Maryland to pay $13 million settlement for correctional officers' unpaid overtime

A yearslong federal investigation into the overtime practices at Maryland’s correctional institutions paid off for the more than 3,000 past and present officers who worked additional hours to staff the facilities housing the state’s inmates.

On Wednesday, the state’s three-member Board of Public Works approved a $13 million settlement arising from an investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor, which examined time-keeping practices between November 2018 and August 2021 at correctional facilities across the state, in locales ranging from Westover on the Eastern Shore to Baltimore City, and the Western Maryland cities of Hagerstown and Cumberland.

“For years, we were seeing the actual time that we were working disappear from our paychecks,” said Rownite Stevens, a correctional officer sergeant at Eastern Correctional Institution in Somerset County, in a statement provided by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Maryland Council 3. “Now hearing this news, it feels like we are finally being heard, especially with all of the overtime.”

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How did the investigation start and proceed?

In November 2020, the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services received notice that a federal investigation had begun at Howard County’s Jessup Correctional Institution, relating to employees who worked past their scheduled shift’s end, but were not properly paid.

“It was determined that certain employees were working past the end of their shifts, but because the signed approval from a supervisor was not obtained, overtime was not being paid,” said Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services Secretary Carolyn Scruggs in a June 30 letter.

The missive addressed to the Board of Public Works — Gov. Wes Moore, Comptroller Brooke Lierman and Treasurer Dereck Davis — indicated that the U.S. Department of Labor investigation then widened to all the department’s facilities across the state, and a new system of timekeeping was instituted in August of 2021 as a response.

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How will the state pay the $13 million?

The letter stated that 3,874 current and former correctional officers were found to be owed additional wages for their work. The funding comes from the department’s own budget and has already been accounted for in the state’s budget, based off an exchange at Wednesday’s meeting.

“How do you just have $13 million in a budget to write a check?” the state’s treasurer, Davis, asked of Scruggs during the meeting held on the second floor at the State House. Another secretary, Budget Secretary Helene Grady, then stepped in to field the question for Scruggs.

Grady said the issue came to the administration’s attention in its early days in January, which was when Moore’s inauguration took place and when the governor proposed his initial budget. The settlement was prioritized by the governor, Grady said.

“It was anticipated,” said Davis, in response and acknowledgement, “so we were able to properly plan for this.”

Davis indicated he was not in opposition to taking the step to pay the settlement.

How much will officers get paid as a result of the settlement?

According to Scruggs’ June letter, the U.S. Department of Labor approved the findings of the thousands of employees owed a total of $13 million on June 15, alerting the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services that the federal entity would contact affected employees directly.

"This case is still open, so we don’t have a comment," said a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Labor, in a July 5 email.

The U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division has responsibility for processing, Scruggs’ letter states. A spokesperson for the AFSCME labor union confirmed that the federal department would be the entity paying the employees after the settlement.

Payments will vary per employee depending on unpaid hours worked, but the average amount may be about $3,300 per officer based off the total settlement and the total number of employees affected. The starting salary for an entry level correctional officer is $50,551, according to the state’s website.

Dwight A. Weingarten is an investigative reporter, covering the Maryland State House and state issues. He can be reached at dweingarten@gannett.com or on Twitter at @DwightWeingart2.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: State to pay $13 million towards officers' wages after investigation