Onondaga County wants to get rid of a rule that lets certain sheriff’s deputies get the bulk of overtime at the Onondaga County Justice Center.
Officials stress the guards at the jail aren’t doing anything wrong. But some can double or triple their pay by signing up for overtime. The way they do that is through a rule County Executive Ryan McMahon called archaic.
“You see a situation where a few deputies work overtime,” McMahon said. “The few that do make a lot of money, the ones that don’t, have the ability to opt out of it, which is not a good practice in any sort of department. It ties the manager’s hands. We’re looking to negotiate that away. It provides a safety issue for the employees when you only have so many deputies working overtime.”
McMahon is in the midst of negotiations with the union representing these employees, and he said these talks will be a good place to try to get rid of the provision.
