Ohio transportation workers paid $4.6M in OT

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

The season’s severe weather has resulted in overtime totaling more than $4.6 million for state transportation workers.

A Columbus Dispatch computer analysis of state payroll data released Friday found that overtime at the Ohio Department of Transportation accounted for most of a 6 percent jump statewide in overtime payments at state agencies other than universities last year. Payments were up more than 50 percent over 2012.

Spokesman Steve Faulkner said the extra hours were primarily for highway crews tackling harsh weather that began in mid-October. He said crews often working 12-hour shifts.

Other notable overtime increases occurred at the Department of Developmental Disabilities and at Attorney General Mike DeWine’s office.

In all, the state payroll decreased by about 1 percent last year, after a nearly 3 percent drop in 2012.