Five supervisors have left the public works department and nine more are facing unpaid suspensions after the city wrapped up the second round of an investigation into a time-theft scandal.

The probe focused on 16 out of 28 managers in the roads division, said city spokesperson Mike Kirkopoulos. Of those 16, four were eligible to retire and exercised that option before the investigation began. A fifth immediately resigned.

Nine more will face up to a 30-day unpaid suspension, starting Friday or Monday, said Gerry Davis, general manager of public works.

No additional staff are being investigated.

"We're glad that the investigations have been finalized," Davis said. "Hopefully everything's moving forward for the better."

This is the final stage of a probe that stretches back to November 2012. At that time, the city spent $18,000 on a sting-type operation that used surveillance cameras to track employees. The investigation found that employees were receiving a full day's pay and only performing a few hours' work. In one case, a crew worked for only half an hour.

The workers also faced allegations of dumping city asphalt at private companies to cover up their time theft and get rid of the blacktop intended for potholes and road work.

In January, 29 front-line employees were fired without severance pay for neglect of duties, time theft and breach of trust, all stemming from their dishonesty about the amount of work they completed. Two other employees served a month of unpaid suspension.

However, after the workers' union, CUPE Local 5167, grieved the firings, the city rehired seven of those employees to strengthen its case against the remaining 22.

The city expanded the investigation to the department's supervisors after the first round of firings was completed.

Councillor Lloyd Ferguson said this stage of the investigation took more time than expected because of the paperwork involved.

"(Supervisors) are the ones that process the work orders and time cards," he said.

Davis says the nine employees facing suspensions, who are members of CUPE Local 1041, had worked for the city for at least a decade.

"I would say anywhere from 10 to 25 years," he said. "They're longtime employees. They're not recently hired."

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Because they are unionized, the supervisors will also be able to launch grievances against the city, Davis said.

As a result, even though the city has wrapped up its investigation, the details of the allegations will remain confidential until the grievance process has finished.