Public Employee Press

Parks workers stop CityTime payroll ripoff

Aggressive watchdogging by Lifeguard Supervisors Local 508 President Peter Stein is going to put money in the pockets of his members and other seasonal workers who receive night shift differentials at the Dept. of Parks and Recreation.

Many New Yorkers know the contractors on the CityTime automated payroll system stole millions of dollars from the city. Less known to the public is that as city agencies have adopted the system, they've faced many glitches and delays. And now, the union is preventing the system from underpaying members at Parks.

"When I heard about problems with the implementation of CityTime, I decided to take preventive action," Stein said. "I wanted to make sure CityTime wouldn't improperly deny members' pay and benefits through incorrect programming."

Stein raised his concerns with DC 37 Research and Negotiations Director Evelyn Seinfeld and together they started meeting with city and Parks officials to investigate whether CityTime was being programmed properly so that members would get the pay and leave benefits guaranteed by DC 37's contracts.

One of their discoveries was that the Parks Dept. wasn't properly paying Lifeguards their night shift differentials.

Ordinarily, night shift differentials kick in after 6 p.m. In a previous contract, the union agreed to let the city start coverage for new employees after 8 p.m.; however, Seinfeld and Stein found that the Parks Dept. neglected to implement the provision that calls for the night differential to return to 6 p.m. after three years of employment. "Our suspicions were confirmed when we examined a sample group of timecards and found out about the night shift differential problem."

"You need to be vigilant," Stein said. "Just because there is a contract provision that says you're entitled to a night shift differential doesn't mean it will be implemented."

"We kept finding problems with the city's interpretations of what members are entitled to be paid under the contract," said Seinfeld. She and Stein have also uncovered problems with how holiday pay is implemented, and they are pressing the city to address back pay owed to individual members.

"The Parks Dept. has acknowledged that there have been mistakes and is making sure the payroll system is programmed right," Seinfeld said. "We are in discussions with Parks to get the night shift differential pay for members as soon as possible."