The City of Ottawa Branch-by-Branch Overtime Review was conducted in April and May of 2006. The objective of this review was to provide an overall assessment of the City’s use of overtime, an analysis of the overtime expenditures within each City branch, and recommendations for improvement.

This review was conducted by a project team whose members included both City staff and Deloitte consulting professionals. The study included a review of previous audits and studies that were conducted since amalgamation, a branch-by-branch analysis of overtime usage including overtime expenditures for the past three years, interviews with Branch Managers and other subject matter experts within the City, a review of policies and procedures in place to record, track, manage, and control overtime and the development of recommendations for improvement. A total of thirty-one (31) branches were reviewed (Police Services was not included in the scope of this review).

Key Findings

Several key findings and observations were made over the course of this review and included the following:

• Total overtime expenditures for the City in 2005 were $28.8 million (excluding Police Services) and $32.8 million (including Police Services).

• Overall overtime spending has remained stable despite an increase in compensation and overtime costs of approximately 3% per annum. This indicates that the use of overtime (actual number of overtime hours) has been decreasing over the past three (3) years.

• While many branches have exceeded overtime budgets over the past year, all branches have been able to manage within the overall compensation budgets.

• Overtime expenditures account for approximately 4% of the total compensation budget.

• Twenty-two (22) of the thirty-one (31) branches incur relatively low expenditures on overtime, with an average for each branch of approximately $125,000 for 2005, while the remaining nine (9) branches each incurred over $1 million in overtime expenditures for 2005.

• 90% of the City’s overtime spending is accounted for by nine (9) branches of the thirty-one (31) branches.

• As would be expected, higher overtime expenditures are generally associated with branches that have front-line operations. Front-line operations create a greater need for overtime usage to meet levels of service expectations and requirements. Most of the nine (9) branches that spent over $1 million each in overtime have 24/7 operations and provide citizen-facing services.

• Some branches have already implemented changes that should decrease overtime usage, such as filling vacancies and shift restructuring.

• The variance between the City’s planned and actual overtime has been substantial over the past three (3) years. While the variance has improved from 2003 to 2005, the overtime incurred in 2005 was still 49% over budget. All but five (5) branches were over budget in 2005.

• Budget variances in many branches are substantial indicating that overtime budgeting practices are not enabling the City to accurately budget and monitor overtime costs.

• Some branches earn revenues and/or receive cost recoveries (i.e. for capital projects, staff coverage at festivals, etc.) that offset the corresponding costs of overtime usage.

• The degree of correlation between absenteeism and overtime use across the city is low, although there is a slightly stronger correlation between absenteeism and overtime use in the branches with the highest use of overtime. The average annual absenteeism rate per employee for the five (5) branches with the highest use of overtime was 12.6 days/employee, as compared to the 10.3 days/employee average for the City.

• Overtime pay on statutory holidays accounted for 9% of the City’s total overtime costs in 2005.

• For all statutory holidays worked in 2005, the Payroll division has identified several issues and inconsistencies with the coding for the statutory holidays, which are currently being reviewed. If statutory holiday overtime was coded/reported consistently across the branches then the actual overtime costs on statutory holidays would decrease approximately 55%, from $2.7 million to $1.2 million.

• Overtime policies and procedures are not consistent across the City and, in many cases, there are no formal and documented policies and procedures.

• Most branches do not have a formal system in place to track the causes/drivers of overtime which makes it more difficult to analyze and manage overtime usage.

• For this review, the key drivers of overtime were identified and categorized as discretionary and non-discretionary overtime (discretionary overtime was defined as “there is a choice as to whether to allow overtime or not” and non-discretionary overtime was defined as “there is no choice, or no other options, but to allow overtime”). Eighty-two percent (82%) of the overtime drivers were determined to be non-discretionary and 18% were discretionary[1].

• The most common drivers of overtime across all branches included unforeseen/unplanned events, planned events, deadline requirements, periodic high service level demands, vacancies, and special projects. Less frequently identified drivers of overtime included absenteeism, statutory holidays, requests from council, public consultation, and services provided outside of regular hours.

• The use of overtime is, in many cases, a cost-effective means to maintain service levels.

Summary of Corporate-wide Recommendations

The following is a summary of the corporate-wide recommendations arising from this review. These recommendations are focused on the actions that the City should take across all branches to effect improvements in how overtime is managed. The review provides additional recommendations for each of the branches that are the highest users of overtime.

The corporate-wide recommendations address the following areas for improvement: overtime policies and procedures, overtime budgeting, overtime management and control, overtime recording/coding, and overtime tracking and reporting and, if implemented, these recommendations may have the potential to decrease overtime expenditures.

• Recommendation 1 – Develop Overtime Policies – The Employee Services branch should develop a corporate-wide overtime policy. This policy should identify the overall direction for City managers with regard to the acceptable use of overtime, the expectations for how City managers are to budget, manage and control for the use of overtime, and the requirements for reporting on the use of overtime in their branches and divisions.

• Recommendation 2 – Develop Overtime Procedures – The Employee Services branch should develop corporate-wide overtime procedures. These procedures should include definitions of discretionary versus non-discretionary overtime, procedures for requesting and approving overtime, procedures for overtime recording/coding, and procedures for overtime tracking and reporting. Some branches may need to further develop branch-specific overtime procedures in order to address specific operational requirements.

• Recommendation 3 – Develop Overtime Base Budgets – Appropriate overtime base budgets need to be established and implemented in order to more accurately account for and justify the overtime requirements of the branches.

• Recommendation 4 – Adjust Overtime Base Budgets - For fiscal year 2006, each branch should be granted a one time base budget adjustment to more accurately reflect actual overtime costs. After this one time adjustment, further changes should be made on a case-by-case basis.

• Recommendation 5 – Track Overtime to Revenue Earned/Costs Recovered – New cost codes should be established on timesheets and in SAP to more accurately track and link overtime directly to the revenue earned and/or the costs recovered.

• Recommendation 6 – Define Service Levels – Service level requirements for each branch should be more clearly defined to enable branch management to more accurately plan for and manage overtime costs that are incurred to achieve targeted service levels.

· Recommendation 7 – Record/Code Overtime – Common procedures for recording/coding of overtime should be implemented across all branches to ensure that overtime costs are being consistently tracked and reported.

· Recommendation 8 - Track Overtime Causes – New cost codes should be established on timesheets and in SAP to track and report overtime causes.

Summary of Branch-specific Recommendations

The branch-specific recommendations identify recommendations specific to improving overtime usage within each branch. Although most of the corporate-wide recommendations apply to these branches as well, implementation of the branch-specific recommendations may require coordination and alignment with the implementation of the corporate-wide recommendations.

The more detailed branch-specific recommendations are provided in Section 4 of the report and are not included in this Executive Summary.

1 Introduction

1.1 Background

The City of Ottawa’s Auditor General recently released its Audit report entitled “Audit of Overtime, 2005 Report” which examined the practices utilized in three branches (Utility Services, Fire Services and Real Property Asset Management) to determine if appropriate processes were in place to track, manage, and control the overtime worked in the City. In 2002, the City’s Internal Audit branch had conducted a similar review of four other branches (Transit Services, Fleet Services, Surface Operations and Emergency Medical Services (now Paramedic Services)). In total, seven (7) of the thirty-one (31) branches within the City had been reviewed prior to this study with regard to overtime practices. Of these seven (7) branches, some were found to be over budget on overtime expenditures while others were operating in line with the total planned 2004 and 2005 overtime budgets. In most cases the audits found that there were a number of areas for improvement and each audit report included several recommendations.

In addition to the audits completed in 2002 and 2005, Transit Services, in 2004, hired an external consultant to conduct a follow-up review of overtime use. The results concluded that a measured but continued reliance on overtime would keep costs down, and would allow a small improvement in service reliability. The report also recommended an optimal budget mix for the number of FTEs at regular time versus the use of overtime.

