Pa OT hit two-decade high in 2014
BY ROBERT SWIFT
Published: June 7, 2015
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania state workers racked up nearly $227 million in overtime last year, a two-decade record high, an analysis of state payroll records found.
Overtime surged to offset a loss of state workers, to provide round-the-clock supervision at state prisons and care at state hospitals and centers, and to respond to emergencies, including storms and this past fall’s 48-day manhunt in the Poconos for accused cop killer Eric Matthew Frein.
The biggest annual increase in overtime spending — $26 million — occurred from 2013 to 2014. About
$7 million of that came as a result of the Frein manhunt.
State employee payroll data was obtained for 2010 through 2014 from the state Office of Administration. The 2014 overtime —
$226,512,006.79 — is at least a two-decade high. The office was unable to provide annual calendar year overtime costs prior to 1994.
In some cases, the overtime pay is lucrative for state employees with specialized jobs in the areas of public safety and human services.
Ten state workers got more than $100,000 in overtime last year while 37 received more than $75,000.
The top overtime earners are mostly physicians and psychiatrists at the state hospitals and centers run by the Department of Human Services or state prison corrections officers.
The state Department of Corrections spent the most on overtime each year from 2010-14, followed by the state Department of Transportation. Human Services ranked third — except for last year, when the Pennsylvania State Police held that spot because of the Frein manhunt.
Corrections
Overtime costs in the state Department of Corrections increased significantly from $49 million in 2010 to $87 million last year despite a leveling off of the inmate population.
One key factor for this was a hiring freeze implemented in fiscal 2012-13, department spokeswoman Susan McNaughton said.
The department is seeking a $56 million supplemental budget increase this fiscal year partly to cover higher than anticipated overtime costs from having 1,500 vacant positions.
Other factors bumping up overtime were the need to provide more out-of-cell time for mentally ill offenders, the opening of a new state correctional institution and the closing of two others, McNaughton said.
The department is addressing the issue by hiring and training new employees in the area of mental health services, she said.
The spike in corrections overtime costs does not come as a surprise to Tim Walsh, vice president of the Pennsylvania State Corrections Officers Association.
“Due to hiring freezes, staffing at our prisons is at its lowest in years and mandatory overtime is now a requirement,” he said. “Inmates understand they have a numbers advantage, and it’s creating a dangerous atmosphere. Just (last) month, five corrections officers were assaulted when inmates nearly rioted at SCI-Houtzdale.”
Mandatory overtime is not only a cost issue, but a morale problem for corrections officers and their families, said Sen. David Argall, R-Tamaqua.
Human services
The state Department of Human Services spent $31 million on overtime last year, compared to $28 million in 2010 while the agency workforce declined by 1,500 employees during this period.
A big factor is providing care at the state hospitals and centers.
“Pennsylvania has chosen a system of care that led to the elimination of the use of restraints and patients must see a physician prior to sedation medication being administered,” agency spokeswoman Kathaleen Gillis said. “This has created a need for 24/7 care from our doctors at the locations.”
A doctor on call nights and weekends must be available at the facility within 20 minutes after getting a call, Gillis said.
“They are compensated at 25 percent of their base hourly rate for being ‘on call’, and if called in for ‘emergency duty’ paid at the full base hourly rate for hours worked,” she said.
Transportation
PennDOT paid out $53 million in overtime last year, compared to $48 million in 2010 with the workforce remaining stable at nearly 11,500 employees.
About $22 million in overtime in fiscal 2013-14 was tied to snow plowing and other measures to keep highways open during winter storms.
“Our county people had to work long hours including weekend call outs to ensure our roadways are safe and passable for the people of the Commonwealth,” department spokesman Rich Kirkpatrick said.
Tough winters meant more overtime for general highway maintenance including filling potholes, repairing roads and answering calls from the public about drainage problems, dead deer and other issues and making sure equipment runs properly, he added.
Overtime is paid when officials inspect highway construction and bridge projects at night or during off-peak periods, Kirkpatrick said.
State police
The investigation into the shooting death of Cpl. Bryon K. Dickson II, of Dunmore, during a Sept. 12 ambush attack at the Blooming Grove state police barracks and the intensive 48-day manhunt in Pike and Monroe counties for his accused killer, Frein, spiked overtime costs for state police. During the sniper attack, another officer, Trooper Alex T. Douglass of Olyphant, was critically injured. Frein, who is in Pike County Correctional Facility, faces first-degree murder and other charges relating to the attack. He is awaiting trial.
The state police department spent $32 million for overtime last year — 27 percent or about $7 million more — compared to about $25 million in 2013.
Overall, the state police spent $10 million for personnel expenses, including $7 million in overtime, and $900,000 for operations during the Frein manhunt.
Troopers can also be paid overtime to investigate homicides and traffic crashes and to enforce highway speed limits that occur in 82 percent of Pennsylvania’s land area and 60 percent of the state’s highways they patrol.
Typically, a trooper is paid overtime when an crash or other incident occurs near the end of their eight-hour shift, agency spokeswoman Maria Finn said. It is more efficient to let that trooper finish investigating the crash scene so the department pays overtime for work beyond the end of the shift, she said.
Troopers are paid overtime to escort tractor-trailers carrying super-sized loads on state highways for safety purposes. A state law requires an escort for a load greater than 201,000 pounds, over 160 feet and/or 16 feet wide. The transporting firm is required to pay a $50 fee and $2 a mile plus overtime for the police escort.
Argall recently introduced legislation to eliminate the mandatory escort requirement and have certified pilot escorts take over the job. The bill will allow state police to focus on their main responsibilities and reduce overtime costs for the state, he said.
Overtime costs are tied to the fluctuating number of vacancies created as veteran troopers retire and cadets go through training at the Pennsylvania State Police Academy in Hershey.
As of last March, there were more than 400 vacancies totaling about 10 percent of the troopers. Gov. Tom Wolf has proposed funding to train 350 cadets in the 2015-16 fiscal year.
Hiring staff
After taking office in January, Wolf looked for ways to save money and make state government more efficient. The Go Time initiative has reviewed more than 150 ideas submitted by state employees and identified $109 million in projected cost savings out of a nearly $29 billion state budget, officials said.
While this initiative specifically has not examined overtime costs, the issue is on the administration’s radar screen, Wolf spokesman Jeffrey Sheridan said.
“State agencies are looking for ways to move away from forced overtime and trying to address this issue by hiring a full complement of staff to deliver services for the people of Pennsylvania,” Sheridan said. “Leaving positions vacant can lead to increased costs as a result of forced overtime.”
As tax revenues plummeted during the 2008-09 recession, state budget tightened and agencies furloughed employees, froze hiring and left vacant positions unfilled. The state workforce totaled nearly 79,500 in 2014 compared with nearly 83,700 in 2010. Overtime increased more than $39 million in the same period.
Pennsylvania can avoid overtime by privatizing operations or entering public-private partnerships to provide services, said Nathan Benefield, top policy analyst at The Commonwealth Foundation, a Harrisburg-based market-oriented think tank.
The recently created public-private partnership board for transportation projects is a model in this regard, Benefield said.
The increasing amount spent on overtime is the downside of not having enough employees, said David Fillman, executive director of Council 13 of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees.
“There’s a price to pay on this,” he said. “Do we continue to do the overtime piece or do we backfill these positions?”
Robert J Storm
Eastern Region Vice President
Pennsylvania State Corrections Officer Association
Toll Free:1-866-GO-PSCOA