Hawaii’s DOE - First No Buses, now No Payroll!!

[Punatang]

The purpose of a system is what it does.  
-Beer

More missing paychecks lead to formal complaint against the DOE
By Derek Kravitsky

Published: Sep. 13, 2024 at 5:17 PM HST


HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The Hawaii State Teachers Association has learned over 530 teachers did not receive their paychecks in August due to onboarding issues by the Department of Education.

Initially, the estimate was nearly 380 teachers.

During a meeting on Sept. 9, the HSTA said DOE officials informed them that 533 educators (419 HIDOE and 114 public charter schoolteachers) were not paid on Aug. 20.

HSTA says not only were teachers not paid in August, but some did not receive their paychecks during the first week of September.

The HSTA has filed a ‘Step two Grievance’ against the DOE in response to the growing number of teachers without paychecks.

A ‘Step one Grievance’ which is equated to an informal complaint was lodged in August according to the HSTA.

The DOE says the paycheck delays stem from issues with their onboarding/hiring process, which requires the completion of tasks such as criminal background checks and submission of valid teaching credentials.

The DOE said in a statement, “Payroll timing is based on the completion of these tasks, not the employee’s start date. Had this procedure been more clearly communicated and followed, the number of affected teachers would have been limited to just four.”

Days after paychecks were supposed to arrive in August, the DOE announced they’d be sending out $2,000 checks to schools the following week as an interim solution.

HSTA says a survey of their members showed the following impacts from the missing paychecks:

• 25% report overdraft fees
  
  
• 32% report missed payment fees
  
  
• 33% report late payment fees
  
  
• 25% report impacts to their credit score
  
  
• 6% report an inability to qualify for a loan
  
  
• Others report an inability to apply for rental housing (due to no income), denial of housing, and concerns related to medical coverage and medical procedures
  

HSTA has also provided a list of solutions to settle the grievance:

• Make teachers whole for the salary owed with interest paid
  
  
• Provide one full day of recall pay to address financial consequences
  
  
• Provide one paid administrative leave day to address their financial consequences
  
  
• Reimburse all late/missed payment fees and overdraft fees
  
  
• Provide options for processing pretax EUTF and Island Flex deductions through payroll
  
  
• Provide teachers an additional 60 days to pay back the $2,000 checks provided by the HIDOE.
  

The DOE says they anticipate fully reimbursing all affected employees by Sept. 20.

HSTA says they plan to meet with DOE officials again on Sept. 16 to discuss possible remedies to the situation.