As a result of these previous audits and reviews, the Executive Management Committee (EMC) committed to conduct a corporate-wide review and analysis of the overtime expenditures within each City branch. Deloitte was engaged to complete this analysis and provide recommendations for improvement in accordance with a prescribed Terms of Reference for the review. This report is the output of the review which was completed during April and May of 2006.

1.2 Legal and Legislative Context

The use of overtime within the City of Ottawa is governed by the Employment Standards Act (ESA) 2000, the Canada Labour Code (CLC), and the regime of collective agreements that are in place with its employees.

For the purposes of this review, overtime was defined as the premium paid for hours worked outside the standard hours of work. Legal limits for both standard hours of work and overtime premiums are governed by the ESA and the CLC. In Ontario, employers and employees are legally bound to follow the minimum level of standards outlined in the ESA and the CLC.

The ESA provides legal guidelines for both employers and employees on a number of employment-related issues including vacation pay, statutory holidays, emergency leave, hours of work, and overtime.

In regards to overtime, the ESA states the following:

“An employer shall pay an employee overtime pay of at least one and one-half times his or her regular rate for each hour of work in excess of 44 hours in each week or, if another threshold is prescribed, that prescribed threshold.”

The ESA provides:

· The maximum number of hours an employee works without incurring overtime, and

· The minimum overtime pay rate for overtime worked.

The CLC provides legal guidelines for both employers and employees on a number of employment-related issues including standard hours of work, wages, holidays, vacations, and overtime.

In regards to standard hours of work and overtime, the CLC states the following:

· 171. (1) An employee may be employed in excess of the standard hours of work but, subject to sections 172, 176 and 177, and to any regulations made pursuant to section 175, the total hours that may be worked by any employee in any week shall not exceed forty-eight hours in a week or such fewer total number of hours as may be prescribed by the regulations as maximum working hours in the industrial establishment in or in connection with the operation of which the employee is employed; and

· 174. When an employee is required or permitted to work in excess of the standard hours of work, the employee shall, subject to any regulations made pursuant to section 175, be paid for the overtime at a rate of wages not less than one and one-half times his regular rate of wages.

As long as these ESA and CLC thresholds are not compromised, employers and employees are free to negotiate alternative overtime agreements.

At the City of Ottawa, there are eleven (11) separate collective agreements in place and each has its own specific overtime thresholds. It should be noted that some employees at the City are not eligible for overtime payments and these employees are predominately from the Management and Professional Exempt (MPE) group. A summary of the City’s overtime guidelines, by collective agreement, can be found in Appendix A.

1.3 Project Overview

1.3.1 Project Scope and Objectives

The scope of this overtime review consisted of the following activities:

• Reviewed previous audits and reviews of overtime expenditures;

• Conducted a branch-by-branch review of overtime expenditures for the past three years. For each branch the review included the following elements:

o Analysis of budgeted overtime and actual overtime expenditures;

o Analysis of discretionary overtime versus non-discretionary overtime;

o Determination of true overtime costs versus shift premiums or pay for statutory holidays;

o Analysis of overtime due to absenteeism;

o Documentation of the processes in place to record, track, manage, and control overtime and the effectiveness of the processes;

o Identification of situations where the use of overtime is more cost-beneficial than hiring additional FTEs; and

o Identification of opportunities to decrease overtime expenditures.

• Provided an overall assessment of the City’s use of overtime with recommendations for improvement; and

• Provided a summary of overtime policies within each branch and recommendations for improving the policy framework.

Thirty-one (31) City branches were included in this review as listed in the table below. Police Services was not included in the scope of this review.

Department	Branch
Community and Protective Services	· By-Law Services
	· Parks and Recreation
	· Office of Emergency Management
	· Employment and Financial Assistance
	· Fire Services
	· Library Services
	· Housing
	· Cultural Services and Community Funding
	· Long Term Care
	· Paramedic Services
	· Public Health
City Manager’s Office	· Corporate Communications
	· Corporate Planning and Performance Reporting
	· Policy Coordination and Outreach
Corporate Services Department	· City Clerk
	· Client Services and Public Information
	· Employee Services
	· Financial Services
	· Information Technology Services
	· Legal Services
	· Real Property Asset Management
Planning and Growth Management	· Building Services
	· Economic Development and Strategic Projects
	· Planning, Environment and Infrastructure Policy
	· Planning and Infrastructure Approvals
Public Works and Services	· Fleet Services
	· Infrastructure Services
	· Surface Operations
	· Traffic and Parking Operations
	· Transit Services
	· Utility Services

Figure 1 – City branches included in the review

The City branches listed above deliver a wide range of services to the public and/or internally to support City staff. As a result, the branches are diverse in terms of functions performed and in terms of operational pressures that may impact the use of overtime. Some of the more significant differences across branches include:

• The size of the branch including:

o The number of programs managed;

o The number of full-time equivalents (FTE’s); and

o The size of the operational budgets.

• The operating characteristics of the branch including:

o 24 hours, 7 days per week (24/7) operations;

o Mostly unionized environment;

o Direct service to the public;

o Direct front-line emergency operations; and

o Administrative support functions.

1.3.2 Project Approach and Work Undertaken

This project was conducted in four phases, as outlined in the diagram below, and included ongoing project planning and management activities throughout the project:

The major activities and work undertaken for each phase of the project were as follows:

Phase 1 - Preliminary Analysis:

• Conducted project start-up activities to confirm the objectives, scope, approach and timelines for the review;

• Gathered and reviewed existing documentation (see Appendix C for details);

• Reviewed and analyzed overtime expenditure data extracted from the SAP system (see Appendix B for details);

• Conducted interviews with relevant stakeholders including: Payroll, Labour Relations, Occupational Health and Safety, and Financial Support Unit (FSU) Managers (see Appendix D for details);

• Conducted interviews and validated interview responses with each of the branch directors (see Appendix D for details); and

• Documented preliminary findings and identified key issues and drivers related to overtime usage that required further analysis in Phase 2 of the project.

Phase 2 - Select Detailed Analysis:

• Conducted interviews with FSU Managers from selected branches (see Appendix D for details); and

• Reviewed and synthesized data collected from documentation review, SAP data, and interviews.

Phase 3 - Interim Report on Findings and Preliminary Solutions:

• Documented the key findings from the detailed analysis and identified preliminary solutions and recommendations with the project team regarding the usage of overtime; and

• Drafted the interim report.

Phase 4 - Validation and Final Report:

• Validated the interim report with relevant City stakeholders and followed-up on common questions and feedback; and

• Drafted and submitted this final report.

2 Findings – Corporate-wide

2.1 Introduction

This section identifies the key facts and data pertinent to the use of overtime across all City branches covered in the scope of this review and provides an analysis of the key corporate-wide findings. The information and data collected for this review was obtained through extensive interviews and a comprehensive analysis of available data from the SAP system. The examination of the data provided the quantitative analysis of overtime, while the interviews with directors and key stakeholders provided the operational context for overtime usage.

Interviews were conducted with key City stakeholders, Financial Support Unit (FSU) Account Managers, and with twenty-nine (29) branch directors (see Appendix D for a detailed list of interviews). Two branches (Corporate Planning and Performance Reporting, Policy Coordination and Outreach) were not interviewed for this project based on the fact that these branches have mostly Management and Professional Exempt (MPE) staff and very little or no overtime usage.

The interviews provided information on:

• Operational and other pressures that resulted in overtime usage;

• Policies and procedures that are in use to budget, manage and control overtime;

• Technology and systems used to track and manage overtime;

• Initiatives that are in place to improve the management of overtime; and

• The SAP overtime data.

The analysis of data from SAP provided information on:

• Overtime budgets for the City and each of the City’s branches;

• Actual overtime spent by the City and each of the City’s branches;

• Overtime spent on statutory holidays; and

• Absenteeism days per employee in each branch.

This section presents a summary of the data and information collected from the interviews and data analysis activities, including:

§ A summary analysis of overtime expenditures by branch;

§ An overview of the overtime processes used to record, track, manage, and control overtime; and

§ The identification of key overtime drivers including an assessment of absenteeism and it’s potential impact on overtime and the identification of situations where overtime is more cost-beneficial than hiring additional FTE’s.

