‘Retirements’ and labor laws

Dear editor:

Your editorials of Oct. 3, Jan. 13 and March 11, 2010, and The Sentinel-Record Oct. 1 story concerning Judge Williams’ testimony before the APERS Board about the three courthouse ladies’ efforts to qualify for state retirements while still employed do not serve Judge Williams well.

He admits he did not advise his Quorum Court nor our county Attorney Ralph Ohm of the matter. Neither does the story say whether the attorney knew of it, although he was probably in the courthouse often while the ladies worked without pay. Should he have known about it? Is he aware of the requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act? Does he know the difference between an “exempt” and “non-exempt” job … and how each is affected by the “overtime rules?”

Does any employee in Garland County government understand how to administer the FLSA? Attorney Ohm handled a timekeeping problem in the Garland County Department Sheriff’s office recently – but it was handled as a “lawsuit” – not as a FLSA pay problem. Both problems were subject to the FLSA, but the Wage and Hour Division of the Labor Department refused to get involved, even though it was their responsibility.

I notified them by fax with copies of your newspaper stories. Even state Attorney General Dustin McDaniel knew of the problem in June ‘09 and was unaware it was a pay matter under the FLSA and refused to act.

Large corporations assign responsibility for compliance with federal and state labor laws to executives responsible for personnel and labor relations. Does anyone in Hot Springs understands these requirements? I hope the city of Hot Springs knows. All three of our officials, Judge Williams, the Quorum Court and the county attorney, were AWOL during the whole matter. West-Taylor should sue them and APERS, too.

George B. Phillips
Hot Springs

P.S. Terry Smith took advantage of the situation.

[*Hot Springs Sentinel Record, October 6, 2010]