Road to Riches: Getting Paid for Overtime Work — Twice

By /
Reading time: 8 minutes.

Editor’s Note: This story is the last of three about the use of overtime at the Honolulu Road Division. Read the rest of our coverage:

A small group of employees in Honolulu’s Road Maintenance Division claimed overtime twice on the same day for different jobs performed at overlapping times, a Civil Beat investigation has found.

A review of two years of overtime records found more than a dozen cases where possible double-charging occurred.

Neither the Road Division chief, Tyler Sugihara, nor his boss, the director of the Honolulu Department of Facility Maintenance, George “Keoki” Miyamoto, would agree to an interview with Civil Beat. The city is conducting an internal investigation of the division.

Sugihara, who signed most of the overtime requests, responded to some written questions. Sugihara explained in a written response that when there are reports with conflicting information, the division ignores one report and only submits to payroll the report that contains the correct information.

When given a short list of dates when possible double-billing occurred, Sugihara replied that payroll records indicate the city did not pay employees twice but provided no supporting evidence.

Civil Beat reviewed two years of overtime records and found that a small group of employees in the department was making more in overtime than regular pay. It also revealed that the illegal dumping of concrete rubble into Maiili Stream in Waianae, for which the city has been fined $1.7 million, was done by workers on overtime, including on weekends.

The division’s overtime records are kept on legal-sized sheets of paper titled “Foreman’s Daily Work Report.” Most are typed, a few are handwritten. The reports require two supervisors’ signatures and include a list of employees, overtime start and end times and a description of the work.

Here are examples where employees claimed overtime twice for different jobs during overlapping times. Civil Beat is naming supervisors, not rank-and-file employees, because the focus of this investigation is city oversight of overtime and projects:

On Oct. 11, 2008, two foreman’s work reports indicate that crews cleared storm drains near Kaukama Road and Farrington Highway. In one report, five employees each claimed 11 overtime hours between 7 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.

A second foreman’s report, also dated Oct. 11, 2008, shows those same five employees claiming 11.5, 12 and 12.5 overtime hours, and beginning work at 6 a.m. and finishing at 7:30 p.m. The two reports contain different work orders and are signed and dated by different supervisors.

Sugihara’s written response: “The report prepared by John Nigro is the actual overtime documentation that was submitted to payroll. The foreman’s report prepared by Lenchanko included Honolulu District staff to estimate hours worked within his district as part of documenting the work performed in his district.”

The report does not indicate in any way that it’s meant as an estimate or that it isn’t a formal overtime report. It is also signed, stamped and dated and kept in a file with the other overtime reports.

The city has not responded to questions about why a document made for note-keeping purposes that is not “actual overtime documentation” would be kept among the division’s overtime records.

On Oct. 18, 2008, one report shows Waianae Superintendent Thomas Lenchanko claimed five overtime hours between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. for work described as “Refuse Services Administration.” A second report for the same date shows he also claimed 7.5 overtime hours to supervise a crew of 12 workers clearing storm drains near Kaukama Road between 7 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. The reports are signed by different supervisors.

Sugihara’s response:  “Lenchanko opened the yard and prepared the equipment prior to the Waianae crew who worked 7:00am-5:30pm (10 hours OT). Lenchanko worked with the Road crew until 10:00 am when he returned to the yard to provide fueling support for the Environmental Services Refuse operations until 3:00 pm (5 hours OT). Lenchanko resumed overseeing the overtime work of his crew until their completion at 5:30 pm and proceeded to shut down operations and close down the yard completing his work at 6:30 pm.  Because ENV Refuse work is charged back to that department, two Foreman’s reports were prepared. Lenchanko performed 7.5 hours OT work for Road Maintenance from 6:00am-10:00am and from 3:00pm-6:30pm and performed 5 hours OT for ENV Refuse from 10:00am-3:00pm. Because ENV Refuse work is charged back to that department, two Foreman’s reports were prepared. Lenchanko performed 7.5 hours OT work for Road Maintenance from 6:00am-10:00am and from 3:00pm-6:30pm and performed 5 hours OT for ENV Refuse from 10:00am-3:00pm.”