Only SAP data from 2003 onward was analyzed as part of the review. It was determined that the integrity of data from prior years was not sufficient to enable an accurate assessment and comparison to the more recent data.

2.2 Summary of Overtime Expenditures by Branch

2.2.1 Summary of Actual Overtime versus Planned Overtime

The following figure presents the total actual overtime expenditures for the City over the past three years compared to the planned overtime budgets. This analysis provides an indication of how overtime spending is changing over time, what the actual overtime spending levels are and how well overtime is being budgeted.

Figure 2 – Total expenditures versus budgeted overtime for the years 2003, 2004 and 2005

The following observations can be made from an analysis of the summary data:

• The average amount spent on overtime over the past three years has been $29.3 million;

• Overtime expenditures during this period have varied by less than 6% ($1.75 million) from the average indicating a relatively stable and consistent level of overtime usage;

• The variance between actual overtime and budgeted overtime has decreased from 104% in 2003 to 49% in 2005; and

• While the budgeting for overtime has improved over the past three years, a variance of 49% is significant.

2.2.2 Total Overtime Costs by Branch

The following figure depicts the actual overtime expenditures for each branch for 2005.

Figure 3 – Overtime expenditures for all branches (2005)

The following observations can be made from the analysis of the branch-level data:

• The nine (9) branches with the highest use of overtime account for over 90% of the City’s overtime costs;

• Each of the nine (9) branches with the highest use of overtime incur over $1 million in overtime expenditures per year; and

• The other twenty-two (22) branches incur relatively low expenditures on overtime (with an average of $125,000 for 2005). The branch with the next highest use of overtime has just over $400,000 in overtime expenditures.

2.2.3 Actual Overtime versus Planned Overtime by Branch

The following table presents the actual versus planned overtime for all branches over the past three years. The sections that follow provide more detailed analyses of this data.

Figure 4 - Actual versus planned overtime for all branches for the years 2003, 2004 and 2005*

* The total overtime costs for 2005 do not correspond exactly to the data provided by the City (i.e. $28,817,131 versus $28,920,453). The basis for this discrepancy of approximately $100,000 is that the analyses provided in Figure 4, and throughout this report, are limited to the thirty-one (31) branches that were included in the original scope for this Review. This discrepancy is due to the exclusion of the following City branches/divisions from the scope of the review:

• Elected Officials;

• Office of the City Auditor General;

• Committee of Adjustment;

• Corporate Services – Office of the Chief Corporate Services Officer;

• Planning & Growth Management Services – Office of the Deputy City Manager;

• Community & Protective Services – Office of the Deputy City Manager; and

• Public Works & Services – Office of the Deputy City Manager.

2.2.4 Budget Variances by Branch

The following table presents an analysis of the variance between actual overtime expenditures and the overtime budget for 2005. The table identifies the variance of actual overtime to budget and therefore highlights the degree to which actual expenditures exceeded budget for each branch.

Figure 5 - Variance between actual overtime versus planned overtime for all branches (2005)

The following observations can be made from the review of the branch overtime expenditure data:

• Only five (5) of the thirty-one (31) branches reviewed were under budget in 2005, suggesting that budgeting for overtime is an issue in most branches of the City;

• Budget variances in many branches are substantial (greater than 50%) indicating that the base overtime budgets for most of the branches do not accurately reflect current overtime requirements;

• Eight (8) of the thirty-one (31) branches did not have an overtime base budget although seven (7) of these eight (8) branches incurred overtime expenditures in 2005; and

• *The Office of Emergency Management had a very high variance of 4124% due to the additional overtime costs related to the Kashechewan evacuation in 2005.

2.2.5 Overtime Costs Relative to Branch Operational Characteristics

The total overtime expenditures for each branch can be analyzed with respect to key characteristics of the branch mandate and operations. Key characteristics of the operations of each branch, the FTE count and the type of services they provide are presented in the following table.

Figure 6 – Actual overtime, budgeted FTE’s, and operational characteristics for all branches (2005)

The following observations can be made from the analysis of overtime usage at the branch level:

• Eight (8) out of the nine (9) branches with the highest use of overtime are 24/7 operations. The use of overtime is a common requirement for most branches with 24/7 operations and is used to meet levels of service and to address related staff deployment constraints and challenges;

• Eight (8) out of the nine (9) branches with the highest use of overtime provide citizen-facing services. Front-line operations create a greater need for overtime usage to meet levels of service expectations and requirements; and

• Many of the branches with the highest use of overtime are also those with the most FTEs. The nine (9) branches with the highest use of overtime (representing over 90% of total overtime expenditures for the City) comprise over 55% percent of budgeted FTEs and have an average of almost 700 FTEs versus an average of 237 FTEs for all the other branches.

2.2.6 Overtime Costs per FTE

To enable the comparison of overtime expenditures across branches of varying size, the overtime cost per budgeted FTE was analyzed. The following figure presents the overtime expenditure per FTE for 2005.

* Office of Emergency Management had overtime

costs per employee of $25,000.

Figure 7 - Average overtime cost per FTE for all branches (2005)

The following observations can be made from the analysis of overtime costs per FTE:

• Seven (7) of the nine (9) branches with the highest use of overtime also have above average overtime costs per FTE;

• The average overtime cost per FTE was $2,624 in 2005; and

• The nine (9) branches with the highest use of overtime had an average cost per FTE of $4,185, indicating a higher reliance on overtime.

2.2.7 Overtime Costs as a Percentage of Compensation Budget

Another way to compare overtime expenditures across branches of varying sizes is to analyze the overtime expenditures relative to the overall compensation budget. The following figure presents the overtime expenditures as a percentage of the total compensation budget for 2005.

* Office of Emergency Management had

overtime costs that were 19.88% of their

compensation budget.

Figure 8 – Overtime expenditures as a percentage of total compensation budget (2005)

The following observations can be made from an analysis of the branch level compensation budgets:

• For the thirty-one (31) branches reviewed, overtime consisted of approximately 4% of the total compensation budget of $757 million; and

• For the nine (9) branches with the highest use of overtime, overtime made up approximately 6% of the total compensation budget.

2.3 Overtime Policies and Procedures

2.3.1 Overtime Policies

Overtime policies provide employees with directives when overtime can and should be used, the processes for having overtime approved, and how overtime should be recorded. The following five (5) branches have written overtime policies and/or guidelines in place with varying degrees of detail and formality:

• Fire Services;

• Paramedic Services;

• Planning and Infrastructure Approvals;

• Transit Services; and

• Utility Services.

The remaining branches do not have documented polices in place. In some cases, informal overtime practices are in place but they are not documented.

2.3.2 Overtime Procedures

The procedures for recording, tracking, managing and controlling overtime were identified and analyzed across the branches.

The majority of the branches use data from SAP to record and track overtime. Due to the way SAP is currently configured and the many unique operations within the City, some branches have decided to use additional SAP modules or other supplementary systems that enhance the ability to track and analyze overtime.

Most branches use similar procedures to record, track and manage overtime usage, as follows:

• Employee receives approval from appropriate authority to incur overtime;

• Employee fills in an exception time-sheet or activity sheet, depending on the branch, when overtime is incurred;

• The appropriate supervisor (title may vary, depending on role) signs the exception time-sheet or activity sheet;

• Payroll enters overtime information into SAP;

• The FSU managers access overtime data in SAP and provide reports to branch directors and division managers; and

• Directors and managers use the FSU reports to help track and manage the overtime usage for their branch or division.

Using the reports provided by the FSU managers, division managers can compare the actual overtime expenditures to budget, and assess overtime trends over time/by division/and at the employee level. Analysis of overtime drivers is not supported by data or reports from the SAP system. The cause for incurring overtime is not typically included on exception and activity sheets, and SAP is not currently configured to track causes for overtime usage.

As was previously mentioned, a number of branches have systems in place that enable the tracking and analysis of the drivers of overtime. The following table provides three examples of systems that are being used to supplement the standard overtime procedure outlined above.

