Contract Administration

TO:                 Roger Scales 

FROM:           Elizabeth S. Hough 

DATE:            February 18, 2004 

RE:                 Overtime Meal Allowance Retroactivity Claim Procedure

PEF v. State, GOER File No: 2000-05-3301

We have successfully executed a Stipulation of Settlement with GOER which finally establishes a procedure for identifying and paying PS&T Unit Members who were eligible to receive overtime meals allowances from April 1999 to August 2000 as a result of the negotiated expansion of the benefit in the 1999-2003 PS&T Unit Agreement.  That stipulation is attached for your review.

As established in Arbitrator Tia Denenberg’s award, the expansion of the benefit in Article 38 of the 1999-2003 PS&T Unit Agreement was effective April 2, 1999, not in August, 2000 as the State claimed.  As a result, employees who are eligible for overtime meals allowances due to the following two changes may now submit a claim for those allowances earned during the period from April 2, 1999 through August 9, 2000 for employees on the Institution payroll and April 2, 1999 through August 16, 2000 for employees on the Administration payroll.   The two changes were:

(a)                           The overtime meal allowance was extended for the first time to overtime eligible PS&T Unit employees (SG 22 and below);

(b)                          All PS&T Unit employees became eligible for a second meal allowance when they worked six (6) hours on a regular work day or nine (9) hours on other than a regular work day. 

The Stipulation establishes the following time table for submission, review and payment of claims:

(a)                            On or before Friday, February 13, 2004, all agencies must distribute the Overtime Meal Allowance Claim Procedure and Claim Form (Stipulation Attachments A and B) to all PS&T Unit employees;

(b)                            On or before Friday, April 16, 2004, employees may submit claims to their agencies by completing the Overtime Meal Allowance Claim Form, and attaching necessary documentation, as discussed in the Overtime Meal Allowance Claim Procedure, and returning those claims to the agency designee identified in the Claim Procedure (Stipulation Attachment A);

(c)                            On or before Friday, May 14, 2004, all agencies will review, and approve or deny, all submitted claims.  Employees will receive written notice of any denied claims on that date;

(d)                            All approved claims will paid by checks dated June 2, 2004 for the Administration payroll and June 10, 2004 for the Institution payroll.    

The Stipulation also establishes a process for reviewing any claim which is denied by an agency, in whole or in part. If an employee is aggrieved by an agency denial, in whole or in part, a dispute claim denial may be submitted by their PEF Field Representative to the appropriate agency designee for attempted resolution no later than Friday, July 9, 2004.  Thereafter, the Stipulation establishes a procedure for reviewing the disputed claim that, if necessary and appropriate, concludes with review and final determination by Arbitrator Tia Denenberg.    

Any employee who wishes to challenge an agency denial of their claim should be encouraged to contact their Field Representative as soon as possible after receiving an agency denial of their claim. This is necessary to assure adequate time to review and prepare a disputed claim for initial submission to the agency designee.

Of note, the Stipulation also clarifies a significant issue regarding the substantive scope of the over time meal allowance benefit.  As you are aware, over the term of the 1999-2003 Agreement, disputes have arisen in a number of agencies due to misunderstanding of the Comptroller’s criteria for payment of overtime meal allowances.  A number of agencies have been denying an overtime meal allowance to employees who have worked at least three hours beyond their normal work day if the additional time worked was “split” on either side of the normal work day as not “consecutive”. 

With this Stipulation, GOER has clarified that if a 37 ½ hour employee works a total of 10 ½ consecutive hours on a regular work day, or a 40 hour employee works a total of 11 consecutive hours on a regular work day, (excluding a regular lunch period) that employee is entitled to receive the allowance even if the additional hours are in part due to time before the regularly scheduled work day and in part due to time after the regularly scheduled work day.  This clarification, which is more fully explored in examples contained in the Overtime Meal Allowance Claim Procedure (Stipulation Attachment A), is extremely important as it will certainly avert serious problems we would have otherwise have experienced in the process of implementing Arbitrator Denenberg’s award.  It should also be of significant help in resolving a series of other disputes we have with various agencies regarding the benefit generally.  

            Please let me know if you have any questions regarding the contents of this memo or the Stipulation of Settlement itself.    

Cc:       Field Services Staff

Bob Carrothers