New York Woman Earned Nearly $200K in Overtime Last Year

A New York woman was definitely working hard, not hardly working, in 2020.

I'm sure you've worked insane hours before. Maybe it was a double shift, overnight, or some overtime. But have you ever worked 3,000 hours of overtime? And not just 3,000 hours of overtime, 3,000 hours of overtime in one year. Doesn't that sound crazy? Well, one New York woman did just that in 2021.

According to the Democrat and Chronicle, Denise Williams worked 3,420 overtime hours in 2020. This amount of overtime equaled $199,757 in overtime pay last year. She earned a total of $286,328 in 2020. Williams is a state employee at the Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center. She works as a security training assistant. The craziest part? This is the third year in a row she has worked the most overtime hours in New York State.

Overtime at New York State agencies increased by 5% in 2020, according to the Democrat and Chronicle. Specifically, overtime was the highest at the New York State Department of Labor. There was a $25 million increase in overtime at the Department of Labor in 2020, compared to 2019. It also accounted for 56% of the overtime increase at state agencies in 2020. New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said the COVID-19 pandemic was largely responsible for the increase in overtime at state agencies. Overtime increased at 38 different state agencies and fell at 23 agencies in 2020.

There were 15 people who earned over $150,000 in overtime in New York State, according to the Democrat and Chronicle. One of the state agencies that had some of the highest overtime earners was the DOCCS Bedford Hills, in Westchester County of the lower Hudson Valley.