LaSalle County committee weighs hazard pay for maintenance staff; decision deferred
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Summary
Committee considered a request to provide $10 per hour hazard pay for two maintenance employees who worked in sewage clean-up after a juvenile flushed a bottle into plumbing; members asked for clearer language and tabled the measure for further review.
The LaSalle County Salary and Labor Committee on Oct. 22 reviewed a request to approve hazard pay for two maintenance department employees who responded to a sewage backup. Committee members asked staff to clarify the proposal's scope and wording and agreed to postpone a decision until the next meeting.
A county speaker described the incident and the history of the pay provision: county records indicate that, under an earlier agreement with AFSCME, employees performing hazardous work were eligible for a $10 per hour hazard bonus. The speaker said the provision appears to have been omitted—likely by typographical error—during the most recent contract renegotiation and that two maintenance workers who responded to a sewage backup worked roughly 21 hours and believed the pay applied.
The speaker said the request under consideration was to make those two employees “whole” by paying the omitted hazard pay (described in the meeting as $10 per hour for approximately 21 hours per employee). Members raised concerns about opening precedent for other claims and asked for clearer, limited language that specifies when hazard pay applies. Chair Steve Aubrey moved to defer the matter so the proposal could be tightened; the committee agreed to table it until the next meeting so HR and labor representatives could refine the terms.