Florida school district grapples with high overtime payouts

Despite a $171 million budget shortfall, the school district of Broward County, Florida, continues to pay employees with two jobs overtime at the hourly rate of their primary positions, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Although the Fair Labor Standards Act dictates that most school employees are eligible for the elevated overtime rate, there are exceptions. According to Gracie Diaz, associate superintendent of human resources for the district, approximately 6 percent of workers with second jobs could be paid the lower time and attendance rate.

District officials estimate that if the lower rate went into effect, it would save approximately $200,000 a year - the equivalent of five new teachers' salaries, the news source reports.

According to a recent audit, the county paid approximately $1.3 million in overtime over the past three months to nearly 7,000 employees who work a second job.

Earlier this year, the city of Kingston, New York, also grappled with overtime issues related to employees having multiple jobs. A detective who had a second job as a security guard for the local school district was found to have engaged in double-dipping on numerous occasions, according to the Times-Herald Record.