NEW YORK—State employees working at two different state agencies have been getting extra pay by double reporting the same hours. An audit by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli released Dec. 19 found they were able to take advantage of a gap in agencies’ payrolls not being cross checked.
State workers took advantage of sick leave to log hours at their other state employer as well as falsifying timesheets, and not properly reporting travel time.
The audit reviewed 345 employees at six state agencies who held two jobs with the state. Auditors found 75 employees regularly misreported hours worked totaling 4,803. The cost to was $413,277.
“This is costing taxpayers too much and could jeopardize public safety. It has got to stop.” DiNapoli said in a press release referring to 16 MTA transit workers found violating time limits for consecutive hours in a 24 hour period.
“The executive should address this issue with all state agencies,” said DiNapoli.
Of the 75 employees found misreporting, 69 fraudulently claimed to have worked a total of 3,536 hours at two jobs at the same time. 16 recieved 511 hours of sick leave at one job, even though they were working at a second job.
The issue was found to be most common at colleges, prisons, health facilities and the courts.
75 State Employees Found Double Reporting Hours
12/20/2013
Updated: 7/18/2015
