|
|
| Prison Officers Are Taking Longer Leaves |
| By The New York Times |
| Published: 12/01/2003 |
|
The rate of inmate assaults on New York State correction officers has dropped by half since 1991, but that has not stopped the amount of workers' compensation leave taken by correction officers from growing by more than 40 percent in recent years, according to a recent audit. Last year, the rate of inmate assaults fell to a 23-year low, state records show. And the current state prison population - about 65,000 - is the lowest since 1993. By most indications, prisons, while hazardous places to work, have become significantly safer than they were just a few years ago. Yet despite such improvements, the amount of workers' compensation leave taken by state correction officers grew to an average of 35 days per claim last year from 24 days in 1997, according to a recent audit of the Department of Correctional Services. And three-quarters of all claims filed by state correction officers during that five-year period stemmed from minor injuries that involved no inmate contact. Though most injuries leading to the workers' compensation claims were relatively minor, at 14 state prisons that auditors studied in detail, the average leave lasted more than five months, the report found. But rarely did any stretch beyond six months, auditors said. In New York, correction officers receive full pay for the first six months of workers' compensation leave, after which they must use personal time off, a generous benefit compared with those available to correction officers injured on the job in other large states like Texas and California. New York State officials and union leaders representing the 20,000 prison officers disagree about why workers' compensation leave times have grown so much in recent years. But the comptroller's audit paints a sharp portrait of the resulting costs. The Department of Correctional Services spent at least $23 million to cover the cost of nearly 90,000 workdays lost to workers' compensation claims last year, the audit concluded. The expanding use of workers' compensation leave has also fueled a 54 percent increase in overtime spending by the department since 1999. In the year that ended Sept. 30, the department paid $82.4 million in overtime, partly to cover the shifts lost to workers' compensation leaves, state records show. Lax oversight by the department played a role in the expanded use of workers' compensation time, the audit concluded. But the main cause, the authors of the audit found, was a longtime provision in the correction officers' contract with the state that allows six months' leave with full pay. In some cases, it noted, officers with disability insurance who go on workers' compensation leave can make more money than they would by remaining healthy and staying on the job. The state's four-year contract with the New York State Correction Officers and Police Benevolent Association ended March 31. Dick Martin, the director of research for the Governor's Office of Employee Relations, which negotiates the correction officers' contracts, declined to say whether fully paid leave time was an issue in current negotiations, but he said, `Workers really resist giving up a benefit that on its face says, `We're going to pay you to get hurt on the job.' " |
advertise
|
privacy policy
|
add URL
|
about us
|
terms/disclaimer
|
contact us
|
join our team
|
help
Comments:
No comments have been posted for this article.
Login to let us know what you think