City Law Department staffers were the latest civil servants to learn they’re on the hook for work days missed due to superstorm Sandy when many streets were impassable and the transit system was completely shut down.
A memo, obtained by the Daily News, went out Wednesday to department employees warning they would have to use vacation and personal days for missed work days between Oct. 29 and Nov. 3 — if they could not prove they volunteered at a shelter during that time.
“They made us come back to the office the following week and work without any heat in the building for a number of days, and yet they still want to take vacation time,” one staffer fumed.
Earlier, the Department of Citywide Administrative Services sent a similar warning to all city employees. Several agencies, including the Department for the Aging, followed with their own warnings.
Employment lawyer Sharon Stiller said she’s been bombarded with calls from employees seeking recourse for being docked pay or not getting paid at all, and employers wondering if they have to pay workers who were out during the storm.
“It’s been a big problem,” Stiller, of the Rochester firm Abrams Fensterman, told The News.
She said federal rules allow business owners to require salaried employees to fork over vacation days for missing work during a state of emergency. She said hourly workers don’t have to be compensated.
“If the office was closed, then the employer cannot dock the pay but can make employees use accrued annual leave,” Stiller said.
She said hourly wage earners do not have to be paid.
City transit workers are also angry that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is threatening to dock two days pay for hundreds of workers who were MIA during Hurricane Sandy.
Employees at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey have been docked pay for not showing up for shifts during the storm even though Gov. Chris Christie advised all nonessential workers to stay home, a source told The News.
Hospital spokeswoman Sheri Hensley said all staff was “essential” during the storm.
“Hackensack UMC’s ongoing commitment to the community is to continue operations regardless of weather and disaster conditions,” Hensley said.
“During extreme times, staff is essential to provide healthcare services as well as perform tasks that support patient care such as delivering supplies and food and preparing to receive patients being evacuated from other facilities,” Hensley said.
