Workers Protest D.A.’s Refusal to Allow Flextime

Denouncing Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury as a domineering administrator, scores of county child support workers on Tuesday protested his refusal to grant them flexible work schedules extended to hundreds of other county employees.

Division employees wore black clothing to work, following the lead of Ventura County Medical Center nurses who staged a similar protest three weeks ago.

Union officials claimed that Bradbury has been intransigent on flextime because it would loosen the reins on his employees.

“Bradbury’s attitude is one of maintaining control--he’s the boss,” said Barry Hammitt, executive director of the Public Employees Assn. of Ventura County, which represents about 4,200 county employees. “From his perspective, it’s easier if everyone comes to work at 8 and leaves at 5 because you can count them in the door and out.”

Bradbury declined comment Tuesday, referring questions to Stan Trom, the division director.

Trom said limited computer access would make flexible scheduling unworkable at present.

The 160-employee division, administered by the district attorney’s office, helps parents get child support payments from delinquent spouses. Protesters said modified schedules, such as working four 10-hour days a week, would enable the division to extend its hours.

“A lot of people we deal with can’t get in between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.” without having to take off work, said Jeanne Hunt, a family support officer and union shop steward. “And we’re closed for lunch.”

They also said flextime would ease the stress of their jobs, which involves handling 500 to 600 cases each, mediating disputes between warring spouses and tracking down parents who have reneged on paying child support.

“You get a lot of people screaming at you in this job,” said Yogi Sanchez, a family support officer.

“No one comes to us, calls us or writes us a letter because they are happy,” fellow caseworker Marie Bishop said. “We never work with anyone who is in a good mood.”

About two-thirds of county departments have already granted their employees alternative work schedules. The options also include working 80 hours over nine days, with a three-day weekend every other week. They were granted, in part, in response to a County Board of Supervisors plan to reduce air pollution by encouraging car-pooling and reducing daily trips to work.

Bradbury has apparently been a longtime opponent of flexible schedules.

County Personnel Director Ronald Komers said Bradbury complained about flexible schedules that he inherited in his department in the early 1980s and later abolished.

Trom has withheld support for flexible schedules because computers are unavailable before 8 a.m. and after 5 p.m. on seven workdays a month. Trom said his recommendation would change if anticipated programming modifications improve computer access by September.

“It’s absolutely true that these people have a lot of work to do and are working in a stressful environment,” Trom said. “I don’t think this is an employee versus management issue, but, rather, whether a particular schedule will work.”