Calvert County HR proposes changes to pay plan, comp time and overtime; board asks for fiscal notes

Calvert County Human Resources presented proposed revisions to Part 3 (pay plan and adjustments) of Chapter 86 at a March 11 work session, outlining changes to overtime calculations, compensatory‑time policy, shift differential, standby pay and other premium pay elements.

Melanie Woodson, Human Resources Director, and Dina Davis, HR deputy and project manager, said the overall goal is to “simplify, deconflict, update, and render best practices” for county personnel policy. Woodson emphasized the county currently provides more generous overtime and comp‑time rules than the Fair Labor Standards Act requires: "Calvert County is currently more generous than the FLSA requires us to be," she said.

Key proposals presented by HR and finance staff included: - Two overtime‑calculation options: (1) follow FLSA and pay time‑and‑a‑half for hours worked over 40 in a workweek; or (2) require time‑and‑a‑half for hours over 35 for employees whose regular full‑time week is 35 hours and over 40 for 40‑hour employees. HR noted surveyed peer counties pay overtime over 40 hours. - Standby pay: a proposed daily stipend of $22.50 for nonexempt and partially exempt employees required to remain available, estimated at about $206,000 annually based on department surveys. - Shift differential: expand eligibility to all FLSA nonexempt full‑time and benefit‑eligible part‑time employees, pay for hours between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.; staff estimated this change would be a net savings of roughly $52,000 because it narrows the paid window and extends eligibility. - Field training officer (FTO) pay: add career paramedics, career emergency medical technicians and sheriff’s communications officer twos (and later, officer ones at the sheriff’s request) to the eligibility list and double the FTO hourly premium from $1 to $2; HR estimated an annual cost increase of about $23,000. - K‑9 handler pay: continue the existing $2/hour premium for assigned K‑9 deputies (10 deputies currently receive the premium); no change proposed. - Critical incident response pay: a new option to compensate salaried (exempt) employees who respond to major incidents outside normal work hours (proposed as hour‑for‑hour cash at regular rate), estimated at about $137,000 annually. - Compensatory time (comp time): HR proposed options to limit future comp time accrual and to pay down existing comp balances. Staff described comp time liabilities as a long‑term financial exposure because balances are paid at the employee’s final pay rate. Barbara Warner, chair of the County Employee Relations Committee, told the board county employees favor reduction and proactive management of comp balances; the committee recommended capping comp time balances (examples discussed: 70–80 hours for various work periods) and paying out balances annually.

Sheriff’s Office representatives cautioned that eliminating comp time without a budgeted overtime replacement could add large recurring overtime costs for public safety operations. Assistant Sheriff (Lieutenant) Kron Payne said the sheriff's office data showed roughly 20,000 hours earned and a similar number used last year; moving entirely to cash overtime could require an additional roughly $800,000 annually for that office, he said. Payne and the sheriff requested any change avoid operational harm to public safety staffing during extended incidents.

Commissioners asked for fiscal notes and requested staff to return with precise cost estimates by department for each major change (standby pay, critical incident pay, shift differential changes, FTO pay increase and comp‑time payout scenarios). Several commissioners and staff discussed options including annual payout of comp time, caps on accrual (for example, 100 hours), payout on promotion, and phased approaches to reduce the county’s long‑term liability while preserving operational flexibility for emergency services.

No final board vote took place; commissioners asked HR and finance to prepare detailed fiscal notes and clarified language for the next session. Several commissioners said they supported the goal of reducing future comp‑time liability while avoiding unintended operational impacts to emergency services.