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LL wrote a month ago on a number of former campaign workers for Still Mayor Adrian Fenty getting city jobs just before Fenty ordered a hiring freeze to deal with the city’s $175 million budget gap.
LL couldn’t nail down whether the half-dozen or so Fenty faithful who were awarded $70k-a-year jobs for a couple of months of work in an administration that’s cruising on autopilot until Jan. 2 would get separation pay.
Now comes the Washington Business Journal’s Michael Neibauer, who got his delicate hands on a copy of the Fenty administration’s “Transition Exit Information Packet.”
The packet, prepared by D.C. Department of Human Resources Director Brender Gregory, appears to say that the newly employed Fenty campaign workers are eligible for four weeks of seperation pay.
Here’s all the packet says about short-timers:
Excepted Service employees are eligible for separation pay upon separation. Separation pay will not be paid if an Excepted Service employee separates before December 17, 2010. Separation pay will be disbursed through a mailed check or direct deposit (whichever method is currently used to pay your salary). Your separation payment should be received within 3 to 6 weeks after the date of your separation.
Note: By law, separation pay for Excepted or Executive Service employees who have been employed by the District government for less than 1 year shall not exceed 4 weeks of the employees’ basic pay. Separation pay for other Excepted and Executive Service shall not exceed 12 weeks of the employees’ basic pay.
At $70,000-a-year salary, that comes to roughly a $6,000 parting gift. Which is a pretty nice payday after working only three months on the job.
LL has, of course, reached out to the Fenty administration to make sure there isn’t some rule LL doesn’t know about prohibiting separation pay for the short-timers and for comment on the appropriateness of the separation pay for favored campaign aides. LL will update as needed.
Photo By Darrow Montgomery