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Committee advances amendments imposing overtime cap, monthly reporting and department accountability
Summary
Deputy Controller Monique Muda described amendments that clarify a 30% overtime cap (cited as 624 hours/year), require monthly top-five department reports and biannual citywide reporting, and create a written waiver and department-head accountability mechanism; the committee advanced the item unanimously.
The Government Audit and Oversight Committee advanced proposed amendments to sections 18.13-1 and 18.13-5 of the Administrative Code designed to strengthen overtime oversight and reporting.
Monique Muda, deputy controller, told the committee the earlier ordinance limited overtime to no more than 30% of an employee's base salary or base hours, which the controller's office translates as a maximum of 624 overtime hours per year per employee. The controller's office now issues monthly reports identifying the top five departments by overtime use (consistently police, MTA, fire, sheriff and public health) and provides biannual reports on total city overtime.
Muda described administrative steps already taken: department heads receive flags when employees near the cap; Human Resources negotiates with unions so overtime assignments by seniority continue until the cap is reached; and a written waiver process allows department heads to justify overtime beyond the cap to the director of Human Resources, which has granted waivers in some cases (including deputy sheriffs, juvenile probation officers and certain investigators).
The proposed ordinance amendments collapse overlapping reporting sections and add language to require department heads who exceed the cap without a granted waiver to report to the Budget and Finance Committee to explain noncompliance. "These changes further refine the ordinance and provide more tools for us to control the use of overtime on a citywide basis," Muda said.
There was no public comment on this item. Supervisors moved and approved the recommendation by consensus; the committee advanced the item for Board consideration.
