TCF employees claim years of unpaid overtime as DPS misled them

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Territorial Correctional Facility (TCF) employees who worked overtime during the COVID-19 lockdown, Christmas and New Year holidays are upset that their overtime hours are not being paid — and apparently this has been going on for years.

Samoa News has received complaints from almost all TCF employees — present and past — regarding overtime not being paid by the government.

According to one TCF guard, it’s been two years now that he has compiled overtime hours that are still not paid.

“I worked for 12 hours every day for 5 days a weeks since Christmas of 2020 up until now and I haven’t received any overtime pay from the government,” he told Samoa News.

The guard further stated that during the holiday seasons and other ASG holidays —  including during the COVID-19 lockdown where they were told by DPS that they would receive overtime pay due to the Governor’s emergency declaration restrictions — no OT pay has been forthcoming.

“We were told that there is funding available to pay overtime for all government employees from the federal [govt] and there is no problem for all employees working overtime during the COVID-19 lockdown,” the guard explained.

Up until now, the TCF guard — along with ALL other TCF employees — are still waiting for their overtime pay.

Another TCF guard said she contacted the Human Resources Division at the DPS about her overtime and was told by the staff that TCF employees are not eligible under the overtime policy and that is a standing procedure from the past.

“I was disappointed after I heard the response from the DPS main office regarding our overtime pay,” the female TCF employees explained.

“It appears to me that we were misled with the information we received that all government employees working during the COVID-19 lockdown are entitled to overtime pay. However, it appears that this was not the case.”

Two other TCF guards contacted Samoa News last week seeking the phone number for the Department of Labor representative on island so they can file complaints.

The two employees said they worked overtime every day in the last two years and they only received their regular salary.

“I leave my young children at home while working overtime for ASG and the response from the government is that I only receive my regular salary without a single cent for my overtime hours,” one TCF employees said.

A senior guard at the TCF said this is not the first time DPS and ASG have treated employees at TCF in this way.

“I’m sick and tired of this unprofessional attitude from our local DPS staff as well as the government. Every time our leader here at TCF raised the issue of TCF employees not receiving overtime pay it’s like a message that falls onto deaf ears. Nobody wanted to listen to us and the way DPS is treating us here at TCF is illegal and against the laws,” the senior TCF guard told Samoa News.

According to this senior TCF employee, the response that came from the Human Resources Division at DPS when they questioned them about their overtime is that, “TCF employees are not eligible for overtime.”

“Can somebody at DPS or ASG explain to us why TCF employees are not eligible for overtime salary?” one TCF employee asked.

“I’m an ASG employee and all of the TCF employees are also ASG employees. If government employees are entitled to overtime pay, why is it that TCF employees, an entity of the ASG are not eligible for overtime pay?” another TCF guard asked.

According to a retired DPS cop who served at TCF for over 20 years, this is the way TCF was treated by DPS and ASG for many years now during previous administrations as well.

“We were neglected and underpaid and that’s why I resigned a few years ago because I was tired of this practice. We worked very hard to protect the safety of all inmates both males and females every day and we also assisted DPS during holidays and we worked together as one team,” a retired TCF guard said.

Another senior TCF guard said whenever DPS needs their services, they nicely seek their assistance but when it comes to money, they just neglect them and throw them to the other side of the road.

Efforts to obtain a comment from the Commissioner’s office was unsuccessful at of press time. Samoa News was told that Police Commissioner Lefiti Aitulagi Pese has been working from home since Feb. 22 when American Samoa was under the Code Red restrictions.