Disgruntled Taxpayer I
03-24-2005, 09:16 PM
Perhaps, the greatest blunder of Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi and his management is the failure to come up with an adequate return to work policy for allegedly disabled corrections officers. Corrections work is tough work. Under GML-207(c), the Correction Officer who is injured in the line of duty is given full pay to remain out of work. Since this compensation is seen as a benefit, it is untaxed, thus the Officers get paid more money sick, than when working, and can even file for SSD as well.
Thus, the County pays for these workers through the hidden cost of having officers who get paid full salaries without working, as well as having to pay heavy overtime to officers who need to work hard to replace their ill colleagues. The recent Controller's Audit took a myopic view of the actual losses to the County caused by the neanderthal, incompetent, and inhumane return to work policies confronted by correction officers. Weitzman's juvenile analysis is a start towards reform, but he appears clueless.
Corrections work is tough. Officers are routinely assaulted by inmates, and are not permitted to fight back, especially in light of the civil rights law suits that inmates love to file against the officers. Officers are attacked with HIV infected needles. Some inmates spit at officers, stab them with home-made weapons, and even throw feces at them. Frankly, it is hard to blame the rank in file CO for not wanting to get back immediately to a job where their lives are threatened on a daily basis.
Perhaps, the most unkind cut of all is the threat posed to the Corrections Officers by County Attorney Goodman. Every CO in Nassau County should read an Article written by Steve Dunleavy in the Post which describes how Lorna Goodman tried to throw Corrections Officer Jermone Shipman under the bus when she worked in the Corporation Counsels Office. Mr. Shipman had retained a terrible inmate named Ronald Mask, and used force to do so. Mask was a piece of human manure who was serving forty years for slicing up people's faces with razor blades. Ms. Goodman's Corp Counsel's Office paid Mr. Mask a fat $83,000 settlement, and Ms. Goodman accused Officer Shipman of "using execessive force" and violating "Ronald Mask's Constitutional Rights."
To add insult to injury, it appears that Ms. Goodman's selection to run the Workers Compensation Bureau, a lifetime kiddie prosecutor named Peter Reinharz, failed to offer the Jail appropriate legal and policy advice on how to do effective claims and risk management. A recent Newsday article points out that the jail performed no Independent Medical Examinations of Corrections Officers to facilitate their return to work. This is terrible. The recent audit of the Workers Compensation function by Comptroller Hevesi demonstrates just what a terrible job Suozzi's County Attorneys' Office is doing. The County Attorney's office, along with the Human Resources Department, the Corrections Officers Union, and perhaps the County's lobbyist in Albany, should also be working on some form of incentive based compensation which could reward CO's with good attendence, so that there is an incentive to actually go to work.
But Don't believe me. Read today's Newsday Article on the subject:
Audit: Jail failed to manage disability leave abuse
From Newsday.com
March 24, 2005, 12:22 PM EST
The Nassau County Sheriff's Department failed to adequately monitor disability leave, which led to abuse of that leave by some corrections officers at the county jail, even after a similar report in 1998, an audit said on Thursday.
The audit said 23 officers at the Nassau County jail had been on the disabled list for between two and eight years as of February 2004. In many cases, the officers were on disability leave despite a lack of independent medical confirmation of their conditions, the audit continued.
The audit, which covers the years 2002-2004, is a follow-up to a 1998 report that also found weak oversight of disability leave.
"Either the jail did not properly evaluate whether the officers were entitled to this benefit, or it did not have appropriate tools in place to lower the risk of work-related injuries," Nassau County Comptroller Howard S. Weitzman said in a news release.
Under New York law, municipalities are required to pay so-called Section 207-c benefits, which include full wages and all medical and hospital expenses, to corrections officers who are hurt or become ill on the job.
The audit said the sheriff's department in February 2004 began to implement reforms to the benefit program, which it says resulted in 41 corrections officers returning to work from disability leave. Previous to those reforms, the department failed to adequately document the medical basis for granting the benefits, the audit said. It also said the department failed to send employees to independent doctors to determine if they were able to return to work.
In one example, the audit said no independent medical exams were scheduled or conducted for 17 of 23 officers who claimed to be too disabled to work in 2003.
