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Albany to pay back rec wages

• Albany Parks & Recreation is found to be in violation of federal labor laws.

Susan McCord

ALBANY –The city of Albany has been ordered to pay back wages to 15 Parks & Recreation Department employees and has undertaken a citywide audit of payroll procedures after a state investigation found violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

The violations stem from the classification of city employees as "exempt" under the Act and not entitled to be paid overtime for hours worked beyond a 40-hour work week, the standard first set by the Act in 1938.

But changes in the law and in the workforce, where IT employees are among the newest to be considered exempt from being paid the time-and-a-half standard overtime rate, has made making the determination of who is exempt increasingly difficult to make, according to Wes Smith, an assistant city manager for Albany.

An employee complaint prompted the Labor Department to initiate in August a "compliance review" of payroll and employee classification, procedures at Albany Parks & Recreation Department, according to a city timeline of events released Wednesday.

Department Director Suzanne Davis produced two years' worth of records of overtime pay and the classification of exempt and nonexempt employees for Wage and Hour Investigator Russell Jones, who opened the investigation, according to the documents.

As a result of the probe, 15 Recreation Department employees classified by the city as being exempt were determined to be not exempt from overtime, Smith said. The affected employees are owed about $15,000 in back wages over the two-year period, Smith said.

The audit also revealed "recordkeeping deficiencies" during the time period. Davis has since instituted revised time sheets and managerial instructions to correct the problems, Smith said.

The calculations about the amount owed are not finalized, according to the memo, but Smith said the investigation of the Recreation Department, which employees about 60 people, is "done" and Davis' job is secure.

Davis joined the department in December 2006 after serving as parks and recreation director in Palaka, Fla., according to a January Albany Recreation & Parks newsletter.

She took over for Ken Williams, under whose direction the department also was investigated by the Labor Department in 2003, Smith's memo said. "The DOL views this as a possible continuing violation," the memo said.

As the Recreation Department audit was winding down, a complaint from an employee of another city department, unidentified by Smith, has prompted the city to undertake an internal audit of all its departments, including Water, Gas & Light, for potential violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The responsibility for proper implementation of labor laws ultimately falls on the city's human resources director, but Albany only recently hired a permanent human resources director, James Coston, to replace Mary Hines, who left two years ago, Smith said.

Smith said about 75 percent of Albany's 860 employees are paid by the hour, while the percentage is probably higher among WG&L's 250 staff members.

Many workers, both hourly and salaried, will be interviewed during the upcoming audit. "The lower-level supervisory people we're going to have to go in there and interview," Smith said.

The city released the audit finding Wednesday after a recent open records request was made for the information, Smith said.

The city is hiring an independent firm to conduct the voluntary internal audit, Smith said.

"I would consider it voluntary," he said. "There's always risks in not doing it."

The risks include litigation under the Fair Labor Standards Act, violations of which are not uncommon in federal court.

City attorney Nathan Davis said Wednesday eh wasn't aware of any pending suits against the city under the Act.

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