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The following article is provided by the Caesar Rodney Institute, a Delaware-based nonprofit 501(c)(3) public policy research organization.

It comes from a Policy Center Director who works to help Delawareans by providing fact-based analysis in four key areas:

education, energy and environmental policy, the economy and government spending, and health policy.

Fiscal Prisoners

The Caesar Rodney Institute has updated its Transparency Delaware website with state payroll and vendor data through 2010. A quick glance at the data shows that there will be a great deal to consider. Given the patterns uncovered by the Delaware News Journal in the past, CRI looked at “overtime” pay and “other” pay in the Delaware Department of Corrections in 2010. (“Other” pay includes more than 100 categories, the most important of which are holiday pay, shift differentials, call back pay, and sick day buyouts.)  While half of the DOC’s employees collected just their salary, 50% received overtime pay in 2010. Of those, 59 employees earned overtime that exceeded 100% of their salaries, plus considerable “other” pay. Among the most hardworking were:                                                 Salary             Overtime              Other             Total   Clark Jordon                       $ 31,403            $ 61,622               $ 5,053         $  98,079 David Lowery                      $ 40,553            $ 64,684               $ 3,120         $ 108,356 Thomas Romanowski         $ 37,115            $ 58,040               $ 5,053         $ 100,208 Louis Neal                            $ 37,337            $ 56,599               $ 5,053         $  98,890 Another 85 DOC employees earned overtime and other pay equal to 75% to 99% of their salaries, while 240 employees came in between 50% to 74%, 728 between 25% and 49%, and 889 from 10% to 24%. There could be many explanations for this unusual compensation pattern. Some employees may be working double shifts throughout the year. Overall, the DOC may be understaffed. Perhaps given the generous benefits paid to state employees (over 40% of salary), it saves money to work existing staff overtime. Regardless, the data begs for an explanation. Is there appropriate management oversight for overtime and other pay? Dr. John E. Stapleford, Director Center for Economic Policy and Research


 
 
 

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About the Caesar Rodney Institute
The Caesar Rodney Institute (CRI) is a Delaware-based, nonprofit 501(c)(3) research organization. As a nonpartisan public policy think tank, CRI provides fact-based analysis in four key areas: education, energy and environmental policy, the economy and government spending, and health policy.

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Our mission is to educate and inform Delawareans-including citizens, legislators, and community leaders-on issues that affect quality of life and opportunity.

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