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Kingsford Heights council assigns council liaison to review time cards after payroll dispute
Summary
After a payroll system error and disagreement about overtime and vacation rules, the council voted to reinstate a prior practice: a council liaison will review supervisors' time cards and sign payroll. The council also agreed to research handbook language on vacation and overtime and to follow up at the next meeting.
Kingsford Heights — The Kingsford Heights Town Council voted Feb. 9 to designate a council liaison to review and sign supervisors' time cards after a series of payroll discrepancies and a debate about whether certain paid leave counts toward overtime.
The action followed discussion about a payroll error that left an employee (identified in the record as Matt) without a direct‑deposit paycheck; the clerk said Keystone (the payroll vendor) advised issuing a physical check. Council members also questioned whether vacation or comp time should be included when calculating overtime. One member cited the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), noting that overtime is payable after 40 hours of work.
Council members said the town handbook has language treating vacation as time worked in the past but agreed they needed to locate the prior policy wording to resolve a specific dispute. To strengthen internal controls and provide a consistent signer for payroll, the council voted to return to the earlier practice of assigning a council member (Evelyn) to review department heads' time cards before payroll is processed.
The motion to formalize that duty was made, seconded and approved by voice vote. Council directed staff to research the handbook and relevant federal guidance (FLSA) and to bring findings back to the council at the next meeting so the board can clarify the town’s overtime and paid‑leave practices.
Next steps: staff will try to locate previous handbook language and will report to the council; payroll adjustments related to the queried overtime/hours will be resolved following staff review.