Branch	System
Fire Services	· Fire Services utilizes a supplementary MS Excel-based tool in addition to SAP to track reasons for overtime usage · Data is entered into spreadsheet twice a day and overtime usage is reviewed on a weekly basis · Allows Fire Services to do a more detailed analysis of the usage of overtime and react accordingly
Paramedic Services	· The Paramedic Services branch utilizes the Telestaff system, a web-based scheduling tool, to support resource management. This system also tracks overtime, using the same overtime codes as SAP. The system provides for additional data to be captured to enable tracking overtime usage more effectively · There are overtime rules built into the Telestaff software system that control overtime use. For example, if an employee wants to take a day off, Telestaff will identify if overtime will be incurred as a result
Real Property Asset Management	· The Real Property Asset Management branch utilizes the Plant Maintenance (PM) module of SAP. While this module is primarily used for operational purposes, it allows the branch to track reasons for overtime usage. When requesting payment for overtime, employees in the branch must identify the reason overtime was used and this information is then entered into SAP

Figure 9 - Examples of systems to supplement standard overtime procedures

2.4 Overtime Causes and Other Considerations

Overtime causes and other overtime considerations were reviewed and analyzed as part of this review and included the following areas:

· Overtime drivers across branches;

· Overtime due to discretionary versus non-discretionary circumstances;

· Overtime due to absenteeism;

· Overtime due to shift premiums and statutory holidays;

· Overtime used because it is more economical than hiring extra FTEs;

· Results of the previous Transit Operator Establishment Review; and

· Other overtime considerations.

2.4.1 Overtime Drivers across Branches

Data on the causes/drivers of overtime usage are not tracked, nor available, through SAP for most of the branches. As a result, identifying the precise causality between overtime drivers and a specific proportion of the total overtime expenditures is not currently possible. Accordingly, overtime drivers were identified based on the data collected and interviews with branch management.

The most significant/common drivers of overtime usage across the branches included:

• Deadline requirements;

• Periodic high service level demands;

• Planned events;

• Special projects;

• Unforeseen/unplanned events; and

• Vacancies.

Other significant, but less frequently identified, drivers of overtime usage across the branches included:

• Absenteeism;

• Public consultation;

• Requests from Council;

• Services provided outside of regular hours of work; and

• Statutory holidays.

It was determined that there were approximately eleven (11) primary drivers of overtime. These overtime drivers are listed and defined in the table below.

Overtime Cause	Definition	Examples
Absenteeism	Overtime is used to accommodate for absent employees	· To make-up for employees on sick leave or on vacation
Deadline Requirements	Overtime is used to accelerate a project to meet a deadline	· Budget preparation
Periodic High Service Level Demands	Overtime is used to meet higher than normal service demands	· Meeting an influx of service requests · Maintaining service levels at busier times of the year
Planned Events	Overtime is used for a scheduled event that can be planned for at the beginning of the year	· Blues Fest · Tulip Fest
Public Consultation	Overtime is used for consulting with the public during non-regular hours of work	· Attending public consultation meetings/assemblies in the evening
Requests from Council	Overtime is used to accommodate a Council member’s special request	· Attending meetings outside of the regular hours of work
Services Provided Outside of Regular Hours of Work	Overtime is used to meet service demands outside of the regular hours of work	· Public health activities done in the evenings and weekends
Special Projects	Overtime is used to complete a project but doesn’t justify the hiring of additional FTEs	· Rural Summit
Stat Holidays	Overtime that results from City employees working on statutory holidays	· Good Friday · Canada Day
Unforeseen/Unplanned Events	Overtime is used for impromptu events that were not scheduled and could not be planned for at the beginning of the year	· Demonstrations · Emergency events · Storms/weather
Vacancies	Overtime is used to make-up for a shortfall in staff due to vacant positions	· Vacancies due to hiring freeze · Inability to fill positions with qualified workers

Figure 10 – Overtime drivers

2.4.2 Discretionary vs. Non-Discretionary Overtime

In order to determine the proportion of discretionary versus non-discretionary overtime used across the branches, definitions were developed for the purpose of this review. Branch directors and managers were asked to categorize the overtime drivers into either discretionary or non-discretionary overtime.

Defining Discretionary vs. Non-Discretionary Overtime

While no common definitions of discretionary or non-discretionary overtime exist at the City, the following general definitions were developed and agreed upon for the purpose of this review:

• Discretionary overtime - there is a choice as to whether to allow overtime or not (e.g. adding resources at overtime rates to accelerate a project, etc.); and

• Non-discretionary overtime - there is no choice, or no other options, but to allow overtime (e.g. in order to protect public health and the environment, protect City assets, and/or to prevent loss of essential services to the public, etc.).

Although there was agreement on these preliminary definitions, the need for overtime is often based on multiple factors that cannot be adequately delineated into two discrete definitions. Identifying the drivers of overtime as either discretionary or non-discretionary overtime isn’t always a clear-cut decision and differs based on the operational pressures of the different branches.

Examples of overtime causes that were identified as clearly discretionary or non-discretionary are outlined in the table below:

Discretionary	Non-Discretionary
· Accelerating a project through the use of overtime	· Responding to emergencies
· Covering for planned vacancies through the use of overtime (e.g. vacancies caused by vacation time or a reorganization)	· Meeting legislatively-mandated service levels

Figure 11 - Examples of overtime causes identified as discretionary or non-discretionary

There are many cases where categorizing overtime as either discretionary or non-discretionary was viewed as substantially more challenging for City managers. For example, the overtime that results from the following pressures was often cited by City managers as being more difficult to classify as discretionary:

• Addressing special requests or urgent inquiries from councillors or constituents that require timely responses often results in the need for overtime. City managers generally felt obligated to take action on such requests as an operational priority.

• Maintaining service levels for the wide range of services provided by the City can be affected by unforeseeable operational pressures that often require overtime expenditures. City managers are faced with difficult choices about when a branch can reduce service levels to keep within its overtime budget or to reduce overtime spending (which will impact the service levels).

With the exception of Utility Services, none of the branches have a formal documented list categorizing the causes/drivers of overtime usage as either discretionary or non-discretionary.

Proportion of Overtime Drivers that are Discretionary versus Non-Discretionary

Most of the branches do not currently have the capability for tracking the causes/drivers of overtime usage in SAP and therefore are unable to track and categorize the overall causes of overtime as either discretionary or non-discretionary.

For the purpose of this review, the branches were asked to identify which overtime drivers were discretionary, non-discretionary, or a combination (both discretionary and non-discretionary). The branches initially categorized the proportion of overtime drivers as follows: 12% were discretionary, 58% were non-discretionary, and 30% were a combination[2]. This combined category was then re-allocated to the discretionary and non-discretionary categories using the similar ratio of the former categories (12:58 – discretionary:non-discretionary). After re-allocating the combined category, the revised proportion of overtime drivers that are discretionary is 18% and the revised proportion of overtime drivers that are non-discretionary is 82%.

Based on the information collected, and adjustments made for the purposes of this report, the proportion of discretionary overtime drivers versus non-discretionary drivers across branches is as follows:

Discretionary Overtime Drivers	18%
Non-Discretionary Overtime Drivers	82%

Figure 12 – Proportion of discretionary overtime versus non-discretionary overtime

2.4.3 Absenteeism

Absenteeism was identified as a driver of overtime usage for select branches in both the Audit Committee’s 2002 Audit, as well as, the 2005 Auditor General’s Audit of Overtime. Unplanned absenteeism is identified as a potential driver of overtime as it can lead to the use of overtime to compensate for staff shortages and to maintain service levels.

The following figure presents a comparison of absenteeism rates to the total overtime expenditures in each branch.

Figure 13 – Absenteeism rates against total overtime expenditures for all branches (2005)

The following observations can be made from the analysis of the branch-level data:

• The average absenteeism rate for 2005 was 10.3 days per employee compared to 11.1 days in 2004 (a decrease of approximately 7%);

• The degree of correlation between absenteeism and overtime use across the City is relatively low;

• There is a slightly stronger correlation between absenteeism and overtime use in the branches with the highest use of overtime:

o The average absenteeism rate per employee for the nine (9) branches with the highest use of overtime was 11.31 days/employee, 9.6% higher than the average for all branches; and

o The average absenteeism rate per employee for the five (5) branches with the highest use of overtime was 12.6 days/employee, 22% higher than the average for all branches.

