In their first meeting of the year on Jan. 10, the Hardin County Commissioners Court tackled a light agenda, including approval of a request from Emergency Management Coordinator Aaron Tupper to amend the current Hardin County Policy for Disaster/Emergency Closing.
Tupper said the reason for the change was to make it “less confusing” for people to understand the county’s payment policy.
“It doesn’t change the way we are paid during a disaster; it’s just basically wording,” Tupper added. “We took out the word ‘straight time’ because other agencies get hung up on that and we’re not eligible to be reimbursed for straight time but eligible to be reimbursed for straight time paid at an overtime rate.”
According to the amendment, county employees will receive premium/extraordinary pay at their regular rate in addition to their regular budgeted pay for the duration of the emergency closure for all documented time during which work is performed. All hours worked in excess of 40 hours will be paid at the overtime rate of time and one-half. All hours must be documented in a format approved by County Auditor Angela Gore.