Firefighters asked to repay city after mistake

Payroll error caused check miscalculation

City firefighters are being asked to repay the city after a payroll mistake caused a miscalculation in several of their 2019 back-pay checks.

Roughly 240 of the city’s 670 firefighters received overpayments ranging in the “10s of dollars” to the highest amount, $5,000, that was paid to one firefighter, said Ralph Sicuro, president of the International Association of Firefighters Pittsburgh Local 1. The majority received somewhere in the ballpark of $3,000.

Mr. Sicuro said he did not know the total amount, and city officials did not immediately respond to that question.

The overpayment occurred after the union and the city agreed to a new contract at the end of December 2019, replacing the previous contract that had expired the prior year and causing a bit of confusion, Mr. Sicuro said.

“When they received a backpay check, it was kind of hard for them to tell was it exactly right or not. So there was some

suspicion, but as months went on and nothing was said, they assumed it was correct,” he said.

The firefighters who received the extra money began receiving letters from the city Monday informing them of the overpayment and the city’s intention to pursue reimbursement, according to Mr. Sicuro.

The mistake happened because of an issue with the city’s payroll system, Tim McNulty, a spokesman for Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, confirmed Friday.

The city entered into a multiyear $1.7 million contract with the Minneapolisbased Ceridian Human Capital Management Inc. payroll company in July. The city first entered into an agreement for implementation of the payroll system in 2015, according to city contract records.

However, a representative for the company said their payroll management software was not involved in the incident.

“This is not a Ceridian software or configuration issue. The city of Pittsburgh went live on Dayforce Payroll for the first payroll run of 2020. The overpayments made to the 240 firefighters were issued by the previous payroll provider,” a spokeswoman said.

The city did not provide further details on the issue.

Mr. Sicuro said he has engaged in “discussion” with the city and offered a plan for how firefighters can repay the city, and the city has vowed to work with the union.

“I think everybody’s eager to get this behind us, and we’re waiting to hear from the city on whether or not they’ve accepted our repayment options,” he said.

Mr. Sicuro said firefighters have had other issues this year with the payroll system but did not provide further details.

Dan Gilman, chief of staff for Mr. Peduto, said in a statement that the administration is “working closely with the IAFF. I have personally been in touch with President Sicuro and will continue to work closely with him to make sure this matter is resolved in a timely, fair and transparent manner.”