NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) – More than 100 Metro employees received a hazard allowance in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but now they have been told they need to pay back.
A total of 135 employees from the Parks and Recreation department in the Nashville metropolitan area were informed that they would receive a Hazard Pay Bonus, according to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which represents the employees. But, SEIU says that employees were not informed of how much this bonus would cost.
However, employees were recently informed that they had received the bonus payment due to an error and that they would have to refund the additional amount received. It is not clear how much money employees would need to reimburse or was sent in error.
Some Metro employees were considered eligible for the payment of health hazard due to the pandemic based on very specific criteria from 16 March to 30 November. The parks department determined that some of its employees met some of the criteria and, as a result, different percentages of hours worked by various employees were approved for hazardous pay, according to the Metro Finance Department.
But Chief Financial Officer, Mary Jo Wiggins, told NewsChannel 5 that the parks department mistakenly reported the total hours worked by these employees, rather than just the percentage of hours qualified for hazard pay. The error was discovered when the parks department went to send another group of employee hours for the hazard premium and realized that it had not applied the eligible percentage on the previous shipment.
The gross overpaid amount was approximately US $ 267 thousand for 110 employees.
Wiggins released the following statement about the error:
“We all deeply regret that the mistake was made and we realize that recovering undue payments can be challenging for some of the affected employees. The finance department is currently working to determine the exact amount owed by each employee and will offer the opportunity to reimburse the employees. amounts an extended period of time to lessen the impact it can cause. If an employee prefers to return the funds all at once, that will also be an option. “
Brad Rayson, president of SEIU Local 205, said employees have done nothing wrong and should not be harmed by Metro’s mistake.
“These employees did nothing wrong. They had no reason to believe that the payment they received just before the holiday was a mistake. So they probably did what most of us would do: spend the money on gifts for the family. and friends, paying bills, recovering some debts or doing something they normally wouldn’t do, “said Rayson. “The city acknowledged that it was not the employee’s fault, but they are still trying to recover the money from their salaries. The impact for these employees can be devastating. We are working with our members, Metro Council and Mayor Cooper’s administration to find a solution that does not harm employees. “
Andrea Fanta, of Mayor Cooper’s office, said: “Mayor John Cooper supports a transparent process that lessens the impact for these officials as much as possible.”