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<p>For more than a decade, Luzerne County officials have cited the need to synchronize payroll because approximately 1,200 of the 1,400 employees are paid in advance for time not yet worked.</p><p>The work hours for these advance-pay employees must be estimated to process their paychecks on time, with errors corrected after the fact.</p><p>To fix the problem, impacted workers must forego compensation for the number of days they are paid in advance, which is five days, the county administration said Wednesday.</p><p>The administration presented its corrective plan to employees this week, saying it will move all workers to the same pay schedule by the end of November.</p><p><strong>How it works</strong></p><p>According to emails sent to workers:</p><p>The dates that four paychecks are issued in October and November will be incrementally delayed by one to a few days each time to gradually convert to a new pay date a week later.</p><p>After that, starting in December, all employees will be paid every other Friday for the same previous two-week period.</p><p>The employees who were paid in advance will receive their usual pay amounts in October and November.</p><p>To bring them in line with the others, those paid for time already worked will receive one-time compensation for a varying number of additional days in the Oct. 15 paycheck. These workers are on five different schedules, and the extra pay will range from four to 10 days.</p><p>The first pay during the transition will be Oct. 15, or 17 days after the previous pay instead of 12 days. The span between pays will be 15 days for the Oct. 30 check, 16 days for the Nov. 15 one and 15 days for the Nov. 30 pay.</p><p>County officials stressed employees are being paid for every hour worked.</p><p>They advised employees to notify their bank or creditors if date changes will leave their accounts with insufficient funds to cover automatic deductions.</p><p><strong>Switch to ADP</strong></p><p>In connection with the shift, the county also will start processing its payroll through human resources management company ADP, allowing workers to view their pay information online and with a mobile app.</p><p>The first ADP pay is expected to be Nov. 30. More details will be announced in October.</p><p>County Manager C. David Pedri told county council Tuesday that all unions were provided with the memorandums about the corrective plan, and none have submitted concerns.</p><p>&#8220;The movement to one payroll schedule will greatly assist all county employees who are involved in payroll processing,&#8221; Pedri said in an email about the change.</p><p>The administration had considered but rejected &#8220;buying back&#8221; unused personal, vacation and sick days for the 1,200 employees who had been paid in advance to cushion the impact of the change.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Luzerne County Courthouse </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/web1_luzcocourthouse01-9.jpg</photo0><caption0>Luzerne County Courthouse </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Luzerne County to synchronize payroll schedules