Summary

This audit report is the second in a series of reports to be issued on audits conducted pursuant to Chapter 2001-253, Laws of Florida, Specific Appropriation 118, and Section 11.45, Florida Statutes. Additional reports will be issued as audit fieldwork is completed in areas selected by the Auditor General for audit.

Overtime payments made to employees for work in excess of the regular 40-hour work week have increased approximately 70 percent from the 1998-99 fiscal year to the 2000-2001 fiscal year. We noted that 564 employees were paid $10,000 or more for overtime during the 2000-2001 fiscal year. The extensive and continued use of overtime which is paid at a one and one-half time basis has a negative effect on District operations in that overall salary costs increase significantly without a corresponding increase in the number of hours actually spent on operations.

Recommendation No. 1: We recommend that District management perform a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis to study alternatives to overtime in the areas for which large amounts of overtime are paid. This study should include current staffing levels, personnel utilization, and the feasibility of using part-time employment, rotating shifts, and outsourcing. For work generally required to be performed after the regular work day, part-time employment, rotating shifts, and outsourcing could result in substantial savings.

Recommendation No. 2: We recommend that the District strengthen its overtime monitoring procedures to include:

Lowering the threshold at which management is informed of the amounts of overtime recorded for the purpose of follow-up with the work location administrator.

Improving the quarterly overtime reports to include more detailed information, such as the overtime patterns of specific departments and employees.

Based on reports of overtime recorded and paid in the individual departments, periodically evaluating the reasonableness of staffing and personnel utilization.

Increasing the involvement of the Office of Management and Compliance Audits to include focus audits of overtime for departments with substantial amounts of overtime-related expenditures.

The Superintendent's written response to the audit findings can be viewed in its entirety on the Auditor General's web site.