ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) — The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision extended its overtime rate of 2.5 times regular pay until May 9. The extension comes as DOCCS works to recover, recruit, and rebuild after the correction officers’ strike in March.

Governor Kathy Hochul and Commissioner Michael Martuscello approved the overtime boost in a statement released on Monday. “We are thankful to all DOCCS staff that continue to work under these challenging circumstances as they safeguard and secure our correctional facilities, and help make their neighboring communities safer,” the statement said.

The measure applies to employees working scheduled or unscheduled overtime. According to the statement from DOCCS, they’re working with unions—like the Civil Service Employees Association, the Public Employees Federation, and the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association—to finalize an agreement for the extended overtime period.

The higher overtime rate originally took effect on March 9, during the strike that state officials have called illegal, and was set to expire on April 9.

Data released in an April 4 press release by the Empire Center for Public Policy, an Albany-based independent think tank, added context to current state overtime pay rates. They reported that 23 state employees earned over $200,000 each in overtime during a period before the illegal strikes and the firing of more than 2,000 correction officers. Nineteen of those 23 were DOCCS employees.

The Empire Center’s payroll data on See Through NY showed that 610 state employees collected six-figure overtime pay in 2024, up from 439 in 2023. More than half of these—332—worked for DOCCS, almost doubling last year’s 173. The top overtime earner was Jeffrey Rorick, a corrections lieutenant at Five Points Correctional Facility, who earned $277,549 in overtime for a total pay of $405,424.

The center said that overtime pay surged 11%, up from $1.21 billion in 2023 to $1.35 billion in 2024. And state payroll data showed that, overall, payroll increased from $19.4 billion to $21.0 billion, an 8% rise. Average salaries reached $71,288 across 294,131 state employees. The Empire Center data didn’t incorporate state benefits or employer payroll taxes.

The Empire Center has aggregated searchable payroll and pension data for state and local governments and school districts since the second Bush Administration. Their 2024 updates rolled out in March, detailing local government payrolls for New York outside of New York City.

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