Most branches do not capture and track the causes of overtime in SAP, therefore it was not possible to further quantify an actual percentage of overtime due to absenteeism. Further investigation and analysis could be undertaken to more precisely determine the impact of absenteeism on overtime. In the future, tracking the causes of overtime would help the City to determine if specific actions would be warranted to address such an impact.

2.4.4 Shift Premiums and Statutory Holidays

Shift Premiums

A shift premium is a premium paid in addition to an employee's regular hourly rate in recognition of hours worked during non-core business hours. Shift premiums vary and are prescribed in each of the collective agreements

To analyze the costs of true overtime versus the costs of shift premiums, SAP overtime data was analyzed and the procedures used by the Payroll division and FSU managers were examined. It was determined that shift premiums are classified separately from overtime and are not included in the overtime costs reported by the City.

Statutory Holidays

City employees that are required to work on statutory holidays may be entitled to receive a premium from the regular rate of pay.

SAP overtime data was analyzed to identify the percentage of overtime expenditures that resulted from premiums paid for working on statutory holidays. The following figure identifies the total cost of overtime premiums paid for working on statutory holidays as a percentage of total overtime expenditures (for branches where statutory holiday overtime contributed more than 5% of total overtime expenditures).

For branches where statutory holiday overtime contributed more than 5% of total overtime expenditures.

Figure 14 – Statutory holiday overtime as a percentage of total overtime (2005)

The following observations can be made from the analysis of the branch-level data and interviews:

· Overtime costs on statutory holidays accounted for 9% of the City’s total overtime costs in 2005; and

· It was also determined during this review that for some branches, statutory holiday pay premiums were being incorrectly coded in the SAP system:

o As a result, overtime expenditures for 2005 were overstated by over $1 million. If statutory holiday overtime was reported consistently and/or correctly across the branches then total overtime on statutory holidays would decrease approximately 55%, from $2.7 million to $1.2 million; and

o It should be noted that the Payroll division reported that this did not result in any employees being overpaid for working on a statutory holiday.

2.4.5 Overtime Usage versus Hiring Additional FTE’s

In most cases where overtime expenditures are required, it can be determined over a period of time whether the use of overtime would be more or less cost-effective than hiring additional full time employees that would be paid at regular wage rates.

During this review, an analysis was done of the branch practices that are in place to evaluate the cost effectiveness of using overtime versus hiring additional FTEs to meet service needs. The findings from this analysis are summarized as follows:

• Most branches have not done a formal review or analysis in this area and most do not have practices in place to periodically review the most cost-effective level of overtime use versus the use of additional FTEs;

• Nonetheless, many City managers were confident that the use of overtime in their branches was less expensive than using additional FTEs;

• Situations where the use of overtime may reduce operating costs relative to hiring additional FTEs include:

o Accommodating higher than average service requirements (e.g. seasonal and occasional peaks in demand, etc.); and

o Addressing temporary vacancies within an organization where staffing actions are pending.

• The additional cost of using overtime versus hiring extra FTEs may also be somewhat offset by the fact that no additional benefit costs are incurred when using existing employees at an overtime rate of pay, whereas additional employees would increase the total benefit costs.

2.4.6 Results of the Previous Transit Operator Establishment Review

In 2004, the City commissioned the Transit Operator Establishment Review that evaluated overtime usage for Transit Services. This study concluded that in some cases it was more cost-effective to use overtime rather than to establish a higher FTE head-count.

Some of the key findings and recommendations from this study included the following:

• The use of some overtime, especially on Sundays, cost less than regular wages due to additional benefit costs and Sunday shift premiums for regular wages;

• Transit Services should decrease time for recruiting and training, reduce time for other assignments and reduce the use of extensions (i.e. work days that are extended by traffic, accidents, etc.);

• Contractual overtime was inevitable without changes to the collective agreement or allocation of work to “pieces”; and

• The ratio of overtime hours to regular service hours should be increased from 5% to 8.7%. Transit Services responded with revising this percentage to 6.5% as they felt it was more appropriate to implement an incremental approach to increasing overtime hours. Transit Services will re-evaluate this percentage as they increase it over time.

The implementation of recommendations from this study, as well as, the implementation of recommendations from the Audit of Overtime Costs (2002) has contributed to Income Protection Plan (IPP)/Sick Benefit premium savings of approximately $400,000 when comparing Q1 of 2006 to Q1 of 2005, as reported by Transit Services.

The scope of this Branch-by-Branch Overtime Review did not include a comprehensive audit of all of the factors affecting the identified savings achieved by the branch in the past year. Nonetheless, the recommendations of this previous study were relevant and appropriate and are generally being implemented in the branch. In particular, some of the study’s recommendations such as improving attendance, reviewing collective agreement conditions, and controlling extensions should be direct contributors to achieving reductions in overtime in the future. In addition, since Transit Services has by far the highest overtime costs of any City branch, any improvements in the reduction of overtime usage in this branch should provide significant reductions for the City’s overall overtime expenditures.

2.4.7 Other Overtime Considerations

Vacation Schedules

The timing and scheduling of employee vacations was also identified as a possible driver of overtime usage. Due to the timing of vacations, and the number of employees that request vacation time-off during peak times (i.e. summer, Christmas and spring break vacation periods), there is the potential for increased usage of overtime to cover for vacationing employees. Although it was not possible within the scope of this project to analyze vacation schedules for all the branches, it should be incumbent upon each branch to manage and schedule vacations appropriately around peak vacation times.

The effect of vacation schedules on overtime usage could be further studied across the City. This again would require further detailed analysis of scheduling, collective agreements, and would require the development of tools and/or methods to track this causality.

Collective Agreements

Most branches have multiple collective agreements that govern overtime usage within the branch. This requires branch management to have a thorough understanding of the provisions of these agreements and their effect on overtime usage within their branch.

The correlation of overtime usage with collective agreements (either problematic provisions and/or inconsistent interpretation of collective agreements) was not found to be a significant issue for most branches, as a result of this review. In any case, it should be noted that all of the branch’s collective agreements pay overtime premiums once normal daily and/or weekly hours are reached and all of these thresholds are below the mandatory level as specified in the Employment Standards Act (ESA) and the Canada Labour Code (CLC), which require organizations to pay overtime after 44 hours (ESA) and after 48 hours (CLC) are worked in a week.

2.5 Summary of Findings

The following points are the most salient observations that arise from the analysis of the findings:

· Total overtime expenditures for the City in 2005 were $28.8 million (excluding Police Services) and $32.8 million (including Police Services);

· Overtime expenditures account for approximately 4% of the total compensation budget and for branches with the highest use of overtime, the total overtime expenditures are approximately 6% of the total compensation budget;

· Twenty-two (22) of the thirty-one (31) branches incur relatively low expenditures on overtime, with an average of $125,000 for 2005, while the remaining nine (9) branches each incurred over $1 million in overtime expenditures for 2005;

· 90% of the City’s overtime spending is accounted for by nine (9) of the thirty-one (31) branches;

· As would be expected, higher overtime expenditures are generally associated with branches that have front-line operations. Front-line operations create a greater need for overtime usage to meet levels of service expectations and requirements. Most of the nine (9) branches that spent over $1 million each in overtime have 24/7 operations and provide citizen-facing services;

· The variance between the City’s planned and actual overtime has been substantial over the past three (3) years. While the variance has improved from 2003 to 2005, the overtime incurred in 2005 was still 49% over budget. All but five (5) branches were over budget in 2005;

· Budget variances in many branches are substantial (greater than 50%) indicating that the base overtime budgets for most of the branches do not accurately reflect current overtime requirements;

· The degree of correlation between absenteeism and overtime use across the city is low, although there is a slightly stronger correlation between absenteeism and overtime use in the branches with the highest use of overtime. The average annual absenteeism rate per employee for the five (5) branches with the highest use of overtime was 12.6 days/employee, as compared to the 10.3 days/employee average for the City;

· Overtime pay on statutory holidays accounted for 9% of the City’s total overtime costs in 2005;

• Overtime policies and procedures are not consistent across the City and in many cases documented policies and procedures are not in place;

• Most branches do not have a formal system in place to track the causes of overtime which can lead to problems in analysing and managing overtime usage;

• For this review, the key drivers of overtime were identified and categorized as discretionary and non-discretionary overtime (discretionary overtime was defined as “there is a choice as to whether to allow overtime or not” and non-discretionary overtime was defined as “there is no choice, or no other options, but to allow overtime”). The proportion of the overtime drivers was determined to be 82% non-discretionary overtime and 18% discretionary overtime[3];

• The use of overtime is, in many cases, a cost-effective means to maintain service levels.

