TOIL and trouble

It sounds staggering - in 2009 the provincial government paid out $21 million in overtime. It also recorded another $10.91 worth of Time Off In Lieu (TOIL).
According to the latest Auditor General's report, since the last review of overtime in 2001, the cost of overtime has increased by 55 per cent since then, from $13.5 million in 2001 to $20.9 million last year.
This is in spite of 42 recommendations made by a committee appointed by government in 2001 to suggest ways to curb overtime.
Considering that the AG report did not even include overtime data from the health or education departments, the total overtime bill for taxpayers is reaching astronomical proportions.
And within the Auditor General's report are examples of how completely out of whack the overtime system has come to be, to the point where some employees actually made more from overtime pay than they earned in regular salary.
One employee at the province's Legislature had accumulated TOIL Of $210,000 at March 31, 2009, built up in the three years previous. The employees annual salary was $96,000; the accumulated TOIL equal to more than double their annual salary.
The Department of Transportation and Works recorded the highest amount of paid overtime - with $22 million in overtime, compared to $16.5 million for Justice, $4.2 million for Natural Resources and $16.4 million for all other government departments (excluding health and education).
The Auditor General, after reviewing the overtime data, had four key recommendations for government.
John Noseworthy's office says the province should implement an information system to adequately track all overtime costs; review overtime incurred to see if it's reasonable and to determine whether changes can be made to reduce overtime; and consider implementing a policy which requires employees to either use or be paid for TOIL within a specific period of time.
What's not clear in John Noseworthy's report, however, is how the use of sick leave contributes to overtime. Since the AG's report was released there have been anecdotal reports of how some employees have developed a system where one person calls in sick so a co-worker can collect a little extra pay through overtime.
There's no doubt this scenario, under the "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" deal, has come into play on more than one occasion among the civil service.
That's not to say none of the overtime pay was justified.
Because the other thing the AGs report didn't mention was how shortage of staff in specific government departments created the necessity for overtime. There's no doubt that has also happened on more than one occasion.
The AG report also begs another question. Is overtime caused just as much by inefficient work systems as it is by shortage of staff or unwarranted sick leave? Where are the checks and balances, the operational reviews, to ensure the work that has to get done is being done as quickly and efficiently as possible?
How much of the overtime being logged is happening because work that could have and should have been done during regular hours, just didn't get done.
And with respect to the advice government has sought out, and recommendations it has been handed, to reduce overtime costs, we wonder as well if there is any thought being given to the idea of contracting out more government services.
There are many Newfoundland and Labrador businesses and entrepreneurs who are qualified and would be only too willing to agree to a set fee to do government work.
Everything from clerical work, to data management, to financial services, statistical analysis, engineering, economic and political research, even speechwriting, can, and is, being done by entrepreneurs and businesses throughout the province, across the country and around the world. Governments across Canada - from provincial to municipal - are constantly outsourcing projects and work, allowing them to keep a better handle on budgets and rein in costs.
So, aside from the recommendations already made by the Auditor General, the singular most effective way for the provincial government to reduce its overtime costs might be to have it done by the private sector.

Barbara Dean-Simmons, The Packet