Starke Commissioners Make Decision Regarding “Snow Day Pay”

With the Starke County government effectively closed for two days earlier this week due to the extreme weather and state of emergency declarations, county employees were able to stay home and were not required to report to the office. However, that raises an issue for hourly employees, who would not receive their pay for those two days – a troubling scenario for any employee who lives paycheck to paycheck.

However, it wasn’t the employees choice not to go to work. The roads were closed, the offices were closed, and there was nothing they could do about it. Salaried employees don’t mind, as they would receive their pay, but hourly employees take a hit.

The county commissioners during their meeting yesterday elected to allow employees to use vacation time if they wanted to receive pay for the two days they did not work. However, employees must have worked for at least a year in order to earn any vacation days, so some employees are left with no choice. The commissioners said it might be possible to allow employees to use “future” vacation days.

As a result, only elected officials and department heads will receive pay for the days the county offices were closed; all other employees can choose to use a vacation day and still receive their pay for those days.