City of Calgary overtime practices under fire following CFO report

An unnamed metropolis worker successful Calgary 911 has worked a batch of overtime, according to documents made nationalist Thursday.

Following an administrative petition from councillors Jeromy Farkas and Sean Chu successful April, CFO Carla Male submitted a study connected overtime from the past 4 years for Monday’s metropolis assembly meeting.

In 2 consequent years, much than $100,000 successful overtime was paid retired to a metropolis worker. The study was unclear whether it was the aforesaid idiosyncratic oregon conscionable wrong a fixed concern unit.

According to the data, the metropolis paid an mean of $30.1 cardinal successful overtime betwixt 2017 and 2020 to an mean of 8,227 metropolis employees. Calgary Police Service paid an mean of $13.6 cardinal to an mean of 2,154 CPS employees implicit the aforesaid clip period.

In her report, Male said the four-year mean represents conscionable much than 2 per cent of the city’s wage and wage expenses, and 1 per cent of the city’s full yearly expenditures.

2018 marked a precocious constituent successful the fig and magnitude of overtime paid out, with $33.2 cardinal going to 8,538 metropolis employees.

Male noted that precise fewer employees person precocious overtime payouts, with metropolis concern areas with much volatile work requirements from the assemblage and needing uninterrupted enactment mostly resulting successful overtime payouts.

“Approximately 95 per cent of employees received little than $10,000 and 98.5 per cent of employees received little than $20,000 successful overtime annually,” the city’s CFO wrote.

But it was successful 2019 that the highest azygous payout of overtime was made: $111,539.55 was paid to an unnamed worker astatine Calgary 911, successful the Community Standards department. In 2018, $100,319.65 was the next-highest overtime payout, again to an idiosyncratic successful Calgary 911.

Both Male and Community Standards GM Katie Black declined an interrogation with Global News, alternatively waiting to marque their comments astatine Monday’s assembly meeting.

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On Thursday, Ward 11 Coun. Jeromy Farkas said determination person ever been questions astir overtime astatine the city.

“But nary one’s really gone down and tally the numbers.”

Farkas recognized that overtime has its spot successful immoderate organization, but called the numbers “just ridiculous.”

“It’s atrocious for taxpayers, but it’s besides atrocious for the employees themselves due to the fact that they’re not decently staffing immoderate areas of the metropolis and it could perchance pb to burnout,” the ward 11 typical said.

“I would reason if you’re astatine $110,000 an all-time overtime payments for a fixed year, you’re astir apt not putting successful your champion enactment either.”

On Thursday, Nenshi said the six-digit overtime payouts to Calgary 911 “raised my eyebrows a small bit.” But helium said the remainder of the information looked mean fixed the city’s 15,000-person workforce, “a comparatively tiny percent of employees who request to instrumentality overtime.”

“Management-exempt employees had to bash a batch of OT during COVID-19 — we laid disconnected a batch of people, that made consciousness to me,” Nenshi said.

The politician said the oversized amounts should beryllium looked into by metropolis officials.

Farkas wants an autarkic reappraisal of the city’s overtime argumentation and to people a alleged “sunshine list” for overtime.

“Having nationalist disclosure of payouts similar this connected a regular ground could assistance spot discarded and inefficiencies,” helium said. “And I’d besides beryllium pushing for things similar a headdress connected overtime payments to not person specified runaway compensation hap for aboriginal years.”
Response Administrative Inquiry – Overtime Costs