In another case, the audit found that a maintenance supervisor claimed to be injured in 2000 when an inmate opened a door unexpectedly that he was about to enter. His claim was initially denied, then granted but auditors found no documentation explaining the reason for the reversal or who approved it. That employee was placed on a 30-day disabled list in March 2003 and has yet to return to work, the audit said.
Work-related disability leave cost the county about $3.8 million in 2002 and $3.4 million in 2003 in salary payments, according to department estimates.
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Audit: Jail failed to manage disability leave abuse
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From Newsday.com
March 24, 2005, 12:22 PM EST
The Nassau County Sheriff's Department failed to adequately monitor disability leave, which led to abuse of that leave by some corrections officers at the county jail, even after a similar report in 1998, an audit said on Thursday.
The audit said 23 officers at the Nassau County jail had been on the disabled list for between two and eight years as of February 2004. In many cases, the officers were on disability leave despite a lack of independent medical confirmation of their conditions, the audit continued.
The audit, which covers the years 2002-2004, is a follow-up to a 1998 report that also found weak oversight of disability leave.
"Either the jail did not properly evaluate whether the officers were entitled to this benefit, or it did not have appropriate tools in place to lower the risk of work-related injuries," Nassau County Comptroller Howard S. Weitzman said in a news release.
Under New York law, municipalities are required to pay so-called Section 207-c benefits, which include full wages and all medical and hospital expenses, to corrections officers who are hurt or become ill on the job.
The audit said the sheriff's department in February 2004 began to implement reforms to the benefit program, which it says resulted in 41 corrections officers returning to work from disability leave. Previous to those reforms, the department failed to adequately document the medical basis for granting the benefits, the audit said. It also said the department failed to send employees to independent doctors to determine if they were able to return to work.
In one example, the audit said no independent medical exams were scheduled or conducted for 17 of 23 officers who claimed to be too disabled to work in 2003.
In another case, the audit found that a maintenance supervisor claimed to be injured in 2000 when an inmate opened a door unexpectedly that he was about to enter. His claim was initially denied, then granted but auditors found no documentation explaining the reason for the reversal or who approved it. That employee was placed on a 30-day disabled list in March 2003 and has yet to return to work, the audit said.
Work-related disability leave cost the county about $3.8 million in 2002 and $3.4 million in 2003 in salary payments, according to department estimates.
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Thus, the County pays for these workers through the hidden cost of having officers who get paid full salaries without working, as well as having to pay heavy overtime to officers who need to work hard to replace their ill colleagues. The recent Controller's Audit took a myopic view of the actual losses to the County caused by the neanderthal, incompetent, and inhumane return to work policies confronted by correction officers. Weitzman's juvenile analysis is a start towards reform, but he appears clueless.
Corrections work is tough. Officers are routinely assaulted by inmates, and are not permitted to fight back, especially in light of the civil rights law suits that inmates love to file against the officers. Officers are attacked with HIV infected needles. Some inmates spit at officers, stab them with home-made weapons, and even throw feces at them. Frankly, it is hard to blame the rank in file CO for not wanting to get back immediately to a job where their lives are threatened on a daily basis.
Perhaps, the most unkind cut of all is the threat posed to the Corrections Officers by County Attorney Goodman. Every CO in Nassau County should read an Article written by Steve Dunleavy in the Post which describes how Lorna Goodman tried to throw Corrections Officer Jermone Shipman under the bus when she worked in the Corporation Counsels Office. Mr. Shipman had retained a terrible inmate named Ronald Mask, and used force to do so. Mask was a piece of human manure who was serving forty years for slicing up people's faces with razor blades. Ms. Goodman's Corp Counsel's Office paid Mr. Mask a fat $83,000 settlement, and Ms. Goodman accused Officer Shipman of "using execessive force" and violating "Ronald Mask's Constitutional Rights."
To add insult to injury, it appears that Ms. Goodman's selection to run the Workers Compensation Bureau, a lifetime kiddie prosecutor named Peter Reinharz, failed to offer the Jail appropriate legal and policy advice on how to do effective claims and risk management. A recent Newsday article points out that the jail performed no Independent Medical Examinations of Corrections Officers to facilitate their return to work. This is terrible. The recent audit of the Workers Compensation function by Comptroller Hevesi demonstrates just what a terrible job Suozzi's County Attorneys' Office is doing. The County Attorney's office, along with the Human Resources Department, the Corrections Officers Union, and perhaps the County's lobbyist in Albany, should also be working on some form of incentive based compensation which could reward CO's with good attendence, so that there is an incentive to actually go to work.