3 Recommendations – Corporate-wide

3.1 Introduction

This section provides a detailed analysis of some of the findings and issues with respect to the usage of overtime and identifies recommendations to improve the overall management of overtime across the City.

3.2 Areas for Improvement

There are five (5) key elements to the effective management of overtime expenditures and these elements include: overtime policies and procedures, overtime budgeting, overtime management and control, overtime recording/coding, and overtime tracking and reporting.

Overtime policies and procedures provide overall guidance and direction for the effective management of overtime by City managers. Effective management of overtime usage begins with overtime budgeting and is monitored through the management and control activities. Overtime must also be appropriately recorded and coded so that it can be accurately tracked and reported. The following diagram provides a graphical flow chart of this management process:

The following section provides more detailed analysis of specific findings and recommendations for improvement for each of these overtime elements.

3.2.1 Overtime Policies and Procedures

Analysis

Overtime policies and procedures are areas for improvement across the City. Overtime policy and procedure issues were identified in the following areas:

• There is a lack of formal and documented overtime policies across most branches. This can lead to lack of clarity on overtime policies and inconsistency in practice with regard to overtime usage and management; and

• There is a lack of formal and documented overtime procedures across most branches. This can lead to unclear guidelines for City managers and inconsistent controls of overtime usage.

There is a mixed use of informal and formal and documented overtime policies. Many branches have no formal overtime policies. Several branches refer to the relevant collective agreements to guide overtime policies and some branches have formal and documented overtime policies (i.e. Utility Services - Overtime Policy/Procedure document, Paramedic Services – Policy and Procedure Manual, Fire Services- Fire Services Policies Book, etc.).

There are also differences across the branches in terms of the use of formal and documented overtime procedures. Some branches have no formal and documented procedures while others have some level of documented procedures. Many branches reported that they had overtime procedures although they were not formally documented.

To enable consistent overtime practices to be applied within a branch, it is necessary to have formal and documented policies and procedures. This ensures that there is consistency for the application of overtime and that there are clear procedures for coding and tracking overtime. This would also provide guidance to managers and staff to understand the situations where overtime should be utilized and clarify the procedures for requesting and approving overtime.

For the development of improved overtime policies and procedures, each branch should define and categorize potential overtime drivers into either discretionary or non-discretionary categories. This would ensure that there is consistency for utilizing overtime within and across branches. Several branches (e.g. Utility Services, Paramedic Services, etc.) have also determined that it may be more appropriate to further define non-discretionary overtime into planned and unplanned categories. For example, Utility Services has established definitions for discretionary and non-discretionary overtime and planned and unplanned overtime. They have also developed guidelines for unplanned overtime and provide examples of situations where unplanned overtime would be justified.

A city-wide overtime policy should be developed that identifies the overall policy direction for City managers with regard to the acceptable use of overtime, the expectations of how City managers are to budget, manage and control for the use of overtime, and the requirements for reporting on the use of overtime in their branches and divisions.

City-wide overtime procedures should also be developed that address key elements of the overall overtime process including defining discretionary versus non-discretionary overtime, requesting and approving overtime, overtime recording/coding, and overtime tracking and reporting. Some branches may need to further develop branch-specific overtime procedures due to the greater complexity of their operations.

Any new overtime policies and/or procedures that are developed by the branches should be reviewed and approved by the Deputy City Manager and/or the Executive Management Committee (EMC) in order to ensure consistency across the City branches.

Recommendations

• Recommendation 1 – Develop Overtime Policies – The Employee Services branch should develop a corporate-wide overtime policy. This policy should identify the overall direction for City managers with regard to the acceptable use of overtime, the expectations for how City managers are to budget, manage and control for the use of overtime, and the requirements for reporting on the use of overtime in their branches and divisions.

• Recommendation 2 – Develop Overtime Procedures – The Employee Services branch should develop corporate-wide overtime procedures. These procedures should include definitions of discretionary versus non-discretionary overtime, procedures for requesting and approving overtime, procedures for overtime recording/coding, and procedures for overtime tracking and reporting. Some branches may need to further develop branch-specific overtime procedures in order to address their specific operational requirements.

3.2.2 Overtime Budgeting

Analysis

The overtime budgeting process across the City is another key area for improvement. Overtime budgeting issues were identified in the base budgeting process and in tracking and linking overtime directly to the revenue earned and/or the costs recovered.

Base budgeting process

The annual base budget process does not usually accommodate for any increases to the overtime base budget. This process also does not accurately reflect the required overtime needs of a branch. This has led to continual variances between the planned and actual overtime budgets for most branches, over the past three years.

In order to develop the budget requirements for the upcoming year, the Financial Planning branch sends out a request to the FSU Managers to have them meet with their respective client departments to identify the budget pressures for the upcoming year (both expenditure/revenue pressures and/or opportunities). These budget pressures are then reviewed by the Executive Management Committee (EMC). The final approved level of budget pressures are incorporated into the draft operating budget which is then tabled with Council. Following extensive public consultation and review by the City's Committee of the Whole, the budget is then approved by Council.

For many branches, budgeted overtime provisions have not been maintained and/or do not reflect their estimated needs. In 2005, only five (5) branches utilized less overtime than their planned overtime budget. Problems with base budgeting has also resulted in significant variances between the actual and planned overtime budgets across most branches.

Several other branches (e.g. Library Services, Parks and Recreation, Cultural Services and Community Funding, etc.) have no planned overtime budget but do incur overtime costs due to operational needs.

An overtime base budget should be established for all branches that incur overtime expenditures in order to provide for more accurate budgeting and monitoring of overtime costs. It should also be noted that the 2005 Audit of Overtime Report stated that a “well-prepared budget can determine what is expected within an organization and help prepare its future”.

Revenue earned and cost recoveries

Revenue earned and cost recoveries are reported separately from expenditures in the budget and sometimes the association between the overtime that was worked to earn this revenue and/or for the costs recovered is not apparent. This can lead to inaccuracies in identifying true overtime costs as these costs may be offset by revenue earned and/or costs recovered.

Some branches earn revenues and/or receive cost recoveries that offset the corresponding costs of overtime usage. An example of revenue earned is staffing paramedics at a hockey game (i.e. overtime would be paid for by the hockey centre). An example of a cost recovery is that the CACC-Dispatch division within Paramedic Services is funded by the Ministry of Health.

If the revenue earned/cost recoveries and overtime were tracked together, the net cost of overtime to the City would actually be lower than is currently being reported on the overtime line item. To more accurately identify overtime that is offset/balanced by revenue earned/costs recovered versus true overtime costs, a separate cost code on timesheets and in SAP should be developed to more accurately track overtime directly linked to the revenue earned and/or the costs recovered.

Recommendations

• Recommendation 3 – Develop Overtime Base Budgets – Appropriate overtime base budgets need to be established and implemented in order to more accurately account for and justify the overtime requirements of the branches.

• Recommendation 4 – Adjust Overtime Base Budgets - For fiscal year 2006, each branch should be granted a one time base budget adjustment to more accurately reflect actual overtime costs. After this one time adjustment, further changes should be made on a case-by-case basis.

