DHS director “shocked” that overtime is due to some former staff

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Alleged unpaid overtime incurred during the pandemic by former employees of the Department of Homeland Security comes as a shock to the director, Samana Semo Ve’ave’a.

“I am not aware that they were not paid overtime,” said the director in response to Samoa News questions on more than 10 former staffers that were hired under emergency hire with the department in June last year.

A man contacted Samoa News expressing concerns over his son’s unpaid overtime of over 500 hours.

The man spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions as his son is employed by the government.

 “My son was hired by the Department of Homeland Security in June last year during the emergency hire as a result of the pandemic. In November, he and 10 other DHS staff were assigned to the Department of Health’s quarantine site up until March 2022 and for five months he worked at the pandemic site, he incurred over 500 overtime hours and to date still has not been paid,” said the father.

 “My son’s services ended with the DHS but he’s working for another government agency, that’s why I fear to reveal my identity in case it will have an impact on my son’s current employment,” said the man.

Another woman contacted Samoa News this week over the same issue; her son no longer works for DHS but is working elsewhere in government.

The woman said since March she has gone to the relevant directors to inquire about her son’s overtime.

“I was given the run around and in August, I saw the governor’s memorandum about overtime yet my son has not been paid overtime incurred from November 2021 to March 2022,” said the woman.

The mother was referring to Overtime Compensation that is Due to Employees general memorandum 130-22, issued by Governor Lemanu. P. S. Mauga.

According to the memorandum, it is a legal and moral duty of the government to compensate employees for overtime that they have worked.

 “Directors should manage their overtime within the limits that are set by their budgets.

 “However, if there is a problem paying overtime that a director cannot resolve, it is important that the director contact this office for guidance and assistance.

 “Each Director and Agency Head shall provide the Governor's Office with the documented amount of outstanding overtime and comp time that is due to its employees.

 “The amount of overtime shall be documented in dollars owed. The amount of comp time that is owed shall be in hours of comp time owed.

 “If an agency has no outstanding overtime or comp time that is due to employees, the agency will notify this office of that fact. This information is due by Wednesday, September 7, 2022.”

The memorandum also included an email for Jason Mitchell, the Chief Legal Counsel, for more information queries.

However according to the woman, she has not received a response from the Chief Legal Counsel.

Samoa News viewed the emails sent in September to the Chief Counsel.

The DHS Director told Samoa News that he’s looking into this matter.

“I will check with my compliance officer. 

“Public Health should be the department that submitted their overtime for my approval. 

 “I have no problem paying them overtime as long as these overtimes are justifiable. I will also get with Public Health and check on these requests for overtime,” said the director.