Thanks to the Des Moines Register for its expose’ on Iowa state worker’s overtime pay. It appears very clear that much of the excessive overtime worked is during the last few years of employment before retirement for the purpose of “spiking” pension benefits. That is just plain wrong. The calculation already includes only pay during the last five years of employment – presumably the highest five years. So why should we add overtime pay on top of that? Overtime pay should especially be excluded from the pension benefit calculation since, as reported by the Register, overtime is offered first to those with the most seniority. This clearly creates a system that can be “gamed” by those who are close to retirement. We need to change the law to disallow the inclusion of overtime in the calculation of state worker’s pension benefit.
Link to Register articles:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012312090033&nclick_check=1
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012312090028&nclick_check=1