But Don't believe me. Read today's Newsday Article on the subject:
Audit: Jail failed to manage disability leave abuse
From Newsday.com
March 24, 2005, 12:22 PM EST
The Nassau County Sheriff's Department failed to adequately monitor disability leave, which led to abuse of that leave by some corrections officers at the county jail, even after a similar report in 1998, an audit said on Thursday.
The audit said 23 officers at the Nassau County jail had been on the disabled list for between two and eight years as of February 2004. In many cases, the officers were on disability leave despite a lack of independent medical confirmation of their conditions, the audit continued.
The audit, which covers the years 2002-2004, is a follow-up to a 1998 report that also found weak oversight of disability leave.
"Either the jail did not properly evaluate whether the officers were entitled to this benefit, or it did not have appropriate tools in place to lower the risk of work-related injuries," Nassau County Comptroller Howard S. Weitzman said in a news release.
Under New York law, municipalities are required to pay so-called Section 207-c benefits, which include full wages and all medical and hospital expenses, to corrections officers who are hurt or become ill on the job.
The audit said the sheriff's department in February 2004 began to implement reforms to the benefit program, which it says resulted in 41 corrections officers returning to work from disability leave. Previous to those reforms, the department failed to adequately document the medical basis for granting the benefits, the audit said. It also said the department failed to send employees to independent doctors to determine if they were able to return to work.
In one example, the audit said no independent medical exams were scheduled or conducted for 17 of 23 officers who claimed to be too disabled to work in 2003.
In another case, the audit found that a maintenance supervisor claimed to be injured in 2000 when an inmate opened a door unexpectedly that he was about to enter. His claim was initially denied, then granted but auditors found no documentation explaining the reason for the reversal or who approved it. That employee was placed on a 30-day disabled list in March 2003 and has yet to return to work, the audit said.
Work-related disability leave cost the county about $3.8 million in 2002 and $3.4 million in 2003 in salary payments, according to department estimates.
Subscribe to Newsday home delivery
Audit: Jail failed to manage disability leave abuse
Enter a Category
View List
From Newsday.com
March 24, 2005, 12:22 PM EST
The Nassau County Sheriff's Department failed to adequately monitor disability leave, which led to abuse of that leave by some corrections officers at the county jail, even after a similar report in 1998, an audit said on Thursday.
The audit said 23 officers at the Nassau County jail had been on the disabled list for between two and eight years as of February 2004. In many cases, the officers were on disability leave despite a lack of independent medical confirmation of their conditions, the audit continued.
The audit, which covers the years 2002-2004, is a follow-up to a 1998 report that also found weak oversight of disability leave.
"Either the jail did not properly evaluate whether the officers were entitled to this benefit, or it did not have appropriate tools in place to lower the risk of work-related injuries," Nassau County Comptroller Howard S. Weitzman said in a news release.
Under New York law, municipalities are required to pay so-called Section 207-c benefits, which include full wages and all medical and hospital expenses, to corrections officers who are hurt or become ill on the job.
The audit said the sheriff's department in February 2004 began to implement reforms to the benefit program, which it says resulted in 41 corrections officers returning to work from disability leave. Previous to those reforms, the department failed to adequately document the medical basis for granting the benefits, the audit said. It also said the department failed to send employees to independent doctors to determine if they were able to return to work.
In one example, the audit said no independent medical exams were scheduled or conducted for 17 of 23 officers who claimed to be too disabled to work in 2003.
In another case, the audit found that a maintenance supervisor claimed to be injured in 2000 when an inmate opened a door unexpectedly that he was about to enter. His claim was initially denied, then granted but auditors found no documentation explaining the reason for the reversal or who approved it. That employee was placed on a 30-day disabled list in March 2003 and has yet to return to work, the audit said.
Work-related disability leave cost the county about $3.8 million in 2002 and $3.4 million in 2003 in salary payments, according to department estimates.
Subscribe to Newsday home delivery