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Press Releases: Controller Brady Finds Unauthorized Overtime Costs at Least $2.2M

City Controller’s Annual Departmental Audit includes prior-year overtime not properly approved

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 29, 2025 

PHILADELPHIA – City Controller Christy Brady today released the Annual Auditor’s Report on Philadelphia City Departments that identified unauthorized overtime was paid to employees across several departments in Fiscal Year 2023. The overtime costs associated with the employees totaled more than $2.2 million for the year. 

Based on a sampling of payroll reports, 39 employees across eight city departments were found to have logged overtime that was not properly authorized. Management is required to approve the requests prior to employees working overtime. The identified departments could not provide approved overtime authorization forms for any of the instances that were sampled.    

“Allowing employees to work overtime on a discretionary basis may result in the expenditure of unnecessary payroll dollars,” said City Controller Christy Brady. “We understand departments may require employees to work overtime to provide essential city services. It is imperative for management and leadership to pay close attention to their budgets and follow all payroll approval guidelines.” 

“It is incumbent upon the city to use taxpayer dollars in the most efficient and appropriate ways.” 

A breakdown of total annual overtime payments and employees by department includes: 

City Department Total FY23 OT Spending on Employees in Sample # of Employees  
Philadelphia Prison System $695,997 
Department of Streets $377,877 
Office of Innovation and Technology $286,757 
Philadelphia Water Department $280,551 10 
Department of Human Services and Office of Children and Families $275,155 
Office of the Sheriff  $185,182 
The Free Library of Philadelphia $97,465 
Office of Homeless Services $44,160 
Total $2,243,144 39 

Along with unauthorized overtime, the City Controller’s audit found six departments that had inadequate documentation for employees’ paid leave, including the Water Department. It was the sixth consecutive year the audit finding was reported for this department. 

For eight out of 15 sampled civil service employees, the department could not provide formal pre-approved leave requests for 15 of the 42 dates selected for testing.   

“Failure to obtain formal leave requests may result in misclassified leave balances and increases the chance of erroneously failing to recognize leave time taken,” said Controller Brady.  

According to Controller Brady, city departments must require employees to formally submit leave request forms for supervisory review and approval in accordance with standard accounting procedures of the city’s Finance Office. 

The latest Annual Auditor’s Report covers a period under the prior Mayoral Administration. 

Visit https://controller.phila.gov/ to view all the findings and recommendations of the City Controller’s latest report. 

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