FALLS CITY – Richardson County road workers are asking county commissioners to restore the vacation time that was deducted when they appeared before the Nebraska Commission of Industrial Relations in March.

Workers Bryan Dettman, Ron Ramer and Wyatt Martin point to a collective bargaining agreement that says employees are eligible for paid civil leave for court appearances.

Draft minutes of Wednesday’s county board meeting say the county highway superintendent deducted the hours from the road workers’ paid time off saying the employees missed work because they were subpoenaed to the court by their union. The highway superintendent said the county did not agree to pay for time used to testify on behalf of the union.

The county board is expected to make a ruling on the grievance at its next meeting.

Here is a portion of  the draft minutes of the meeting

 

            A representative from the NAPFSCME was present to review with the Board in accordance with the Collective Bargaining Agreement between NAPE/AFSCME Local 61 and Richardson County, as an agreement was not reached in Step 1 of the grievance process outlined in Article 3 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and that in accordance with Step 2 of the grievance process, this grievance was presented to the County Board within five work days of the decision of the Highway Superintendent.

 The grievance filed and which was signed by Justin Hubly, Executive Director of NAPE AFSCME Local 61 filed by Bryan Dettman, Ron Ramer and Wyatt Martin with the Highway Superintendent on April 10, 2025, regarding the request to use civil leave on March 24, 2025, to attend hearing on CIR case #1569 instead of vacation and/or PTO leave being used.

 Their statement of grievance is as follows:  “On April 4, 2025, Mr. Dettmann, Mr. Martin, and Mr. Ramer received their paychecks.  Upon receipt, they discovered that their request to use civil leave on March 24, 2025 was not processed, and instead they had vacation and PTO leave deducted.  Mr. Dettman, Mr. Martin, and Mr. Ramer which each subpoenaed to appear before the Nebraska Commission of Industrial Relations on March 24, 2025.

  Each gave testimony in a work-related impasse case CIR Case No. 1569.  Article 11.16(c) states that time spent by employees appearing in court as a function of their job shall be considered as hours worked.”  Relief Sought states: “To be made whole, Mr. Dettmann, Mr. Martin, and Mr. Ramer must be placed on civil leave and have their vacation and/or PTO leave returned.”

 

The grievance was denied by the Highway Superintendent and was answered as follows: “The collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between your union and the County does not provide that you will be paid for your time off to testify on behalf of your union pursuant to a subpoena requested by your union.  The County has not agreed in the Collective Bargaining Agreement that you will be paid by the County for the time you spent testifying for your union.  Your testimony on March 24, 2025, before the Nebraska Commission of Industrial Relations was required by your union not the County. 

Accordingly, the County is denying your request that you should be paid by the County for your absence from work on March 24, 2025.  Furthermore denying your request to have your vacation and/or PTO leave returned for the absence from work on this day.”

As stated within the Collective Bargaining Agreement 11.16 CIVIL LEAVE:  All employees shall be eligible for paid civil leave under the following conditions:  c.  Court Appearance:  Time spent by employees appearing in court as a function of their job shall be considered as hours worked.  All witness fees received as a result of these court appearances shall be returned to the County.  Employees attending courts as a plaintiff, defendant or witness on non-work related matters, may use vacation leave or earned compensatory time.  In the event the employee is subpoenaed for non-work related matters, and does not have vacation leave or compensatory time the Employer shall grant a leave of absence.  The employee shall keep any witness fee paid to the employee for these court appearances.     

The Board will be reviewing the information presented regarding this grievance and will discuss it further at next week’s meeting and make a decision to be forwarded back to the NAPE AFSCME Local 61. 

 

          Commissioner Campbell excused himself from the meeting at 10:48 a.m.