News

December 18, 2007

Times practices being probed

Employees, former workers need to fill out federal forms regarding how they were paid.

By SHERRY LONG slong@timesleader.com

SCRANTON – The U.S. Department of Labor is looking into the Scranton Times-Tribune’s labor practices.

The department’s Wage and Hour division at the Wilkes-Barre office mailed a two-page form dated Nov. 21 to current and former Times-Tribune newsroom employees requesting information regarding hours the employees worked. The correspondence was signed by Labor Department investigator Joseph Sabol.

Recipients were asked a series of questions, including: dates of employment; job title; explanation of duties; average number of hours worked daily; number of weeks during the year that employees worked more than 40 hours a week; how and if the employee was paid for additional hours worked.

Labor Department spokeswoman Leni Fortson said the department is not allowed to confirm or deny reports of investigations.

Scranton Times-Tribune Human Resources director William Nish said the federal government is conducting a payroll audit.

“These audits are routine, and in no way an indication of wrongdoing,” he stated in a prepared press release. “As I am confident that The Times-Tribune properly complies with the wage-hour laws, I certainly expect no significant issues or findings.”

The Department of Labor stresses that the process of seeking information does not mean the newspaper company violated any law.

“The fact that we are asking for this information does not imply that this firm has violated any law,” the form stated.

Scranton Times-Tribune managing editor Larry Beaupre called the story “a rumor.” He said he heard it was being discussed, but said he was not contacted by the federal government.

He bristled at the idea of not paying employees for overtime.

“We pay overtime. We are very scrupulous about paying overtime,” Beaupre said.

Times-Tribune reporters often worked 14-hour days and 50-to-60-hour weeks without receiving overtime pay or additional days off, according to Sarah Molina, a former staff writer.

She recalled working a day shift one Sunday in late April and putting in an additional four hours when the newsroom learned a Dunmore soldier was killed in Iraq.

“At the time my editor said, don’t worry you’ll get paid the extra overtime, but I never saw it,” Molina said.

She worked at the paper for six months before quitting in late July.

While on staff at other newspapers, Molina said reporters were responsible for turning in their own time cards. At the Times-Tribune, editors are responsible for keeping track of employees’ hours, she said.

Federal law mandates that hourly workers are paid time-and-a-half if they work more than 40 hours a week.

Molina said it was made clear, although not in writing, that if you did not work the additional hours, your job would be in jeopardy.

“It was just an unwritten rule that you don’t ask for overtime if you value your job. That was told point blank to a reporter one day,” Molina said. She said she never filed overtime sheets because she figured the overtime would not be approved.

ON THE WEB:

To view the letter sent by the U.S. Department of Labor, go to www.timesleader.com.

Sherry Long, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7159.

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