Riverside County Employees: New Overtime Policy Is Bad for Public Services and Workforce
More than 120 County of Riverside employees, who are members of SEIU Local 721, packed the Board of Supervisors chambers on Tuesday, July 15, 2008, to speak against policy changes that will negatively impact the county’s ability to provide vital emergency services.
What County Employees Are Saying:
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“I do not get to pick and choose when a crisis occurs. A crisis can keep me out all hours of the night. Without being properly compensated, I feel, we are being punished and not rewarded for our invaluable services.
Last year county employees approached the Board of Supervisors, and you listened! Changes were made for the best interest of families in Riverside County.”
Alicia Broderick
Emergency Response Social Worker
Child Protective Services
“We are the worker bees for the county. Our jobs require us to work hours that do not fall within our regular work schedules.
During a natural disaster we are your first line of defense. We help fire evacuees in shelters, we assist social workers and we attend health fairs after hours. We do this because we know that we are public servants and we care.”
Barbara Cayon
Public Health Nurse
Community Health Agency
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“This issue runs deeper than just the classifications of 'exempt or non exempt'. This is about fairness. It's about properly classifying employees based on their actual duties and not their job descriptions.
It's about staffing levels and hard working middle class workers.”
Mike Van Wonterghem
IT Communications Analyst
Department of Public Social Services
“I do not work in an office with an 8 to 5 schedule, we’re hands-on with our patients, just like other health care professionals. We cannot leave when our eight hours are up. We have to accommodate for the families and patients we serve on a daily basis.”
Sue Brown
Medical Social Worker
Riverside County Regional Medical Center
“Bottom line, the county’s changes to overtime will negatively affect the employees and the patients.
We encourage the county to treat staff as an asset to the county, not a liability.”
Catheline Jaramillo
Registered Nurse
Riverside County Regional Medical Center
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With already high vacancy rates in critical public service areas and lower wages than surrounding counties, the Department of Human Resources’ move to require employees to work after hours without traditional compensation further hinders the county’s ability to attract and retain qualified staff so that residents’ needs are met daily and during emergencies or other services.
The county’s plan changes or eliminates the payment of overtime for several job classifications including mental health registered nurses, medical social workers, environmental health workers, sheriff and fire department staff, information technology specialists and others. Many of these positions have been paid overtime for decades even though they were considered exempt.
Previous article:
Get the Facts on Overtime Not Riverside HR Spin