Westmoreland County allows furloughed workers to pay into pension accounts

Westmoreland County workers furloughed this spring in response to the coronavirus pandemic will have an opportunity to restore their pension benefits.

The county’s retirement board on Monday unanimously voted to allow employees who since have returned to their jobs to buy back time lost while off the payroll because of the pandemic.

The county furloughed nearly 500 employees in early April as government operations were slowed after the governor ordered all essential workers to remain at home in an effort to curb surging cases of the coronavirus.

In March, during the early days of the pandemic, commissioners paid all county staffers, whether they reported in person to work, performed their duties at home or were off the job. Overtime was paid to workers who had to report to the courthouse or to other county facilities for their jobs.

After two weeks, as overtime costs skyrocketed, commissioners moved to furlough nonessential staff as a cost-saving move, with many off the job for several months. The county paid more than $700,000 in what commissioners called “pandemic pay” overtime over a two-week period in late March and early April.

In June, as coronavirus restrictions eased, the county started to recall its furloughed workers, and, as of Monday, most had returned to their jobs.

Controller Jeff Balzer said the retirement board’s vote will enable furloughed workers to regain the lost time that is used to calculate future pension payments.

“The commissioners said at the time of the furloughs they wanted everyone to be made whole,” Balzer said.

The program won’t impact taxpayers, officials said.

Formerly furloughed workers will be allowed to pay into their retirement accounts an amount equivalent to what they would have allocated had they remained on the payroll. County workers are required to pay 9% of their salaries toward their pensions.