The Scott administration has agreed to pay $119,839 in back overtime wages to eight current and former employees at the comptroller’s office as part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor.
The payments will end a DOL investigation into violations of the U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act under Joan Pratt, whose 25-year tenure as Baltimore’s elected comptroller ended on December 8, 2020.
The investigation, first disclosed by The Brew, centered on the requirement that some employees work late on Thursdays and sometimes other nights to prepare the agenda for the weekly Board of Estimates meetings.
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12/22 UPDATE: Without comment or any discussion of the DOL’s findings, the Board of Estimates today approved the $120K settlement that officially ends the federal wage investigation. Pratt was secretary and a voting member of the board between 1995 and 2020.
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Instead of receiving overtime pay or compensatory leave as required under the law, the employees received no overtime and minimal compensatory time, according to today’s Board of Estimates agenda.
The DOL reviewed two years of E-time records and daily sign-in sheets, which showed that some employees worked more than 40 hours a week and were entitled, but did not receive, up to 1-1/2 times their regular pay.
At the time, Pratt denied that her office was committing wage theft, saying her employees were paid with compensatory time.
“Staff work from 8:30 to 4:30,”...
By Dean Aubrey Caratiquet As part of an intensified campaign against the spread of falsehoods that continue to undermine the integrity of the government and pose a threat to national security, PCO...