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| Prison guard overtime up as positions go unfilled |
| By jsonline.com - Jason Stein |
| Published: 04/03/2012 |
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Madison, Wisconsin - Overtime for prison guards was up sharply last fiscal year and is up slightly again this year despite changes in overtime rules resulting from the repeal of most public union bargaining. A state Department of Corrections spokeswoman said that for the fiscal year that started in July, the new law and policies have been trumped by other factors like a big jump in vacant positions. However, the changes, which only started in January, are starting to have an effect, Corrections spokeswoman Linda Eggert said. Under the previous system, workers who called in sick for a shift and then worked the immediate next shift were paid one shift at their regular pay and the other at time and a half. In 2008, the Journal Sentinel published an investigation that showed some prison guards had boosted their income by working the system this way. Under the new system, both shifts are paid at straight time; workers don't get overtime unless they have actually worked extra hours. For fiscal year 2011, the state's overtime costs for prison guards rose to $32.6 million, an increase of 18% over the fiscal 2010 costs of $27.6 million. Since July, those costs are up an additional 3% so far for the fiscal year. But in January - the month the changes kicked in - overtime was down $660,000 over last year, Eggert said. "Although overtime is slightly higher right now than this time last (fiscal) year, the trend or trajectory shows overtime plummeting ever since" January, Eggert said. Marty Beil, executive director of the Wisconsin State Employees Union, said the higher overtime reflects the fact that the administration has lost corrections officers and still not replaced them. "That means that there's going to be overtime. Unless they want to jeopardize the safety of the officers, they can't work short-shifted," Beil said. Read More. |
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