Employee tracking efforts have revealed that Kansas state workers are working increasingly long hours, resulting in large overtime payments. According to The Wichita Eagle, overtime pay by state agencies rose by 25 percent from 2010 to 2012. The payments totaled $12.7 million in 2012, up from $10.2 million in 2010. This trend is set to continue over the coming years, as agency officials cite staff shortages and high turnover rates as the main cause of the issue.

State records show that the agencies doling out the most in overtime payments are the Kansas Department of Transportation, the Highway Patrol, psychiatric hospitals and corrections facilities. Hospitals in particular face serious staff shortages across the state.

Hospital employees are facing mandatory overtime schedules, said Mike Marvin, Executive Director of the Kansas Organization of State Employees. Marvin said that the employees at the two state mental health hospitals are being severely overworked.

"They're scared to death. There's tons of mandatory overtime going on there," Marvin stated. "It's just horrendous the way the state treats these people."

In reaction to these practices, many have left their positions, worsening the situation for those workers who remain. As of March 2013, the job vacancy rate at Larned, one of the mental health hospitals, was 19.6 percent.

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