The Connecticut Capitol building in Hartford. Credit: Hugh McQuaid / CTNewsJunkie
The state of Connecticut paid nearly $266 million in overtime compensation to its public employees last fiscal year, according to a report by the Bureau of Fiscal Analysis that found the Department of Corrections was the leader in overtime payments.
Overall, overtime costs at executive branch agencies grew 10.9% last year, the 4th quarter overtime report Found.
Five state agencies (the Departments of Corrections, Mental Health and Addiction Services, Developmental Services, Emergency and Public Protection Services, and Children and Families) accounted for more than 92% of state employee overtime pay in last two years
Notably, the report did not include overtime paid to employees at the University of Connecticut, which does not always use the same payroll software as most other agencies.
The increase in overtime costs comes as the state government works to fill nearly 7,000 vacant positions in executive branch agencies by the end of June. In a statement, Lora Rae Anderson, spokeswoman for the governor’s office and the Department of Administrative Services, said the state continued to see strong hiring numbers and had the highest number of employees since 2016.
“We continue to focus on hiring for high-need jobs, especially direct care,” Anderson said. “This is truly an interagency effort that utilizes new technology and longstanding community relationships. The state is an incredibly impactful and mission-driven workplace, and we look forward to onboarding more employees soon.”
The Department of Corrections paid more in overtime compensation than any other agency. During FY ’22, DOC workers earned more than $94.3 million in overtime, a 2.9% increase over the previous fiscal year.
The state’s prison system employed 5,032 people at the time of the report, making it the largest state agency not part of the public system of higher education. Although Connecticut’s public sector has seen increased turnover as a result of increased retirements ahead of benefit changes that took effect in July, DOC ratings remained roughly flat during the two-year period. The agency employed 4,999 people in FY21, according to the OFA report.
However, there were roughly 600 vacancies in the department as of the end of June, and DOC and other agency employees have complained of an increasing reliance on mandatory overtime shifts that result in 16-hour workdays.
Meanwhile, the population of incarcerated people has grown significantly over the past year. As of July 2021, there were 9,060 men and women in the custody of the Department of Corrections. This July, there were 10,000.
This increase in the supervised population has been accompanied by an increase in the number of assaults on staff. According to statistics compiled by the agency’s Operations Division, there have been 51 assaults on personnel in the last quarter, a 27.5% increase over the previous quarter.
Meanwhile, incarcerated people have been assaulting each other in increasing numbers. There were 95 assaults on inmates in the last quarter, 21.8% more than the previous quarter.
In response to questions about a recent fight at the Corrigan Correctional Center, Gov. Ned Lamont said the department needed more officers on the payroll.
“First of all, what we need is more corrections officers,” Lamont said Tuesday. “We’ve hired about 100 new corrections officers in the past few months and will be hiring 100 more in the coming months.”
The next leading agency in overtime payments was the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, where the state paid $53.6 million in the last fiscal year. The figure represents a growth of 5.3% overtime.
Last year, DMHAS saw its total workforce increase by 202 employees to 2,518 employees. However, it had more than 800 vacancies at the end of June.
Last month, a group of unionized agency employees demonstrated outside DMHAS headquarters in Hartford, saying current staffing levels had proven inadequate to handle a high need for addiction and mental health treatment after the pandemic. Workers said staff vacancies had led to mandatory overtime shifts and caused providers to turn away customers who needed it.
In addition to DOC and DMHAS, the Department of Developmental Services paid $42.9 million in overtime compensation, the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection paid $37.9 million, and the Department of Children and Families paid $17.6 million in overtime. All three figures represent growth over the previous fiscal year.