OVERTIME AND COMPENSATORY TIME

2. Payroll Errors
OBSERVATION
Two pay periods were reviewed for a select group of job titles for various
departments throughout the County. There were a total of 186 transactions that
were reviewed for the two pay periods. In addition to the 21 instances mentioned
in Item #1 above, testing also found:
• Three instances where overtime hours were incorrectly applied
resulting in overpayment of wages for the following:
• an overpayment of $234.29 occurred in Elections when
overtime hours worked were incorrectly entered and paid
• an overpayment of $85.60 occurred at the Prison because
the shift report showed only 4 hours of overtime worked
not the 8 hours of overtime actually paid
• an overpayment of $90.44 occurred at the Prison when
FMLA Sick time was incorrectly counted as compensable
time when calculating overtime hours worked
• Four additional potential overpayments at the Prison that could not
be quantified because documentation on the shift report differed
from what was actually paid with no explanation of what actually
transpired. This usually occurs with Shift Supervisors since there is
no one place where their time worked is recorded.
RECOMMENDATION
We recommend that the County seek reimbursement for the overpayment of
these wages. We further recommend that the Prison continue to improve upon
their procedures for processing payroll by ensuring that all time worked is
accurately recorded on the shift reports and proper documentation is retained.
The Prison should continue working on implementing scheduling software and
the swipe card system. Implementation of these software packages have the
potential to alleviate most of the issues listed above if used properly.
MANAGEMENT RESPONSE
Dee Rumsey, Registrar, Elections
I called Human Resources to find out the status and what steps will be taken for
the county to retrieve the over payment. Human Resources referred me to the
Payroll Office; Brenda stated that a letter was going out immediately to notify the
overpaid employee of this matter. She advised that the full amount of $234.29
will be deducted from the employee in this week’s paycheck.
Connie Sutton-Falk, Director, Human Resources
Having been made aware of these overpayments, Human Resources is in the
process of recovering those overpayments.
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