Pantagraph.com | News | Ex-employee who accused county clerk files complaint with Department of Labor

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

rukiddn wrote on Sep 13, 2008 10:23 AM:

" good point, floyd. The time clock starts ticking only after you take off your coat, comb through your hair, apply your makeup go to the restroom and get your coffee. Many employees abuse this arriving and leaving time. I added it up once and it came up to almost an hour a week per employee. This doesn't even include personal phone calls or the extra puff or two on your breaks. Wages are paid for working, not loafing. "

floyd wrote on Sep 13, 2008 8:15 AM:

" I guess you could tighten the ship and say no personal calls od county time,put in a time clock so if they're late or leave early it's recorded. Also breaks and lunch hour minutes must not be abused. Now they won't need overtime. "

Not so Political wrote on Sep 13, 2008 6:10 AM:

" Even if this people work over 37.5 hours they should get paid for the time worked. It may not figure as overtime but it is time that they should be paid for. If these are saleried employee, it is your own fault for taking a saleried job. Your boss is going to get out of you all they can. If hourly I hope you get what you worked for. "

BigBrother wrote on Sep 13, 2008 2:29 AM:

" Even if the employees were not paid properly the only remedy is to pay them. For some reason people want to make this about Peggy Milton. Its a pay issues. If employees were told to work they deserved to be paid. If they were not paid then pay them. Peggy doesn't pay them the county does. That is what the labor board is for , to ajudicate disputes. Prove you worked over 40 hours in a week and did not get paid. You can then be paid and the issues is over. "

prairiemon wrote on Sep 12, 2008 8:49 PM:

" I was gonna say how do you get overtime with only 37.5 work hours. That's exactly why the city only works you 37.5 hours so they don't have to pay overtime. "

albundy54 wrote on Sep 12, 2008 6:46 PM:

" Time to show Peggy the door. "

NOT SO wrote on Sep 12, 2008 5:36 PM:

" While many seem to think this is an unfounded cat fight, the fact that 41617 also claims to be owed money along with others bears some looking into. All who feel they are owed money must realize state law in Illinois does not require the payment of overtime until 40 hrs. have been worked in the weekly pay period. I also question if they feel they are owed this much money, why did they not file these claims in a more timely manner? If they are truly owed they should be paid, if this is just a cat fight, let it go! "

Ted Kennedy's Swim Instructor wrote on Sep 12, 2008 4:44 PM:

" tripper, why on earth would you be putting in $3,000 of unpaid overtime each year? You are doing a great disservice to professionals everywhere in every field of work when you offer your service for free. You're undercutting even yourself from getting a fair salary when you give free work to the man. If you're good at something, don't do it free for anyone. Everyone and their boss gets a paycheck, so expect the same thing for yourself. "

yakky_one wrote on Sep 12, 2008 3:21 PM:

" 41617 hopefully you know Betzy fairly well, and you and her stand together and fight this. Just because someone is an official, doesn't mean they can take it into their own hands and to use others. "

landlord wrote on Sep 12, 2008 3:11 PM:

" Most salaried people put in unpaid overtime. You will not get a whole lot of sympathy from the public. On the other hand, if you are hourly, you should get paid overtime. "

normalperson wrote on Sep 12, 2008 2:42 PM:

" If what 41617 is true, I hope they all file claims. I know the County Admin and Board will back you up any retaliation the clerk may try. PLEASE Stand up for what you are due-It's about time someone called her on this unscrupulous practice she has. "

DaveII wrote on Sep 12, 2008 2:22 PM:

" Little wonder County activity moves at the speed of a slug. McLean County should sue Cowen for every last taxpayer $$ spent on this cat fight. "

41617 wrote on Sep 12, 2008 1:43 PM:

" NO DON'T GIVE IT UP!!!!!!!!! I will stand in line with Betzy along with at least 10 others from Ms Miltons office to get my UNPAID wages. It is true we were not paid for monthly staff meetings scheduled at 4:30 and many times lasted until 6:30 along with NIGHTLY overtime we had to stay to finish our work and WE WERE NOT PAID. I can only hope this time the REAL TRUTH comes out. This time we have and ACE in the hole to verify ALL of this!!!!!!!!!! "

normalperson wrote on Sep 12, 2008 1:40 PM:

" The clerk hires her friends, she has not used the COunty employment office for years-she wants to do things her way-she thought she was found innocent when in fact she was found not guilty-There is a difference. THis is not the first employee to file a claim! The clerk will be found guilty of this! She will soon join others in one of her own facilities only she will be wearing an orange jumpsuit! "

tripper wrote on Sep 12, 2008 1:19 PM:

" Move along folks. Nothing here to see.

Geez. Get over it and get on with your live Betzy. I put in probably close to $3000 in unpaid overtime yearly, and I am sure a large number of people reading this article do as well. "

floyd wrote on Sep 12, 2008 1:09 PM:

" 37.5 hour work weeks doesn't warrant overtime. Illinois is a at will state so they can can her without cause but it wouldn't be hard to prove reason since she's causing disruptions in the workplace. Anyone else think someone has an ax to grind or is acting at someone Else's direction to cause trouble? "

BigBrother wrote on Sep 12, 2008 1:07 PM:

" This reporter needs to go back to journalism class! Is this article about work hours and pay or hashing up old news to discredit the County Clerk? A labor dispute over work hours in not uncommon in work places. It has nothing to do with Ms. Melton. Either the employee was working and did not get paid properly or she was not. Its a pretty far stretch to tie the two unrelated issues together. It is also a disservice to the County Clerks office to insinuate that any employee was intentionally shorted pay for hours they were authorized to work. "

candy wrote on Sep 12, 2008 1:04 PM:

" What a waste! Leave the woman alone! The lawyers fees will cost more than what she's asking for in "back overtime pay". "

Home Plate wrote on Sep 12, 2008 12:57 PM:

" GOM.....Right on!! This woman has a problem with not only supervision, while also attempting to undermine the productivity of county government. Nothing good is going to come from her actions. If she was to be paid for her time spent, shouldn't this have been submitted in a timely manner and not wait until now? County government, State government, and Federal government is a mess because of people like this. "

Gov't oppressed Mule wrote on Sep 12, 2008 11:52 AM:

" OH GIVE IT UP ALREADY!!! A court of law found that Cowan's previous claims was false and unsubstantial. Now we have to spend MORE taxpayers money for another dept to review THE SAME ISSUE?!?! If she is AGAIN found to be "untruthful" can we PLEASE have her pay the fee she has incurred to the taxpayers? "

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