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Understaffing at Alaska state payroll department causes errors and delays in services

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Understaffing at Alaska state payroll department causes errors and delays in services


ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – The Alaska State Division of Finance’s payroll services team is facing high vacancy rates resulting in the wearing down of morale along with errors and delays in services, which will likely have no end soon.

The payroll services section is in charge of paying Alaska’s 14,000 state employees, but there have been reports of employees getting paid late and sometimes the wrong amount.

The Department of Administration says the vacancy rates of its payroll services team within the Division of Finance have been fluctuating around 45% for some time. In February, the vacancy rate was 35% and now the current vacancy rate is 46%.

Heidi Drygas, the executive director of the Alaska State Employees Association, maintains this ‘snow-balling crisis’ is not a new issue and it’s something the union has been warning about for years.

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“When you don’t treat employees well, when you don’t treat them with good pay, with good benefits, like a living wage and a pension, you’re going to lose employees, you’re not going to be able to attract employees to state service and you’re not going to be able to maintain employees who are working for the state and that’s what we see happening,” Drygas said.

Drygas believes the crisis started when the state switched its retirement system from a defined benefit pension system to a defined contribution system. She believes it’s a crisis of their own making as they outsource jobs to contractors out of the state.

“Now we have sort of this foundational backbone of state government paying its employees on time and that’s being threatened — that’s unacceptable,” Drygas said.

Drygas says the notice of pay problems is being unaddressed and unresolved due to the state not having the staff to keep up with the workload. Drygas maintains it’s impacting businesses too by hampering oil and gas leases, fisheries, and others.

“We’re seeing the results of what happens when you take it out on public employees,” Drygas said of fiscal crises that force the Legislature to make budget cuts.

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“They are extremely stressed and demoralized, and it’s a difficult, challenging work environment, I mean in a perfect scenario paying 14,000 employees every other week is a challenge,” said Jeff Kasper, the business manager of the Alaska Public Employees Association.

Kasper believes the issue could get really bad and thinks the state is failing to operate basic functions of business.

“There’s no end in sight, they don’t have any hope that this is going to get better,” Kasper said. “I was told they don’t feel like management even knows that they exist. They’re not provided any sort of help from upper management and the Dunleavy administration and that’s where it meets my assertion that this is deliberate, they’re deliberately running parts of government into the ground.”

Kasper agrees with Drygas that they’re contracting the jobs out to private entities, where they’re paying them more, which he feels is not good for Alaska.

Drygas pointed to a solution, and it’s simple — strong leadership.

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Ken Truitt with the Department of Administration maintains there are several efforts underway to address the current vacancy rate.

“In the short-term, the Department of Administration (DOA) is reassigning staff that have previous payroll experience from DOA divisions to the Division of Finance (DOF) payroll team and ramping up job recruitment efforts while working to accommodate employees’ abilities to process payroll remotely,” Truitt wrote in an email. “DOA is also securing temporary contract assistance, restructuring the front-end DOA payroll process to streamline the work, and changing the LOA process to ensure those that affect payroll are addressed quickly.”

The state will also be investing in technology and new processes that will in turn increase efficiency within the payroll department. They hope it will also create a more engaging work environment.

“In the longer-term, among other efforts, the State will be shifting to a more standardized, digital payroll process,” Truitt wrote. “This will help to simplify payroll processing, making it significantly more efficient and manageable. All these efforts contribute to a more reasonable load, and more enjoyable jobs, for payroll employees.”

Truitt maintains although it will take time, they’re confident those efforts will improve outcomes for the employees and will provide a solid foundation for the future.

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Alaska

Flight attendant sacked for twerking on the job: ‘What’s wrong with a little twerk before work’

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Flight attendant sacked for twerking on the job: ‘What’s wrong with a little twerk before work’


They deemed the stunt not-safe-for-twerk.

An Alaska Airlines flight attendant who was sacked for twerking on camera has created a GoFundMe to support her while she seeks a new berth.

The crewmember, named Nelle Diala, had filmed the viral booty-shaking TikTok video on the plane while waiting two hours for the captain to arrive, A View From the Wing reported.

“I never thought a single moment would cost me everything,” wrote the ex-crewmember. TikTok / @_jvnelle415

She captioned the clip, which also blew up on Instagram, “ghetto bih till i D-I-E, don’t let the uniform fool you.”

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Diala was reportedly doing a victory dance to celebrate the end of her new hire probationary period.

Unfortunately, her jubilation was short-lived as Alaska Airlines nipped her employment in the bum just six months into her contract.

The fanny-wagging flight attendant feels that she didn’t do anything wrong.

