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Ah, Overtime!

If you can get it, and want to work the hours...

I captured this tidbit of information as one of those factoids that jump out at you:

$360,010
The amount of money one L.A. firefighter received in overtime pay alone. According to an audit released on Wednesday, over 90 percent of L.A. police and fire employees received overtime pay last year, with the average being $27,737. Eighteen of those that earned overtime earned more than $200,000 in OT pay.

I remember when I worked for King County Office of Emergency Management the pay of every King County employee was a part of the public record. I was thinking that the King County executive would be the highest-paid county employee. Not so! It actually was a prison guard at the county jail. Overtime pay pushed him to be the highest-paid county employee. Not as high as the number above, but what I recall, close to doubling his salary.

The challenge of incorporating fire and police into full-scale exercises is the cost of overtime and backfill costs, which can add up quickly. 

Eric Holdeman is a contributing writer for Emergency Management magazine and is the former director of the King County, Wash., Office of Emergency Management.