By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Dispatchers and other emergency responders do not always have the luxury of taking off on the holidays. Barton County Commissioners met with 911 dispatchers prior to Tuesday's meeting to discuss holiday pay. County Administrator Matt Patzner briefed the commission on a revision to the county's holiday pay policy.
"It probably should have been revisited earlier," Patzner said. "I just think it's prudent. We're asking these employees to spend time away from their family, and I think they should be compensated fairly for that sacrifice."
County employees receive 11.5 paid holidays annually. Most employees are simply paid for a day off on those holidays, but some first responders do not have the option of taking the day off. Under current policy, those employees did not receive additional holiday pay if they worked on an actual holiday. The revision on Tuesday will give employees who work the holiday extra pay pay. All the commissioners, including Tricia Schlessiger, were pleased to make the revision.
"I'd like to thank (Communications Director Dena Popp) and the 911 dispatchers for bringing this to our attention," she said. "I didn't even know, since January, that this even was the case. I appreciate they brought it to our attention and I'm glad we can do something about it. I feel like if they work on the actual holiday, they should get holiday pay. I'm glad we found a way to fix this."
County employees working on actual holidays will receive their base pay plus premium pay of time-and-a-half for every hour worked on the actual holiday. The observed holiday will be paid out at the rate of base pay.