County To Hire More, Save Overtime
Seeking to cut surging overtime expenses at the Salem County NJ Correctional Facility, officials have announced they will be hiring 21 new officers by the end of 2010. Story from NJ.Com.
An effort to reverse a trend that saw $2.8 million spent in overtime pay last year, up from $2.64 million in 2007, the measure is being called the first major step in reducing not only the stress on employees, but on the taxpayers as well. In a joint statement from Salem County Sheriff Chuck Miller and Freeholder David Lindenmuth, chair of the county Public Safety Committee, they introduced a plan to take on 14 recruits this year and seven more by the following December. “Public safety is paramount and we aim to reduce the cost to the taxpayer without compromising safety,” said Miller. “Right now we have no relief built in. When someone takes off, it is going straight to overtime.”
Overall the county’s various departments and agencies doled out approximately $4.4 million to many of its estimated 480 employees last year, for working a total of 125,855 hours past their normal shifts. Jail staff accounted for 74,595 of those extra hours.
Warden Ray Skradzinski said the starting salary for the 21 new officers will be an estimated $31,000 annually. He said the jail’s current 100 officers take 12-hour shifts, though right now routinely work up to 16 hours. “Certainly cutting back on overtime will affect some of their earning potential,” Skradzinski said. “When it comes down to the morale and the fatigue … it’s a balance from an administrative point of view we have to take.”
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