Aumaitre v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of Camden County

• Decision Date: 29 June 1971
• Citation: 58 N.J. 449,279 A.2d 102
• Parties: Eugene AUMAITRE et al., Plaintiffs-Respondents, v. BOARD OF CHOSEN FREEHOLDERS OF CAMDEN COUNTY and Ronald C. Kerins, Defendants-Appellants, and A. Donald Bigley, Defendant-Respondent.
• Court: New Jersey Supreme Court

Page 449

58 N.J. 449

279 A.2d 102

Eugene AUMAITRE et al., Plaintiffs-Respondents, v. BOARD OF CHOSEN FREEHOLDERS OF CAMDEN COUNTY and Ronald C.

Kerins, Defendants-Appellants,

and

A. Donald Bigley, Defendant-Respondent.

Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Argued May 25, 1971.

Decided June 29, 1971.

Roy D. Cummins, First Asst. County Counsel of Camden County, for appellants (Raymond W. Uliase, County Counsel of Camden County, attorney; Roy D. Cummins, Pennsauken, on the brief).

M. Allan Vogelson, Camden, for respondents Eugene Aumaitre and others.

A. Donald Bigley, Camden County Prosecutor, pro se.

PER CURIAM:

In this action in lieu of prerogative writ, the prosecutor's detectives of Camden County sought to compel the Board of Chosen Freeholders to pay them additional moneys in place of compensatory time off for overtime worked. The trial court found plaintiffs were entitled to monetary compensation for time worked beyond regular office hours, and the Board of Chosen Freeholders appealed. While the appeal was pending unheard in the Appellate Division we certified the matter on our own motion. R. 2:12--1.

In holding that plaintiffs were entitled to be paid for overtime hours, the trial court relied on Article II, paragraph G of the Comprehensive Compensatory Plan adopted by the Board, which provides:

Overtime--(Overtime shall be paid in compensatory time only, except as hereinafter provided.) Overtime refers to any time worked beyond the regular hours of duty, and is granted only when the employee is ordered to work by a supervisor.

6. If for Unusual circumstances a department head feels that an employee should be compensated with additional pay in place of compensatory time off, a letter describing the circumstances should be forwarded to the Personnel Committee for approval.

The trial court concluded that the prerequisites for cash overtime payments were met in the instant case. It found that the established regular hours for the prosecutor's office were 9:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. daily; that plaintiffs' regular workweek therefore was 30 hours; that plaintiffs requested the prosecutor to grant them compensatory time off for the hours they were directed to work beyond regular office hours; and that the prosecutor could not do so because he did not have sufficient manpower in his office. The trial court found that the prosecutor's reason for denying time-off compensation satisfied the 'unusual circumstances' standard of subsection 6 and that plaintiffs...