ordinance was drafted by former Councilman Charles “Mick” Hedrick and adopted by the city council under former Mayor Roger Hensley. Its purpose was to reward employees for their years of service to the city.
As it has been interpreted, full-time employees were to receive a pay increase of 10 cents per hour as they reached certain five-year increments of service.
According to city officials, some of the raises were given in October 2002 when the ordinance was enacted. But it was never enforced over the subsequent years. City workers often complained about not receiving the benefits, breeding animosity and distrust when former mayors refused to pay it.
No lawsuits were filed against the city for its failure to enforce the ordinance, but numerous threats had been made, officials say.
When the issue finally came to a head several months ago, city council members set about figuring out how to deal with the situation. At last Thursday’s special meeting, the city council approved the solution — a longevity pay report compiled by officials that lists every employee and the amount of money the city believes they are owed based on the number of hours they have worked since 2002 and their years of service.
City Attorney Jeremy Clark said the city will use the document to repay current and former employees retroactively, bringing all employees up to date on their compensation rates.
Before approving the report, council members requested the hire dates of all employees on the list be double-checked after two former employees complained they were notified they were not going to receive funds. One of the individuals, a former police officer, complained the city had an incorrect hire date listed, which prevented him for qualifying to receive the back pay.
Lambert said Wednesday approximately 15 current and former employees will receive compensation totaling approximately $24,000. Lambert said he expects checks will be send out either today or Friday.
He expressed hope the payments would quell some of the animosity employees have felt toward the city in recent years and restore some trust in city leaders.
Lambert also apologized to city employees “for it taking so long to get (the situation) straightened out.” He said employees have received the benefit on the solution.
“The way we read it, the way we paid out money, it was all to the benefit of the employees,” he said. “I think they do understand now we do want to do what’s fair and what is right. I’m sure this is something that is not going to happen again.”
As for the fate of the ordinance, he said city leaders will be taking a hard look at it during the upcoming budget process. Lambert said he expects the policy will be changed as quickly as possible and replaced with something less difficult to understand and implement.
Lambert said he favors higher annual cost-of-living adjustments for employees or something else that can’t be changed by subsequent administrations.
CARRIE KIRSCHNER can be reached at ckirschner@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2653.