State Agencies Reduce Overtime Costs by 22 Percent in 2012

Press Release

The Department of Administration (DOA) recently released overtime data compiled for calendar year 2012, which shows there was an overall reduction of 22 percent in overtime costs across all state agencies.

Along with the release of the overtime data, Governor Walker released the following statement:

2012 was the first full year that state government operated under the reforms contained in Act 10. These structural reforms saved taxpayers more than a billion dollars, including millions of dollars in state employee overtime.

Because of the difficult choices and long-term structural reforms we made in past, Wisconsin now has a surplus. The reduction in overtime costs improves our outlook for the 2013-15 budget, which is working its way through the Legislature.

I will continue to look for ways to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in government as we work to make our state operate as efficiently and effectively as possible. These savings were achieved because of strong leadership and effective management at each agency.

Below are a few highlights of the information recently released from DOA:

- Overtime across all state agencies fell from $63.1 million in calendar year 2011 to $49.4 million in 2012, which represents a reduction of 22 percent;
- Total overtime in the Department of Corrections fell from $37.7 million in 2011 to $29.1 million in 2012, which represents a reduction of 23 percent;
- Total overtime in the Department of Health Services fell from $8.9 million in 2011 to $7.6 million in 2012, which represents a reduction of 15 percent; and,
- Total overtime in the Department of Department of Transportation fell from $5.7 million in 2011 to $4.1 million in 2012, which represents a reduction of 28 percent.

Additional overtime information is available upon request from DOA.

Source