Limestone approves extra pay for essential employees during inclement weather

May 10—After grievance hearings from essential county workers in April about working without extra pay during January's ice storm, the Limestone County Commission has approved a revision to the county's inclement weather policy allowing employees additional pay.

Limestone County's inclement weather policy was originally enacted in May 2023.

"Under the policy, the employees who are not at work because of inclement weather still get pay for those hours they're not at work," said County Attorney Andrew Dill. "Employees who show up and work do not get inclement weather pay for their normal duty hours."

Before the 2023 policy was implemented, essential employees received double pay for however many hours they worked during inclement weather. The commission has now approved a return to the pre-2023 policy, providing double pay for essential workers.

Dill said defining inclement weather is at the discretion of the commission chairman, according to the policy.

"The Limestone County Commission chairman may close the county offices, or one or more of the county offices, in the best interest of the public and/or employees or allow the employees working in the county offices to arrive later or leave early due to inclement weather, natural disaster, emergency situation and/or other necessary situation," the policy says.

Usually the policy is triggered, Dill said, when there is a severe weather event such as ice or snow situations or a high risk of tornadoes.

Essential employees who worked during January's ice storm, such as corrections officers, sheriff's deputies, maintenance department employees, solid waste department employees and emergency management employees, were only paid for their hours worked. Non-essential employees were paid regular wages despite not being at work.

Employees addressed the commission during two days of grievance hearings in April, requesting a change in the policy.

At last Friday's commission work session, the commissioners were given three options for inclement weather policy changes and had to decide which one they would vote on during the meeting that followed. The first option was double pay for each hour worked.

"Let's say the courthouse was closed for eight hours. The essential employees who typically have to come to work, unless explicitly excused by the department head, would get eight hours of inclement weather pay," Dill said. "Plus, they would get paid for the time they worked on regular hours."

Option two was time-and-a-half pay for the calendar days the employee worked during inclement weather. Option three was compensatory time for each hour worked that the employee could then use to miss work but be paid at a later date.

The commissioners all agreed to vote on option one. It was unanimously approved during the meeting.

"It's what we've been doing for the last 25 plus years. The only difference is now our night shift is going to get paid," said District 4 Commissioner LaDon Townsend. "I just felt like for the employees, it was something they had been doing the whole time. So, I just felt like it was the best option for them. It puts more money in their pockets."

The county has about 300 employees.

"It's important for us to take care of our employees," Townsend said. "In today's society it's hard to find good ones because there are so many jobs out there. So, we want to retain our employees the best way we can."

Townsend said there were other reasons he voted for the revision.

"It was kind of a recruiting tool for the sheriff's department, and for all the other departments in the county," he said. "It also makes it simple for our accounting staff."

District 2 Commissioner Danny Barksdale said his decision to vote for the revision was a matter of fairness between employees.

"I think after discussion with all the other commissioners, we felt like there's an opportunity there to treat our employees fairly," he said. "You've got X employees sitting at home, and then you've got another employee working in the inclement weather. So, I think it's fair that they should be rewarded for their effort to get into work, and they should receive some economic benefit from it."

Barksdale said all three options were fairly close as far as the financial cost.

"Option one was the most feasible to implement in our payroll system, so I like to keep it simple," he said. "That was the simplest, best way to address it."

In Morgan County, essential workers receive normal pay during inclement weather, with the possibility of compensatory time off.

Julie Reeves, Morgan County Commission chief administrative officer, said the county's current inclement weather policy was enacted in January. She said during inclement weather, most employees would not be expected to work.

"But depending on the position, a person may be asked to report to work during a courthouse or county building closure by his or her supervisor," Reeves said. "Department heads are responsible for maintaining their building during a closure."

Reeves said employees that are typically expected to work during inclement weather are law enforcement and jail personnel, environmental drivers, district shop operators, emergency management personnel and animal control personnel.

"If an employee works, they are compensated for the time worked," she said. "After three consecutive business days, working employees receive compensatory time in addition to paid time worked and non-working employees receive special paid time off."

—erica.smith@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2460.