White Paper
The Great Overtime Dilemma
States and localities need overtime to complete essential work. Learn how public sector agencies are employing practices to better manage overtime.
Overtime increases have been significant in recent years, especially in fields with high vacancy rates, such as policing, firefighting, nursing, corrections, and emergency medical services. Although overtime is needed to handle vacancies and unexpected events, using paper-based systems, inconsistently enforcing overtime policies, and inadequately monitoring overtime can lead to runaway overtime costs.
This white paper explores the steps that states and localities across the U.S have taken to better monitor and manage overtime:
- The New York State Metropolitan Transit Authority added biometric timeclocks to curb high overtime rates in agencies that previously had no timeclocks
- The Atlanta Police Department reduced overtime by 60% in five months after actively monitoring overtime approval
- The Arlington County (Virginia) Police Department deployed a new scheduling system to more equitably assign overtime, reducing overwork that can affect performance and safety
- The Scottsdale (Arizona) Police Department reduced overtime costs following a renewed focus on using data, documentation, and policies to avoid overtime
Download this informative piece to learn more about what states and localities are doing to institute effective policies and practices to manage overtime.
“They’ve gotten more careful at monitoring the extra hours that are being worked and in working more cooperatively across the districts.”
Sharron Walker
City Auditor
Scottsdale, Arizona