Tag: MTA

The heightened focus on overtime follows a report by the Empire Center for Public Policy, a fiscally conservative, nonprofit think tank based in Albany, that revealed six of the top 10 earners at the MTA last year were LIRR laborers, whose senior status allowed them to significantly increase their take-home pay by piling on overtime. The MTA's highest-paid employee last year, LIRR chief measurement officer Thomas Caputo, made $344,147 in overtime on top of his base salary of $117,499, according to the report. Read More

The MTA's accountability and time management issues differ with each branch. At New York City Transit, there are questions about whether all employees work their full shifts. Because of the size of those operations, that's where more taxpayer and rider dollars are. At the LIRR, which is governed by the Federal Railway Labor Act, a lack of modern record keeping allows overtime abuses. A report by the Empire Center watchdog organization showed some stunning examples. Read More

The source, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, said federal prosecutors requested "payroll and other records" for the workers about two and a half weeks ago, shortly after the release of an Empire Center for Public Policy report detailing the authority's payroll in 2018. Read More

The revelation that a 33-year Long Island Rail Road track worker with a $54,989 base salary raked in $311,162 last year, outrageous as it was, came as no surprise. Every year veteran Metropolitan Transportation Authority employees cash in massively on overtime. Every year the abuse is flagged by salary-data hounds at the Empire Center for New York State Policy. Every year the media publishes the story. And every year the MTA pledges to act but does nothing. At the LIRR, overtime costs rose more than 50% in the past four years. Read More

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