Page 13 - December 2020

Treasurer’s Report
Leave no stone unturned when it comes to your retirement
Throughout my years of investigating financial fraud with CPD and other federal agencies, I have learned that it’s imperative not to overlook the de- tails, no matter how miniscule they appear. None- theless, over the years, I’ve seen important details missed due to either lack of communication or dissemination of information from subpoena doc- uments.
When this does happen, it becomes critical to inform your team to avoid future missteps. The scenario below is an example of a costly misstep where one of our members lost a step raise. If only the member had knowl- edge of a prior arbitration ruling dating back to the year 2000,
this could have been avoided.
On Oct. 26, 2020, I received a phone call from a member stat-
ing that his payment of compensatory time was not paid at the appropriate step raise after retirement. This member worked six days past his anniversary date and retired on the 15th of the month, which he believed enabled him to Step 10 (after 25 years).
This, in theory, was a reasonable assumption on his part, and I took up the cause on his behalf. Refer to the below contractual
provision:
Section 26.5 Payment of Time (i.e., the buyout provision):
“An Officer covered by this Agreement who resigns, retires or
dies, shall be entitled to and receive all unused compensatory time accumulated by said officer including furlough time, baby furlough days, personal days and holidays ...”
I immediately reached out to the City’s Labor Relations De- partment. They stated that the compensatory time payment calculation was correct, and if the member would have retired one day later, he would have been entitled to the Step 10 in- crease. This was supported by a previous voluntary labor arbi- tration by Arbitrator Goldstein back in the year 2000. The fact that the member retired after the anniversary of his continuous service date means he is not entitled to the step raise. This only occurs on the 1st and the 16th of each month — meaning the officer’s effective date of anticipated step increase was the 16th day of the month.
Unfortunately, an overlooked detail cost this member thou- sands of dollars. In solace, I ensured him that this scenario would be relayed to our members in an effort to spare others this same financial hardship.
DENNIS MCGUIRE
CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ DECEMBER 2020 13