Despite adding more than 5,000 employees in the past year, New York State agencies logged record overtime in 2024—driving total overtime costs up 10.2 percent to $1.3 billion, according to a new report from the Office of the State Comptroller.
The findings show that overtime earnings now make up 6.3 percent of total payroll spending, up from a 5.4 percent average over the prior nine years.
Agencies racked up 24.5 million hours of overtime in 2024, a 7.8 percent increase over the previous year. The data indicates that the rise in staff—up 3.7 percent to 151,309 full- and part-time employees—has not eased the burden of overtime.
Three agencies dominated overtime use. The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, the Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD), and the Office of Mental Health accounted for just 23 percent of the workforce but consumed 66.7 percent of all overtime hours and 64.5 percent of related earnings.
Corrections led all agencies with $444.7 million in overtime spending, up 26 percent from the year before, and 7.4 million overtime hours—an increase of 1.3 million hours in one year. Meanwhile, the agency’s workforce shrank by more than 1,000 employees. The average corrections worker logged 325 overtime hours in 2024, more than double the figure in 2020.
“The significant growth occurred while the agency experienced a 22.7 percent reduction in workforce size since 2015,” the report states.
Mental Health and OPWDD followed, reporting 3.5 million and 5.4 million overtime hours, respectively. But unlike Corrections, both agencies posted slight decreases in average overtime per employee.
Most major state agencies recorded increased overtime. The Department of Transportation logged 1.67 million hours, up nearly 17 percent. The State University of New York rose to 2.12 million hours, and the State Police added 190,000 hours, pushing their total past 1.2 million.
Veterans’ Homes and the Department of Labor had some of the most dramatic percentage jumps, with overtime hours growing 30.7 percent and 435 percent respectively.
Still, not all agencies followed the trend. OPWDD and the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance both saw notable declines in overtime hours, dropping 10.8 percent and 44.4 percent, respectively.
The average state employee who worked overtime in 2024 earned $1,021 for 18.9 hours of extra work per pay period. Pay per overtime hour statewide averaged $54.14, with the State Police topping all agencies at $86.50 per hour.
Despite the rise in overtime, 2023 marked a turnaround in workforce trends. That year saw 17,504 new hires—the most in a decade—outpacing attrition for the first time since 2009. Hiring remained strong in 2024, helping reverse a workforce decline that began in 2015. However, headcounts at agencies like Corrections, Taxation and Finance, and Veterans’ Homes remain far below their former levels.
Looking ahead, the state projects further staffing increases through March 2026, including thousands of new hires in Corrections, Mental Health, and the State Police. But until those goals are met, overtime use appears likely to remain a fixture.
FingerLakes1.com is the region’s leading all-digital news publication. The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades. Have a lead? Send it to [email protected].