Sugihara’s explanation is inconsistent with information in the Foreman’s Daily Work Reports. No reports place Lenchanko opening the yard at 6 a.m. The report prepared by Lenchanko states clearly that his work began at 7 a.m. (not 6 a.m.) and ended at 5:30 p.m. (not 6:30 p.m.).

In a follow-up response, Sugihara wrote: “The Foreman’s Daily Work documented only the Waianae staff’s time who started work at 7 am; Lenchanko starts earlier to open the office, locker room and gets the equipment ready in preparation for the men – usually one hour prior to their reporting time. Following the men’s completion of work (5:30) he waits for the men to leave and cleans up after them, checks the equipment is properly stowed and locked and proceeds to secure the yard – takes about an hour.”

On March 11, 2009, one foreman’s report shows road labor supervisor John Nigro claimed 4 overtime hours to oversee a roadside crew picking up litter. The hours listed are 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

A second foreman’s report from the same date shows John Nigro claimed 5.5 overtime hours to oversee a roadside crew “cutting overgrowth and low hanging branches” around the Tantalus area. The report also indicates he responded to a Honolulu Police Department report of a downed stop sign. The hours listed are 3:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. The two reports were signed by different supervisors.

Sugihara’s response: “Two Foreman’s Daily Work Reports were filed by Nigro. One to document oversight of the Roadside crew and the other to document the emergency call out (although the description included the Roadside crew/Storm Drain crew work). Review of the Payroll indicated that Nigro was paid a total of 5.5 hrs. Foreman’s reports were prepared by Nigro and approved by Acting Chief on March 13 and Chief on March 15.”

The reports are identical, with no notations indicating why payroll should treat one as valid and the other as void. They’re also both kept in the official overtime files.

When asked how the division determines which reports are accurate and which are for note-keeping purposes, Sugihara provided a follow-up response, writing: “The Foreman’s Daily Work Report is used for timekeeping and payroll but also for documenting production for future planning of jobs. The 4 hour Foreman’s report appears to have been intended to document the work charged to the Roadside account for production purposes. If Foreman’s reports were only used for payroll purposes, it should have been removed. The division is looking to update its work and overtime documentation as part of the new work order system, which is currently undergoing an overhaul.”

Records show that workers who illegally dumped 257 truckloads of concrete debris into Mailiili stream in Waianae claimed overtime twice on that job as well:

  • On Saturday, July 12, 2008, two work reports show workers dumped concrete slabs at Mailiili. One report indicates five employees claimed eight overtime hours and two others claimed eight and half hours each between 6 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. The crew loaded and hauled concrete slabs from the division’s Halawa baseyard to Mailiili Channel and then “leveled and spread materials at dumping site,” according to one report.

  • A second report for July 12, 2008, shows those same seven employees claimed nine hours of overtime each between 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. The work is described as “hauling concrete rubble from Halawa” to Mailiili. The reports have different work order numbers and were signed by different supervisors.

  • On Saturday, July 19, 2008, two work reports show six employees worked overtime shifts related to Mailiili Stream work. In one report, five employees logged 9 hours of overtime each and another logged 11 hours between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. The work is described as loading and hauling pavement materials from the division’s Halawa baseyard to Mailiili Channel, and “prep for Sunday’s loading.”

  • A second report for the same day, July 19, 2008, shows the six workers each claimed 12 hours of overtime between 7 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. The work report indicates the employees hauled pavement material from Halawa to Mailiili and cut brush at Mailiili. The reports include different work order numbers and were signed by different supervisors.

Responses to questions regarding Mailiili were limited and did not address use of overtime for the job.

—Robert Brown and Lena Tran contributed to this report.

Support Independent, Unbiased News

Civil Beat is a nonprofit, reader-supported newsroom based in ±á²¹·É²¹¾±Ê»¾±. When you give, your donation is combined with gifts from thousands of your fellow readers, and together you help power the strongest team of investigative journalists in the state.

 

About the Authors