• Recommendation 5 – Track Overtime to Revenue Earned/Costs Recovered – New cost codes should be established on timesheets and in SAP to more accurately track and link overtime directly to the revenue earned and/or the costs recovered.

3.2.3 Overtime Management and Control

Analysis

The management and control of overtime is another area for improvement. Overtime management and control issues were identified in the following area:

§ Inadequate branch service level requirements have led to challenges in planning for and managing overtime.

The City branches provide a wide variety of services both externally to the public, as well as, internally to other branches. Service levels will vary depending on a number of factors including whether the service level is mandated or not.

Service levels have been established in the following areas:

• Services provided by some branches have service levels that are governed by provincial legislation (e.g. Utility Services, Building Services and Housing);

• Services provided by some branches have service levels that are Council directed (e.g. Surface Operations and Transit Services); and

• For those branches that primarily provide internally-focused services, there are service level agreements in place which outline, in detail, the level of service provided.

There are also some areas that lack clearly defined service levels and include:

• Mayor and/or Councillor requests;

• Evening meetings; and

• Non-emergency after hour service requests.

While some service levels have been established and defined, other branches and/or areas have unclear or no service levels requirements. This lack of comprehensive service level requirements for branches results in:

• Additional uncertainty with the overtime base budgeting process;

• Difficulties in managing overtime expenditures while trying to maintain service levels; and

• Lack of clarity between the appropriate balance between maintaining service levels and overtime usage (i.e. for City Council, the public, etc.).

Recommendation

• Recommendation 6 – Define Service Levels – Service level requirements for each branch should be more clearly defined to enable branch management to more accurately plan for and manage overtime costs that are incurred to achieve targeted service levels.

3.2.4 Overtime Recording/Coding

Analysis

The recording/coding of overtime is another area for improvement. Overtime recording/coding issues were identified in the following area:

• For the recording of statutory holidays, the City is not treating the premium pay for working on a statutory holiday consistently throughout the organization. This inconsistency will have an impact on how overtime is being reported, managed, and controlled.

An overview of the overtime procedures, including recording and inputting overtime data into SAP, is described in the Findings section of this report.

For all statutory holidays worked in 2005, the Payroll division has identified several issues and inconsistencies with the coding for the statutory holidays. These coding inconsistencies will have an impact on how overtime is being reported. The Payroll division is doing a detailed review of the wage types that are utilized on a statutory holiday for all the unions and is working with Finance to ensure that the wage types are consistently mapped in the future.

This overtime recording/coding issue has also led to discrepancies in analyzing the impact of overtime on statutory holidays. If statutory holiday overtime was reported consistently across the branches then total overtime on statutory holidays would decrease approximately 55%, from $2.7M to $1.2M.

Consistent overtime recording/coding needs to be implemented in order to ensure the accurate control and management of overtime usage.

Recommendation

• Recommendation 7 – Record/Code Overtime – Common procedures for recording/coding of overtime should be implemented across all branches to ensure that overtime costs are being consistently tracked and reported. This recommendation includes:

o Review and revise the relevant handbooks to update codes, etc., as necessary; and

o Communicate any recording/coding issues, new codes, etc. through training and/or update bulletins, as necessary.

3.2.5 Overtime Tracking and Reporting

Analysis

The tracking and reporting of overtime is another key area for improvement. Overtime tracking and reporting issues were identified in the following area:

• Most branches do not have SAP modules/processes in place for tracking, analyzing, and reporting overtime causes and this can lead to challenges in planning and managing overtime.

Although the SAP system is adequate for tracking actual overtime usage, the system is limited in its analysis and reporting capabilities. This has resulted in branches using and/or developing alternative systems or tools to manipulate SAP data for ease of analysis and reporting. Currently the SAP system also has limitations around the ability to track the actual causes of overtime usage.

Most branches cannot track overtime causes in SAP. There is one additional SAP module that can be added that allows for this capability. This module is called Plant Maintenance (PM), which primarily tracks work orders and the assets that these work orders are done against but it also has the capability of tracking overtime causes. This module is used by a few branches including Real Property Asset Management (RPAM) and Fleet Services but is used primarily for other reasons (e.g. managing the life cycle of assets – buildings, vehicles, etc.) rather than tracking overtime causes. The cost of this module is fairly high and a cost benefit analysis would need to be conducted before considering this module for other branches.

Some branches have added additional systems, other than SAP, primarily to assist in scheduling and tracking resources. Some of these systems also allow for more detailed tracking of overtime costs. For example, Paramedic Services has implemented the Telestaff system which is a web-based scheduling tool that also tracks overtime. Telestaff uses the same overtime codes as SAP but breaks down each code in more detail and can track overtime usage more effectively. Several branches also employ other methods and tools to track overtime causes, e.g. MS Excel.

The majority of the branches also work with their FSU Account Manager to review and analyze SAP data. The analysis of the overtime data consists primarily of the budgeted versus actual overtime costs, budgeted versus actual total compensation costs, and individual staff overtime usage. Although SAP access has been granted to all branch directors and division managers, most branch managers do not run their own SAP reports. Many of the reports and data from SAP are not viewed as user-friendly and the information can be presented more clearly once put into MS Excel. Most of the branch management have been trained on SAP but FSU Account Managers acknowledge that SAP is not easy to use for anyone who is not a regular user of the system. One recent improvement, that was implemented in May, 2006, was to make some of the Human Resource (HR) and Finance Reports available through the City’s intranet allowing users to bypass the SAP system altogether. This includes one HR report that tracks overtime used by employees.

Inconsistent tracking, analysis, and reporting of overtime causes can lead to incomplete overtime metrics which can lead to problems with the management of overtime usage.

Recommendation

• Recommendation 8 - Track Overtime Causes – New cost codes should be established on timesheets and in SAP to track and report overtime causes.

4 Findings and Recommendations – Individual Branches

4.1 Introduction

Over 90% of the City of Ottawa’s overtime expenditures come from the following nine (9) branches:

• Transit Services;

• Fleet Services;

• Surface Operations;

• Utility Services;

• Paramedic Services;

• Real Property Asset Management;

• Traffic and Parking Operations;

• Infrastructure Services; and

• Fire Services.

There are a variety of reasons for these branches to have higher overtime spending requirements, including the type of services they provide (emergency services, 24/7 operations, etc.), as well as, the larger size of their operations relative to many of the other branches. With such a high concentration of overtime costs occurring in these branches, it is clear that to effect any meaningful changes in overall overtime spending the focus would have to be on these branches.

This section of the report provides a more in-depth review of overtime usage within each of these branches in order to identify opportunities for improvements. As well, a summary is provided for the other twenty-two (22) branches at the end of this section. For each branch, and for the other twenty-two (22) branches, this section provides the following information and analysis:

• An overview of the branch operations;

• Relevant overtime findings including: summary of overtime data; non-discretionary and discretionary overtime drivers; overtime policies and procedures; overtime tracking capabilities; overtime initiatives; collective agreements; and overtime cost recoveries.

• A summary assessment for each branch including areas of success, as well as, areas for improvement for overtime usage; and

• Branch-specific recommendations for improving overtime usage within the branch. Although most of the corporate-wide recommendations apply to these nine (9) branches as well, most of the corporate-wide recommendations will not be repeated in this section again.

4.2 Transit Services

4.2.1 Overview

Transit Services develops and maintains the City’s public transportation system. The branch’s key strategic objectives are to:

• Meet the mobility needs of residents, businesses, schools and visitors as envisioned by the Ottawa Transportation Master Plan; and

• To meet commitments in the Environmental Strategy.

Transit Services is a 24/7 operation that services the public directly. Key operational metrics for the branch include:

• Employs over 1,500 operators and 200 support personnel;

• Serves approximately 90 million passengers a year;

• Operates approximately 800 buses actively in service; and

• Provides over 220 bus routes to the greater-Ottawa area.

4.2.2 Findings

Overtime Data

The table below summarizes information relevant to the use of overtime in Transit Services for the year 2005.

