Warden’s Overtime Reduction Plan Backfires

by David Reutter

Pennsylvania’s Monroe County Correctional Facility (MCCF) has been financially burdened in recent years by overtime pay to guards. To reduce that drain on resources, MCCF’s warden entered negotiations with the guards’ union with a plan to reduce overtime. That plan, however, has backfired.

Overtime at MCCF cost taxpayers $1.1 million in 2011. One guard earned $48,000 in overtime that year, and two other guards doubled their salary with overtime. As MCCF’s staff is usually too small to accommodate unanticipated absences, guards would voluntarily sign up for overtime. But, some of these volunteer guards failed to show up for those shifts.

“Prior to this current (labor) contract, which went into effect January 2012, there was nothing in place to make officers think twice about singing up for overtime and then deciding they did not want to work it, “ said MCCF Warden Donna Asure.

“During (contract) negotiations, I brought my concerns to the table, as there were no ramifications to the officers who signed up for overtime and then call out,” said Asure. “We discussed many options and the union finally agreed that if an officer called off for an overtime shift they’d have to use their benefit time (i.e. sick time) to cover their callout.

But, the warden’s plan to hold guards accountable, turned out to be a loophole that resulted in guards signing up for overtime and receiving overtime pay for the sick time when they called out.

“It was the Warden’s mandate that officers be held accountable when they called in sick, not realizing that she’d be implementing something that would benefit the officers,” said guard and union representative Vince Cardenas. “That was her mistake.”

“I believe when she went back to the union after realizing her mistake, the union said basically ‘you give us something and we’ll give you something.’ She refused,” he said.

Through the end of August 2013, overtime costs increased by $72,300 or 16%. County Commissioners who budgeted $650,000 for 2013 MCCF overtime, now face a 70% increase with costs expected to run as high as $1.1 million for overtime.

The county just graduated a class of guards, which it hopes will raise staff levels high enough to eliminate some of the forced overtime.

Source: correctionsone.com