Add election workers to the list of people Dallas County didn’t pay on time

More people have come forward saying they haven’t been paid due to a weeks-old problem with a Dallas County’s payroll upgrade, adding to the tally of hundreds left with missing funds or no pay at all.

Dallas County Elections Administrator Michael Scarpello confirmed Thursday that some people who worked the polls at early voting centers for the May election have not been paid. They had expected to receive payment May 12.

The county now says any poll workers who haven’t been paid can pick up their paychecks in person at a county office.

The paychecks and direct deposits were not delivered when expected, leaving early voting workers, hundreds of county justice department court-appointed attorneys, court reporters and expert witnesses without pay or the wrong amount of pay.

The county updated its Oracle financial management system to a new version and shut down the old version April 20. Once the Oracle system updated, there were problems. The financial system and Kronos Workforce Central Solution System’s time card programs no longer worked cohesively.

“That’s completely out of our control,” Scarpello said.

Scarpello said he didn’t know how many people were affected. County auditor Darryl Thomas did not respond to a request for comment.

Dolores Serroka has worked Dallas County elections since at least 2016. Serroka has yet to be paid for her work on the nine early voting days before Election Day on May 6.

“It bothers me that it’s gonna discourage people from working at the polls,” Serroka said.

Affected poll workers can now collect their paycheck at the Dallas County Elections department.

More than 200 deputies and detention officers also were missing paychecks last week, and many more received incorrect amounts. Sgt. Christopher Dyer, president of the Dallas County Sheriff’s Association, previously told The Dallas Morning News that the payroll errors hurt employees trying to celebrate Mother’s Day.

Hundreds of contractors and court-appointed attorneys have also not been paid, many temporarily not getting up to six weeks of pay, said Douglas Huff, the president of the Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. Some are owed over $50,000 in back pay.

Election Day workers

Pay for people who worked on May 6 was unaffected by the payroll problems. The county decided in advance to load funds onto debit cards so that Election Day workers could be paid sooner. If workers preferred, they could opt for checks.

Scarpello said that the vast majority of feedback about the May election has been positive. He said pay for May 6 workers went smoother than it has in previous years.

“Their payments were ready within 10 days of the election, as opposed to traditionally 28 to 30 days,” Scarpello said. “This way is more convenient for poll workers.”

For the May 2022 election, poll workers struggled to get their paychecks. Some waited months. Scarpello vowed to improve election worker payment, and the election board has since commended his efforts.

Serroka also worked May 6 but said it was difficult to get her pay for that, too. Serroka chose to receive her funds through a check but said there were several steps involved, including giving a third-party vendor the last four digits of her Social Security number.

She said pay has not been a problem over the years, but she and fellow workers were surprised to be offered debit cards for their work on Election Day.

Scarpello said the department plans to use the debit cards for the November election.

“The feedback has been very positive,” he said.

Serroka said she just wishes that the department communicated more about the change.

“Nobody told us anything,” Serroka said, “but just, ‘Here’s your envelope, you know, this is how you’re gonna get paid.’”