Concord Personnel Board Defers Handbook Vote After Water and Sewer Overtime Dispute

CARLISLE — July 8, 2026 — Concord Personnel Board defers employee handbook vote after water and sewer workers flood meeting over overtime dispute. Darren LaFlam, the town's water and sewer superintendent, appeared before the board July 8 with most of his crew to challenge Section 3.3 of the draft handbook, which would calculate overtime pay under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act's 40-hours-per-week standard — removing a longstanding informal practice under which the non-union water and sewer division has been paid at the overtime rate after eight hours in a single day, matching their unionized highway and grounds counterparts. HR Director Jessica Porter said the new language was never intended to change the practice and had already replaced the disputed section with a placeholder online. Town Manager Gary Allen joined by Zoom and asked for more time, saying he had "heard two different things just today" about whether the dispute involves daily overtime calculation or whether paid leave counts toward the weekly threshold. Former police officer Paul McCone, with 30 years of town service, called the handbook language "a self-inflicted error" that conflicts with FLSA practice settled since the 1980s and said it affects all non-exempt town employees, not just water and sewer. The board also approved its draft personnel board charge, pending Select Board confirmation, and set its next meeting for August 12 at 6 p.m.