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OPA: Three social workers overpaid • But personnel management office disagrees
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Posted on Aug 19 1999
Three social workers of the Department of Public Health received salaries in excess of the rates applicable to their qualifications, the Office of the Public Auditor said yesterday.
Public Auditor Leo LaMotte said each of the three employees, who were not identified in the report, was paid between $3,600 and $5,600 more than the annual rates provided in the regulations.
“Salaries higher than justified by the employee’s education and work experience should not be allowed unless unique circumstances fully documented and available for review are in the employee’s personal file,” LaMotte said in a report submitted to Personnel Management Director Mathilda A. Rosario.
Rosario, on the other hand, said the Personnel Service System Rules and regulations allows the fixing of a salary at a higher rate “if it’s deemed necessary to recruit and is appropriate to the qualifications of the applicant.”
LaMotte, however, said the excessive salaries given to the three workers were not justified as “no document was provided showing that a determination had been performed prior to granting higher pay rates and waiving of some of the minimum qualification requirements.”
The audit cited that one of the three employees who did not even have any work-related experience was given an annual salary of $20,484 when the rate appropriate for her qualification was only $16,858.
The two other employees each received an annual salary of $26,131 although their two-and-a-half years of work-related experience corresponded only to a pay level of $20,484.
LaMotte recommended that Health Secretary Kevin Joseph Villagomez be directed to prepare necessary adjustments to correct the salaries of the three social workers and to ensure that all public health employees are compensated “equitably.”
“The salaries of the three social worker employees should be adjusted to reflect the appropriate salaries based on their qualifications and responsibilities,” LaMotte said.
Rosario disagreed with this recommendation saying “it would cause the employees to suffer a loss.” (MCM)
