newjerseynewsroom.com

Paperwork mistake provides workers with an unexpected bonus

A paperwork foul up will give Legislative employees in Atlantic City a paid day off instead of the unpaid furlough day the legislative branch initially planned for employees.

Atlantic City Mayor Lorenzo Langford called for all city employees, excluding public safety departments, to take 10 furlough days to help balance the city's budget beginning Monday, according to a report on NJ.com.

The 26 employees within the legislative branch who are to be affected by the furlough error consist of those in the City Council, the City Clerk's Office and Vital Statistics. They were originally supposed to take the same scheduled furlough days off, the first being Monday.

The error, which City Council President William "Speedy" Marsh has taken full responsibility for, that caused the paid day off came in the form of a memo Marsh sent to the legislative branch employees earlier this month advising them that their first furlough day would actually be a paid "administrative day."

Marsh, who supervises the legislative branch, was late in sending a request to the New Jersey Civil Service Commission that the branch be included in the furloughs. Once the approval was made, it was too late for the city to give employees the necessary 45-day notice.

The City Council then decided Legislative employees would take nine furlough days instead of the originally planned 10 days. The Council's furloughs will begin Aug. 16; all nine will match the remaining days in the administration's furlough schedule.

Marsh initially defended only taking nine furlough days but eventually admitted the situation was unfair, Thepressofatlanticcity.com reported.

"I made a mistake and I'll take the blame," he said. "But we're going to make it right. We want to make sure we share in the pain that everyone is going through, said Marsh who led the effort to start furlough days. He added that he intended write to the commission requesting an additional day when employees under the administration are back at work.

The legislative furloughs will include the City Council's nine members, whose salaries range between $27,800 and $30,396.

— ALICIA CRUZ, NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM