City workers hit OT jackpot

More than two-thirds of Los Angeles city workers earned overtime last year, totaling $355 million, even as the mayor issued a directive to curtail such payouts, a Daily News review has found.

[lance]

"nearly 75 percent of the extra
pay went to police and fire personnel amid increased public-safety efforts."

thats the 75 percent that folks shouldnt worry about. safety should be #1 concern. but the 25 percent needs to get scrutinized and cut. thats the pork. thats the added waste.

[music]

What does this all mean ? Higher tax bracket means more money for state and fed. When good times return (some day) will it mean party time for the elected. I have not seen any reform , only finger-pointing to distract from the real issue.

[slug]

The theme of the article has more to do with politics. The article itself is fairly substantive when compared to most articles on the subject. The aggregate OT dollars at 10.6% of payroll is near the standard cap of 11% where you would want to seriously evaluate staffing levels. Normally, on average benefits paid are about a third greater than salary. OT at 150% is greater than paying total compensation to another employee. However, hiring another employee has an economic benefit if the work going to OT is nearly the equivalent of full time work. Otherwise, it is smarter to pay the OT if someone is willing to work it. And that is another issue. Some of the OT amounts paid to individuals do not reflect that some are more willing to work OT than others, creating a wide disparity in OT hours between employees. Why is that not addressed? I know of several refineries in the area where OT hours for some employees reach seven hundred to a thousand hours a year. I know there are dock workers who work OT regularly, a six day work week or more. When these kinds of issues get politicized the ability to make good strategic decisions gets affected.

[CCC]

In industry, managers and professionals (e.g. engineers) are expected to work the needed extra hours and NOT be paid. You are paid a salary, not an hourly wage. The manager of 40 people should not be paid overtime for doing his normal job.

[Bad Mgmt]

This is exactly what's going on at LAX with the new director that previously signed ILLEGAL contracts with her favorite architecture firm. There is NO REGARD to costs. It's cronyism.

[Fire Supporter]

The article glossed over the fact that a lot of this OT is paid as a result of "Fee Waived" special events including the Marathon. How much OT did that event generate? What about the May Day demonstartions and the stupid Lakers parade? Seems like simple math, you plan an event then pay the costs incurred by the city to staff the event. If you can't afford the cost then don't do it. The Marathon rakes in millions each year. The Marathon staff makes huge salaries planning the race it is a private corporation. PAY UP!

[Marc]

Pay up and quit bitching about it. Why doesn't the Mayor take a pay cut if he's so worried about it. These city workers need the O/T just to make ends meet. I'm sure those Cops and Fireman would rather be at home with their families on weekends and holidays instead of working O/T, but they suck it up, to keep the City safe so you (general public) can enjoy your weekends with your familes!!! Compensate these men and women and quit blowing your Cities budget on special programs and free money and medical for illegals.

[Joe]

I am a military veteran and never received a dime in OT payments and would argue that all my extra time, and yes I worked a lot of it, directly impacted public safety. I was a security policeman for a fair amount of my time. Even at regular pay cops and firefighters make a heck of a lot more money. Why are we paying them overtime to begin with. They should be salaried employees and if the job requires it do their time. I am sure there are a lot of guys in Baghdad working a heckuva a lot more hours than our LA public servants.

[I wonder]

EOD wrote:

City workers are lazy, i see it all the time.
They work slow and stretch out the duration.
Same reason cops don't correct fix it tickets without collecting donut money.
Hey I know, I am an ex LAPD and have seen the BS these guys make. Another big OT draw is the Twin Towers in Downtown LA run by the Sheriffs.
These guys routinely talk about "stacking on the gravy" Dailybreeze...go talk to them.

I met a L.A.P.D detective from some close friends of mine about 6 years ago. He said he was so tired of cops hiding & sleeping in their cars until their shift was over. He was glad to retire soon.

[415 Man]

Joe wrote:

I am a military veteran and never received a dime in OT payments and would argue that all my extra time, and yes I worked a lot of it, directly impacted public safety. I was a security policeman for a fair amount of my time. Even at regular pay cops and firefighters make a heck of a lot more money. Why are we paying them overtime to begin with. They should be salaried employees and if the job requires it do their time. I am sure there are a lot of guys in Baghdad working a heckuva a lot more hours than our LA public servants.

Yeah Joe,
The military also provides you with living quarters, food, equipment, and vehicles along with your pay!
I am also a veteran and now an officer that is barely getting by to support a family and a roof over our head. We have to buy our own uniforms, equipment, dry cleaning, meals, etc.....

[Groper]

The transportation engineer makes me laugh. He claims to routinely get offers for double his salary. Assuming he is talking about his base salary and not including the $50,000 of overtime he received, he is apparently getting routine offers of $205,000 plus! With a Bachelor's Degree from USC? I don't think so, my friend. I am a senior engineer in the Aerospace industry and even I don't make that much. As a transportation engineer, you are not even close to drawing that kind of money.

[kmcleod]

Marc wrote:

Pay up and quit bitching about it. Why doesn't the Mayor take a pay cut if he's so worried about it. These city workers need the O/T just to make ends meet. I'm sure those Cops and Fireman would rather be at home with their families on weekends and holidays instead of working O/T, but they suck it up, to keep the City safe so you (general public) can enjoy your weekends with your familes!!! Compensate these men and women and quit blowing your Cities budget on special programs and free money and medical for illegals.

The O/T figures quoted in this article ranged from roughly an extra 20K a year to an extra 80K a year. If someone is getting 80k in overtime, that's hardly just enough to make ends meet. IF the city is spending this kind of money in truly NEEDED overtime, then it's way past time to add staff. End the civilian hiring freeze at the LAPD and get those officers out from behind desks. Hire another tree surgeon if your going to pay out 83 thousand in overtime. 83 thousand buys a lot more straight time. Laura Chick has already identified a lot of waste and lack of oversight all over the city- why aren't the Mayor and the Council doing as she says? Better yet, split the city into at least 5 smaller units and a lot of these problems will be much more easily solved

[Here We Go Again]

The City wont hire because they believe their saving money. The Mayor wont give up his pay because he doesn't feel like it. Every time there is a budget crunch, this same debate surfaces. The only reason there is so much screaming is because private sector employees believe that Civil Servant employees are somehow lower on the evolutionary totem pole than they are. Don't bet on it. We earn every dollar we make.

[works like a dog]

Did it ever occur to you that it is cheaper for the city to pay overtime than to hire new workers and pay their benefits and everything?

[works like a dog]

kmcleod wrote:

<quoted text>
The O/T figures quoted in this article ranged from roughly an extra 20K a year to an extra 80K a year. If someone is getting 80k in overtime, that's hardly just enough to make ends meet. IF the city is spending this kind of money in truly NEEDED overtime, then it's way past time to add staff. End the civilian hiring freeze at the LAPD and get those officers out from behind desks. Hire another tree surgeon if your going to pay out 83 thousand in overtime. 83 thousand buys a lot more straight time. Laura Chick has already identified a lot of waste and lack of oversight all over the city- why aren't the Mayor and the Council doing as she says? Better yet, split the city into at least 5 smaller units and a lot of these problems will be much more easily solved

They tried that, remember? The voters said NO!

[music]

Why did I just receive a larger black and green trash containers, the old ones were fine. Can this mean pick-up every two (2) weeks ? The money saved Here going to pay for something There ? There is Where ? And the trash fees continue to escalate.

[Ashley225]

Here We Go Again wrote:

The City wont hire because they believe their saving money. The Mayor wont give up his pay because he doesn't feel like it. Every time there is a budget crunch, this same debate surfaces. The only reason there is so much screaming is because private sector employees believe that Civil Servant employees are somehow lower on the evolutionary totem pole than they are. Don't bet on it. We earn every dollar we make.

Why people complain? because you are the same folks that put this mayor into this office! There!!

One person above made a comment from Rancho palos verdes that even with $80K,individual is just getting by? please! my husband lost his job and I am the only one working, making $65K a year. WE have a son in one of the best CA universities in this country, daughter in public school, we live very confortably, kids get what they need and so do we as parents. We still manage to save money It is called LIVING WITHIN YOUR MEANS!!!! We always lived on one income and saved the other and that is how we always managed. Just used may be 2% of my husbands salary for emergency. It is all how you manage your money....

[Pedrolady]

Not surprising. LAUSD payroll employees have doubled their yearly salary trying to fix the BTS foul up and Maintenance and Operations workers average 40 hours a month in OT as do all of the delivery drivers. And we wonder why our children are so shortchanged on their educations?

[CCC]

works like a dog wrote:

Did it ever occur to you that it is cheaper for the city to pay overtime than to hire new workers and pay their benefits and everything?

In most cases, the overtime rate is paid at 1 and 1/2 times the normal rate. Benefits are typically less than 50% of the pay. Therefore, hiring new workers instead of constantly paying overtime is actually cheaper. Also, new workers would probably start at lower pay rates than the current workers earn - again cheaper.

[Seriously]

Ashley225 wrote:

<quoted text>
Why people complain? because you are the same folks that put this mayor into this office! There!!
One person above made a comment from Rancho palos verdes that even with $80K,individual is just getting by? please! my husband lost his job and I am the only one working, making $65K a year. WE have a son in one of the best CA universities in this country, daughter in public school, we live very confortably, kids get what they need and so do we as parents. We still manage to save money It is called LIVING WITHIN YOUR MEANS!!!! We always lived on one income and saved the other and that is how we always managed. Just used may be 2% of my husbands salary for emergency. It is all how you manage your money....

NO, you need to read more carefully. I was responding to the person who said that the city workers needed the OT just so they could get by. I responded that an extra 80K a year is HARDLY just getting by