DoF clears way for retro overtime pay

Government employees on Saipan who have lost their payroll check stubs may now use their Retirement Fund records to compute retroactive overtime payments.

The Department of Finance recently passed regulations for the computation of retroactive salary adjustment payment for overtime hours earned during the pay period ending June 1, 1991 through the pay period ending Aug. 20, 1994.

The regulations were proposed and published in the Commonwealth Register last month. They were adopted without changes last week after the 30-day public comment period expired.

The new regulations allow the use of individual contribution records from the NMI Retirement Fund to compute the payment of overtime work rendered by current and former government employees who have not yet been paid because they cannot produce their check stubs.

Pursuant to Saipan Local Law 7-31, certain CNMI government employees are eligible for overtime pay during the specified period, when there were insufficient funds available to pay overtime as earned.

According to Finance Secretary Fermin Atalig, only employees who submitted their check stubs to the department have been paid the salary adjustment for overtime hours.

In consideration of those who no longer have their check stubs for the affected years, Finance would allow the use of contribution records from the Retirement Fund.

Under the proposed rules, concerned employees will be required to submit their Fund records for fiscal years 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994 to the Department of Finance for computation.

The rules also state that, because the Fund record does not indicate regular hours, overtime hours, or any other form of premium pay, these assumptions will be made:

• 15 percent of the retroactive salary adjustment payment will be deducted from all Police, Fire, Corrections, Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine employees to factor out night differential pay. This is based on the assumption that at least a portion of premium pay for these employees is not eligible for the retroactive overtime payment.

• Any typhoon overtime hours will be paid at 1.5 rate rather than the 2.0 rate.

Employees receiving retroactive payments pursuant to the regulations would be required to sign a waiver releasing the CNMI government of any liability.

Funding for the retroactive payments will be sourced from poker fee revenues generated on Saipan. Hence, only Saipan employees are entitled to the payment.