Jailers split up $5M by snatching OT shifts

The Boston Herald reports:

Dozens of Suffolk jailhouse workers have locked up hefty $100,000-plus salaries in an astonishing overtime feeding frenzy - taxpayer dough that’s there for the taking because of chronic short-staffing, a Herald review shows.

Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea Cabral blames underfunding and short-staffing for forcing her to pay out millions to jailers, including some with checkered pasts.

“We’re always trying to keep overtime down as low as possible, but the fact is that between people who are out sick, people on vacation and attrition, overtime is a fact of life in a correctional institution that runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” said Cabral, whose department paid out about $5.6 million in overtime last year.

Eight Suffolk Sheriff employees have base salaries of $100,000 or more, but once overtime and other pay is factored in, 46 of the roughly 1,150 employees earned six figures, according to a Herald review of payroll records.

Government workers sure are special.