Overview
In addition to the findings discussed in this report, during our audit we identified an issue with the correct authority under which the Massachusetts Environmental Police (MEP) awards overtime to officers and compensates them for that time. Specifically, Article 7.2(D) of the unit 5 collective bargaining agreement (CBA), which covers all uniformed members of MEP, states,
Any [unit 5 officer] shall be compensated at the rate of time and one-half his/her regular rate of pay for authorized overtime performed in excess of forty-eight (48) hours in any six (6) day period. [Emphasis added.]
Further, Article 2.1 of the unit 5 CBA states,
If this Agreement contains a conflict between matters covered by this Agreement and the rules, regulations or orders of various agencies covered by this Agreement, the terms of this Agreement shall prevail.
The plain language of Article 2.1 would lead a reader of the unit 5 CBA to conclude that MEP officer overtime is only authorized after an officer works more than 48 hours and that, to the extent that an MEP policy contradicts this provision, Article 7.2(D) and its 48-hour mandate shall prevail.
These sections of the unit 5 CBA appear to be in conflict with Section 2.4 of the “MEP Overtime” policy, which defines overtimes as “any extra work assignment . . . that requires an officer to exceed eight (8) hours and thirty (30) minutes in his/her workday or forty (40) hours in his/her workweek” (emphasis added).
According to Section 30C of Chapter 149 of the Massachusetts General Laws, the service of “land based environmental police officers of the division of law enforcement” who work more than an average of 40 hours per week (“over a period of one or more work weeks not in excess of eight, as determined by the commissioner”) or “in excess of the normal work day” (also as determined by the commissioner) “shall be compensated for at the rate of one and one half times the regular hourly rate of such officer.” The “MEP Overtime” policy appears to be consistent with this law in that they both authorize overtime when an MEP officer works more than 40 hours in a given work week. According to MEP and the Massachusetts Human Resources Division (HRD), the unit 5 CBA language authorizing overtime only for work that exceeds 48 hours is a remnant from a time when “boat based” MEP officers worked a schedule of 48 hours on and 96 hours off. According to MEP and HRD, this schedule was eliminated in 2007, but the CBA language remains.
MEP should work with its partners in unit 5 to ensure that the next iteration of the CBA accurately reflects a framework for authorizing and paying overtime that is consistent with both state and federal authority.
| Date published: | April 21, 2020 |
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