By Aly Van Dyke
Topeka Capital Journal – November 11, 2013
Nine chiefs with the Topeka Fire Department on Saturday stopped receiving overtime and call back pay, three months after the issue initially was reported.
The change is an attempt to correct the practice of giving battalion chiefs and shift commanders overtime and callback benefits, despite federal fair labor standards exempting them from the extra pay. The practice started April 28, 2001.
Last year, the 11 employees who filled those roles earned $145,000 in overtime. The costs jump higher, considering overtime pay is calculated into state retirement benefits.
Little information was available Saturday, including how much overtime was paid to the employees since the issue was reported in August. However, an earlier interview with Topeka city attorney Chad Sublet indicated the city was monitoring overtime pay to the chiefs and that it had gone down in that time.
City manager Jim Colson previously indicated the three-month extension of the practice was intended to give city employees and their families time to adjust to the pay loss. That loss in pay is expected to be temporary, Colson said in a statement late Friday, indicating a comprehensive review of the fire department’s pay structure is pending.
“Following completion of this review, the compensation structure will be amended to take into account industry best practices and a philosophy which prevents salary compression and is financially sustainable,” he said.
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