Pulaski Commissioners Discuss Call-Out Pay for Highway Dept. Employees

The Pulaski County highway superintendent is looking to have the handbook edited to allow for overtime when he calls highway department employees at home asking them to clear roads after a storm or other incident. Mark Fox told the commissioners that call-out pay is a necessity, stating that this week was a prime example; he called employees at 5:30 in the morning and sent them out, working outside their regular hours to clear roads and perform other maintenance to ensure the safety of residents.

He said his employees had to work for straight pay in pouring rain, morning and night. Previously, Fox explained, employees that were called out were paid a minimum of two hours time-and-a-half because they use their own equipment from home such as chainsaws and other tools as well as their own vehicles.

Commissioner Larry Brady said this matter was discussed in the past, but if the highway department were to have such a policy, other departments would come forward asking for the same treatment. There, he said, the discussion died because they would need more information from each department to determine whether or not the policy would apply to them. However, Brady said it is a matter that the commissioners should address.

Fox estimated his employees worked a total of 75 hours to repair damage from the storm, and the commissioners made a motion to send the matter to be discussed by the policy committee. If the policy committee decides to proceed with making a change to the policy for the department, the call-out pay could be given to employees retroactive.