St. Louis suburb to recoup improperly awarded firefighter overtime pay
Brentwood, Missouri, officials recently struck a deal to reclaim overtime payments erroneously made to firefighters on the suburb's payroll over a period of more than two decades, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Former Brentwood fire chief Bob Niemeyer had been authorizing the unearned overtime - which cost the city between $12,000 to $28,000 a year - since 1987, claiming that it had been awarded as a form of incentive pay.
"At the end of the day, they were compensated for work that they did not do, and that's not OK," said Kurt Becker, an official with the Firefighters Local 2665 union, as quoted by the news source. "Once it came to my attention, there was no doubt in my mind that we needed to work with the city to make it right."
Under the settlement, firefighters' annual pay raises will be withheld in order to recoup some of the money. However, due to a 10-year statute of limitations, the city is only able to recover a portion of the lost funds, according to the news source.
Last month, overtime was found to have been incorrectly awarded to employees of Chicago's fire department, the Chicago Tribune reports. The improper payments wiped out the department's furlough program savings.
Former Brentwood fire chief Bob Niemeyer had been authorizing the unearned overtime - which cost the city between $12,000 to $28,000 a year - since 1987, claiming that it had been awarded as a form of incentive pay.
"At the end of the day, they were compensated for work that they did not do, and that's not OK," said Kurt Becker, an official with the Firefighters Local 2665 union, as quoted by the news source. "Once it came to my attention, there was no doubt in my mind that we needed to work with the city to make it right."
Under the settlement, firefighters' annual pay raises will be withheld in order to recoup some of the money. However, due to a 10-year statute of limitations, the city is only able to recover a portion of the lost funds, according to the news source.
Last month, overtime was found to have been incorrectly awarded to employees of Chicago's fire department, the Chicago Tribune reports. The improper payments wiped out the department's furlough program savings.
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