NPU Family,
It’s that time again. Several updates across several different topics. First, I want to address the payroll issues. We recognize the frustration and how upset many are. We are in consistent communications with the Nevada State Police (NSP) Director’s Office, Governor’s Office, Department of Administration, and several other Agency departments as well. Although I understand the frustration, many have made comments and personal attacks on some people that have no control over the problems. We ask that you be kind and respectful. I have been assured the problem is being addressed and the State is working to get these issues resolved. I know that is of little to no comfort to some, but the issue is being handled as we speak.
Kristi Defer (NSP Deputy Director) emailed me with the following statement….
“Payroll System Challenges – Update
I wanted to speak directly with all of you about the payroll challenges we’ve been experiencing. These issues aren’t unique to DPS—they’re happening statewide as everyone adjusts to the new system. All agencies are working together to figure out how to move more efficiently, and we’re in daily communication with the Department of Administration and the Governor’s Office to push improvements forward. We’re also reviewing our internal processes to see where we can speed things up on our side.
I also want to be very clear: while some fixes may seem simple from the outside, getting even one document fully processed through the system is taking an incredible amount of time. We are not holding any pay back intentionally. The delays are a direct result of system-wide slowdowns and required approval steps. I am actively working with our partners to streamline this so we can get bulk entries keyed and completed much more quickly.
This is also why I’ve asked that payroll questions go through your division’s designated point of contact. With a DPS team of only three that serves over 1,300 employees, a large part of their day is spent answering duplicate calls and emails—time that could instead be used to move documents through the system. Your support in following this process genuinely helps us move faster. I’ve heard through the grapevine that people have been encouraged to disregard my instruction and continue to call payroll frequently. While I understand the intent, it is ultimately not productive and takes my staff away from addressing the root problem which they are acutely aware of.
For the pay period 9 overtime issue, I’ve been working on it daily, sometimes hourly. Nothing is taking more priority. The timesheet error was a statewide glitch that affected 47 DPS employees who had to receive hand type checks. Everyone came together and worked tirelessly to get employees paid.
Please know that we care deeply, and we are doing everything we can to steady the process. I wish it were something we could fix overnight, but it’s more complex under the hood than it appears. Thank you for your patience and for sticking with us while we work through this—together.”
As the 36th Nevada Legislature Special Session ended the end of November, there were a few extremely important pieces of legislation that were heard. First, SB7 which strengthened Nevada’s Heart and Lung program for Police and Firefighters. After a recent Nevada High Court ruling that basically stated lung claims must be associated with a specific incident, SB7 changed the wording in the law to keep heart, and lung claims as presumptive and cumulative over the course of an officers/fire fighters’ career. This is a HUGE win for Nevada cops and firemen.
Second, the Governor’s signature piece of legislation passed. AB 4 “The Crime Bill” received bipartisan support and helps strengthen many laws in Nevada. This bill represents one of the most significant updates to Nevada’s public safety laws in recent years. The law strengthens safety on the Las Vegas Strip through expedited adjudication of offenses. Updates and strengthens statutes for assault, battery, stalking, domestic violence, and child pornography. It also modernizes DUI laws and punishments, pretrial release, record sealing, and opioid use disorder treatment provisions. Strengthens juvenile justice processes and establishes new unlawful acts related to theft and property damage.
Third, The “Film Tax” bill did NOT pass. This is significant because it would have provided tax breaks and subsidies for companies to build movie studios in the Las Vegas area. Although this did sound like a good idea on the surface, much of those subsidies would come from the general fund. We were steadfast against ANY money coming from Nevada’s general fund that goes to anything other than funding our CBAs. This bill would have benefited the Las Vegas area (specifically Clark County) and would provide little to no help for Nevada State Police, State Parks, NDOW, University Police, or Dept of Ag.
Our Northern Nevada stewards have been invited to participate in a Representative/Rights of Peace Officers training conducted by Washoe County Sheriff Deputies Association and Peace Officers Research Association of Nevada (PORAN) being held on January 5 or January 23 in Reno. If you are an NPU steward and interested in attending, please email rpowell@nvpolice.org to receive more info and the link for registration. We will be facilitating an all NPU steward training sometime this Spring so be sure to keep an eye out for an email about it to join.
We have had several questions regarding pending grievances. Here is a quick update from NPU VP James Mortimore…
GRIEVANCE UPDATES
NPU is currently working with the state to resolve grievances regarding our last contract (2023-2025) specifically personal leave days and bilingual pay for those officers who qualify. We have some tentative dates set for arbitration and hope to have answers soon.
NPU has also filed grievances for the 2025-2027 contract. The issue(s) are fighting to have the contract paid in its entirety as awarded in the arbitration win against the state. This grievance is for both Unit G and Unit L members. We have also filed a grievance to receive our personal leave days for the 2025-2027 contract for Unit G members. We have set dates for mediation on these grievances in January. If an agreement can’t be reached, we will move forward to arbitration.
NPU also filed a new grievance with the state regarding holiday pay. We were made aware that UNLVPD and UNRPD were not receiving holiday pay as outlined in the contract. This has affected both Unit G and Unit L members. All category 1 peace officers should be receiving holiday pay for the regular scheduled hours they work regardless of whether the holiday was worked. Essentially, if you are regularly scheduled to work a 10- or 12-hour shift, and a holiday falls on your RDO, you should be paid 10 or 12 hours for that day. We have already had discussions with the state since filing the grievance so we hope to see a faster resolution than most grievances take, which can sometimes be over a year. If you are an officer that believes they are not receiving proper holiday pay or have questions regarding holiday pay, please contact VP James Mortimore at jmortimore@nvpolice.org or his cell 775-219-6294
As always, please feel free to contact me directly via email dgordon@nvpolice.org call or text 775-781-5859. Serving the NPU membership has been one of the greatest honors of my career. As we approach the new year, we expect bigger and better things for our NPU family.
Dan