Diala was ripped online over her GoFundMe page. GoFundMe

Diala has since reposted the twerking clip with the new caption: “Can’t even be yourself anymore, without the world being so sensitive. What’s wrong with a little twerk before work, people act like they never did that before.”

The new footage was hashtagged #discriminationisreal.

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The disgraced stewardess even set up a GoFundMe page to help support the so-called “wrongfully fired” flight attendant until she can land a new flight attendant gig.

“I never thought a single moment would cost me everything,” wrote the ex-crewmember. “Losing my job was devastating.”

“Can’t even be yourself anymore, without the world being so sensitive,” Diala wrote on TikTok while reacting to news of her firing. “What’s wrong with a little twerk before work, people act like they never did that before.” Getty Images

She claimed that the gig had allowed her to meet new people and see the world, among other perks.

While air hostessing was ostensibly a “dream job,” Diala admitted that she used the income to help fund her “blossoming lingerie and dessert businesses,” which she runs under the Instagram handles @cakezncake (which doesn’t appear to have any content?) and @figure8.lingerie.

As of Wednesday morning, the crowdfunding campaign has raised just $182 of its $12,000 goal.

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Diala was ripped online for twerking on the job as well as her subsequent GoFundMe efforts.

“You don’t respect the uniform, you don’t respect your job then,” declared one critic on the popular aviation-focused Instagram page The Crew Lounge. “Terms and Conditions apply.”

“‘Support for wrongly fired flight attendant??’” mocked another. “Her GoFund title says it all. She still thinks she was wrongly fired. Girl you weren’t wrongly fired. Go apply for a new job and probably stop twerking in your uniform.”

“The fact that you don’t respect your job is one thing but doing it while in uniform and at work speaks volumes,” scoffed a third. “You’re the brand ambassador and it’s not a good look.”

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As Alaska sees a spike in Flu cases — another virus is on the rise in the U.S.

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As Alaska sees a spike in Flu cases — another virus is on the rise in the U.S.


FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTUU) – Alaska has recently seen a rise in both influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, better known as RSV. Amidst the spike in both illnesses, norovirus has also been on the rise in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says it’s highly contagious and hand sanitizers don’t work well against it.

Current data for Alaska shows 449 influenza cases and 262 RSV cases for the week of Jan. 4. Influenza predominantly impacts the Kenai area, the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, and the Northwest regions of the state. RSV is also seeing significant activity in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and Anchorage.

Both are respiratory viruses that are treatable, but norovirus — which behaves like the stomach flu according to the CDC — is seeing a surge at the national level. It “causes acute gastroenteritis, an inflammation of the stomach or intestines,” as stated on the CDC webpage.

This virus is spread through close contact with infected people and surfaces, particularly food.

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“Basically any place that people aggregate in close quarters, they’re going to be especially at risk,” said Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent.

Preventing infection is possible but does require diligence. Just using hand sanitizer “does not work well against norovirus,” according to the CDC. Instead, the CDC advises washing your hands with soap and hot water for at least 20 seconds. When preparing food or cleaning fabrics — the virus “can survive temperatures as high as 145°F,” as stated by the CDC.

According to Dr. Gupta, its proteins make it difficult to kill, leaving many cleaning methods ineffective. To ensure a given product can kill the virus, he advises checking the label to see if it claims it can kill norovirus. Gupta said you can also make your own “by mixing bleach with water, 3/4 of a cup of bleach per gallon of water.”

For fabrics, it’s best to clean with water temperatures set to hot or steam cleaning at 175°F for five minutes.

As for foods, it’s best to throw out any items that might have norovirus. As a protective measure, it’s best to cook oysters and shellfish to a temperature greater than 145°F.

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Based on Alaska Department of Health data, reported COVID-19 cases are significantly lower than this time last year.

See a spelling or grammatical error? Report it to web@ktuu.com



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Sky Watch Alaska: planets align plus the aurora forecast

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Sky Watch Alaska: planets align plus the aurora forecast


ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – This is a great time of year to do some star gazing. If you have clear skies in your part of Alaska, take the time to check out the night — and morning — sky.

After sunset, look toward the southwest. Saturn and Venus are snuggled up together (of course, they are more than 800 million miles apart) in the evening sky. They set at about 9:40 p.m. in Southcentral.

Before 9:40 p.m., you can see four planets with the naked eye — Saturn, Venus, Jupiter and Mars. Jupiter and Mars stick around through the morning. Mars is very close to the moon right now.

The Aurora forecast is fairly weak for the next few weeks. That’s not to say there won’t be the occasional burst but overall, solar activity is expected to be fairly low until the beginning of February.

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If you get great pictures of the planets, the sky, or the aurora, don’t forget to send them to Alaska’s News Source.

See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com



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