Department of Environmental Conservation

Selected Practices Regarding Payroll Overtime

During the year we audited, the Department of Environmental Conservation spent about $7.3 million for 207,000 hours of overtime. We audited a sample of overtime payments to 50 selected employees. We found that, for about 30 percent of the payments in our sample, the Department could not provide documentation showing the overtime was approved at the time it was worked. However, we determined that the overtime that was documented was consistent with the Department’s necessary uses of overtime, and we verified that the employees who were scheduled to work overtime were present. We recommended that certain steps be taken by the Department to strengthen its controls over overtime.

For a complete copy of Report 2007-S-64 click here.