City stands by pay decisions

City commissioners and City Manager Jared Langenegger have joined employers in feeling confused about recent federal actions regarding overtime pay.

At a public workshop held before the Thursday city commission meeting, the commissioners seemed to agree that the city should not take back some pay decisions made between approval of new U.S. Department of Labor regulations and the federal appeals court decision that overturned the DOL regulations.

The commission cannot take action at workshop sessions, but commissioners agreed to put the pay decisions on the agenda for this week’s city commission meeting.

Under the new regulations applied to the October federal Fair Labor Standards Act, employees who earn less than $47,000 per year cannot be considered salary employees; they must be paid on an hourly basis.

Langenegger said some employees, who had been on salary and would find themselves paid on an hourly basis, balked at moving to hourly pay, despite the opportunity to earn more per hour on overtime.

“They like the flexibility they have now,” he said. “They don’t want to be subjected to regular hourly schedules.”

Mayor Pro Tem Robert Lumpkin proposed to give these employees a choice between going hourly or staying on salary.

Other employees, however, have been promised pay raises to comply with the rule, Langenegger said, and he would not be inclined to scale employees back in their pay in response to the court ruling.

Other commissioners agreed.