L.A. Controller’s audit reveals overtime pay abuse

Los Angeles City Controller Ron Galperin

Los Angeles City Controller Ron Galperin released an audit on Tuesday outlining excessive overtime use in the Department of Transportation. The controller’s office received an anonymous tip from its Fraud Waste & Abuse Hotline and was able to “identify four supervisors in the Traffic Paint and Sign Section who received at least $70,000 in overtime pay during FY 2013-14.” The findings also included a superintendent that received “$155,319 in overtime on top of his normal $78,000 yearly earnings—effectively tripling his salary.”

“This report should put everyone on notice,” said Controller Galperin. “We are watching overtime and we will not permit it to be abused.” The release continued:

[blockquote style=”3″]In FY 2013-14, 93% of Traffic Paint and Sign employees received overtime. Citywide, among full-time employees excluding LAPD, LAFD and DOT, the number was 49%.

Among the other findings:

• Super-human work schedules: One employee was paid for 261 hours during a two-week period. He claimed to work 10 18-hour days and 4 days of at least 16 hours.
• Doing the jobs of two full-timers: 30 out of 67 Traffic Paint and Sign employees, including supervisors, claimed more than 1,000 hours of overtime in FY 2013-14; seven of the 30 claimed to work at least 2,000 hours of overtime. (A full-time employee is paid for 2,080 hours per year. 2,000 hours of overtime in a year equates to, on average, working more than 38 hours of overtime every week of the year. An employee who does this is constantly working double shifts, doing the job of two full-timers.)
• The Tab: Traffic Paint and Sign employee overtime cost the City $3.3 million dollars in FY 2013-14. The average overtime pay for each Traffic Paint and Sign employee was $48,100, compared to $8,377 for other departments, excluding LAPD, LAFD and DOT. [/blockquote]