Missouri Mental Health Department overhauls overtime policies
In response to high overtime payments identified in a 2009 payroll audit by then-Missouri State Auditor Susan Montee, the Missouri Department of Mental Health recently reviewed its overtime procedures. As a result, new policies were implemented at the beginning of last month that limited the amount of overtime employees could work to no more than 40 hours per pay period or 32 hours in a consecutive seven-day period, according to the Columbia Missourian.
These restrictions are designed to avoid cases such as that of a Marshall Habilitation Center care worker who worked an average of eight hours of overtime per day between 2008 and 2009. The worker took home a total of nearly $99,000 in addition to the base salary of his entry-level position.
Before the new regulations, 90 percent of overtime was voluntary. It was spread among fewer employees, and those who did not want to work extra hours were not compelled to. Now, it is evenly distributed.
The city manager of Woodland, California, is dealing with high overtime costs at the local fire department in a different way - awarding a $1.2 million grant that will be used to add six more firefighters to the department's payroll for a three-year period, according to the Woodland Daily Democrat. The extra employees will help decrease overtime.
These restrictions are designed to avoid cases such as that of a Marshall Habilitation Center care worker who worked an average of eight hours of overtime per day between 2008 and 2009. The worker took home a total of nearly $99,000 in addition to the base salary of his entry-level position.
Before the new regulations, 90 percent of overtime was voluntary. It was spread among fewer employees, and those who did not want to work extra hours were not compelled to. Now, it is evenly distributed.
The city manager of Woodland, California, is dealing with high overtime costs at the local fire department in a different way - awarding a $1.2 million grant that will be used to add six more firefighters to the department's payroll for a three-year period, according to the Woodland Daily Democrat. The extra employees will help decrease overtime.
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