Data		Comments
Overtime - Planned	$6.46 million
Overtime - Actual	$10.44 million	Above the City average of $0.93 million
Overtime - Variance (Planned/Actual)	62%	Above the City average of 49%
Overtime per FTE	$5,963	Above the City average of $2,624
Overtime - Percentage of Compensation Budget	9.1%	Above the City average of 3.8%
Absenteeism	14.72 days/employee	Above the City average of 10.3 days/employee

Figure 15 – Overtime data for Transit Services (2005)

Overtime Drivers

Non-Discretionary Overtime

Drivers of non-discretionary overtime in Transit Services include the following:

· Service level requirements, vacancies, and absenteeism:

o Service Level Requirements – Transit Services publishes a transit schedule that the branch strives to meet with at least 99.5% reliability. There are a number of factors that can threaten the branch’s ability to meet this target, such as absenteeism and vacancies. Transit Services compensates for these operator shortages by using overtime. Other potential options, such as using a pool of casual employees to backfill, cannot be pursued by Transit Services due to collective agreements;

o Vacancies – The branch did not reach the approved FTE count for Bus Operators in 2005 because of a hiring freeze and delays in recruiting; and

o Absenteeism - Reasons for absenteeism in this branch include sickness (daily, LTD, etc.), WSIB, unfilled vacancies, union time-off, relief responsibilities (instructors, supervisors and dispatchers who are Bus Operators in their substantive position), committee participation, training, leaves-of absence, special permissions, bad weather, and attending committee meetings.

· Special Provisions of the Collective Agreements – Collective agreements within Transit Services guarantees that newer/junior staff are allowed weekend time-off in an effort to improve their work-life balance. The weekend shifts that newer employees filled, at regular time, are now filled on a volunteer basis by senior operators. Senior operators are paid overtime for these weekend shifts, as these hours are over and above their regular weekly shifts. At the time that this provision was included in the collective agreement, it was estimated that the resulting overtime costs would be in excess of $700,000 per year;

• Extended bus shifts due to unforeseen factors (e.g. traffic, construction, weather, etc.);

• Special events – Transit Services may know ahead of time that a special event will occur but may not know the exact date/time, and this can then lead to overtime usage. This is considered a planned event but not a scheduled event;

• Emergency incidents;

• Low frequency routes (i.e. rural routes, etc.); and

• Last trip of the day situations.

Discretionary Overtime:

Some of the causes of discretionary overtime in Transit Services include:

• New service requests, such as Census Route 10; and

• Backfilling for non-operator illness, such as a supervisor position.

Overtime Policies and Procedures

Overtime policies are based on collective agreements and are documented in the manual “Booking Rules for Bus Operators”. Sections of the manuals are periodically posted on bulletin boards.

Overtime Tracking

Transit Services uses SAP in conjunction with the Work Management System (WMS) to track and report on overtime usage. WMS has the added functionality that allows Transit Services to maintain shift schedules, enter overtime caps to monitor allowable overtime hours, and to track the reasons for additional time being requested by operators.

Overtime Initiatives

Previous Overtime Audits/Studies:

· 2002 Audit of Overtime Costs – Some of the key recommendations from this Audit indicated several improvement areas in regards to overtime usage. They are summarized in the table below.

Recommendation	Management Response
· Enforce bi-weekly platform hour cap	· Implemented an automated system to monitor and enforce cap in 2004
· Establish an overtime budget based on business requirements	· Operator establishment was increased to reflect the approved service increases · Completed a comprehensive establishment review (KPMG Study)
· Conduct a detailed analysis to demonstrate when the use of overtime is more cost effective than new hires	· Completed the KPMG – Transit Operator Establishment Review in October 2004
· Reduce the use of extensions and develop guidelines for their use	· Agreed and complied
· Reduce absenteeism by two days per operator in the short-term	· Agreed and reinstated medical certification requirement in April, 2005

Figure 16 – Previous audit results for Transit Services

• 2004 Transit Operator Establishment Review – The findings and recommendations from this study included the following:

o The use of some overtime, especially on Sundays, cost less than regular wages due to additional benefit costs and Sunday shift premiums for regular wages;

o Transit Services should decrease time for recruiting and training, reduce time for “other assignments” and reduce the use of extensions;

o Contractual overtime was inevitable without changes to the collective agreement or allocation of work to “pieces”; and

o The ratio of overtime hours to regular service hours should be increased from 5% to 8.7%. Transit Services responded with revising this percentage to 6.5% as they felt it was more appropriate to implement an incremental approach to increasing overtime hours. Transit Services will re-evaluate this percentage as they increase it over time.

The implementation of recommendations from this study, and implementation of recommendations from the Audit of Overtime Costs (2002), have contributed to Income Protection Plan (IPP)/Sick Benefit premium savings of approximately $400,000 when comparing Q1 of 2006 to Q1 of 2005, as reported by Transit Services.

Current Initiatives to Improve Overtime Usage:

· Income Protection Plan (IPP)/Sick Benefit Eligibility – The branch now requires all employees to provide a physician’s note after more than 6+ sick days/year;

· Attendance Improvement Program (AIP) – Tracking of staff that are off greater than three (3) days per quarter and moving problematic personnel through the six steps for non-culpable absenteeism;

· Culpable absenteeism – Tracking staff that are establishing pattern absenteeism and implementing progressive discipline;

· Benchmarking – The branch is looking at other transit organizations for best practices to examine opportunities to improve overtime usage (i.e. implementing mobile shifts, etc);

· Streamlined recruiting – A more efficient process has been initiated to decrease the amount of time it takes to fill a vacancy in the Bus Operator group;

· Backfilling positions – The branch is now able to hire full time staff to replace union executives who are in the office full-time, thus reducing the number of vacancies that need to be covered by overtime; and

· Leaves of Absence Requests – The branch no longer approves all requests for leaves of absence, especially if they would be shorthanded of staff.

Collective Agreements

Transit Services employees are represented by the ATU 1760, ATU 279, and the CUPE 5500 collective agreements. All of these collective agreements pay overtime premiums once normal daily and/or weekly hours are reached and all of these thresholds are below the mandatory level as specified in the Employment Standards Act (ESA) and the Canada Labour Code (CLC), which require organizations to pay overtime after 44 hours (ESA) and after 48 hours (CLC) are worked in a week.

Cost Recoveries

Transit Services receives some cost recoveries, under special circumstances, but these cost recoveries do not make up a significant percentage of overtime costs for the branch. An example of a cost recovery that was received by Transit Services was for the additional service that was provided for the extra routes added for census workers. This additional service resulted in overtime expenditures although some cost recoveries were received from the Federal Government for these services provided by the branch.

4.2.3 Areas for Improvement

Transit Services are currently implementing a number of overtime initiatives that should improve overtime usage, such as streamlining recruitment, conducting benchmarking studies, requiring a physician’s note after 6+ sick days (for IPP), and implementing the AIP to reduce absenteeism.

Transit Services main drivers of overtime appear to be absenteeism and vacancies and the resulting potential impact on service levels as well as relevant provisions of the collective agreements. Any reductions in overtime would have to come from improving absenteeism and filling vacancies, reducing service levels, and/or implementing alterations to the collective agreements. While it is recognized that lowering service levels will result in some resistance from the public and that proposed changes to the collective agreements will be met with significant resistance from the unions, these options should be evaluated due to the potential overtime cost savings.

4.2.4 Recommendations

· Recommendation 1 – Reduce Absenteeism – Transit Services should continue to focus on reducing absenteeism.

· Recommendation 2 – Improve Process to Fill Vacancies – Transit Services should continue to focus on improving its process for recruiting and filling vacancies for Bus Operators.

· Recommendation 3 – Review Target Service Levels on Overtime – Transit Services should review target service level of 99.5% against similar organizations so they can assess the appropriateness of this targeted service-level benchmark.

· Recommendation 4 – Review Collective Agreements – Transit Services should consider re-negotiating the collective agreements in regards to the use of overtime on weekends by senior staff.

4.3 Fleet Services

4.3.1 Overview

Fleet Services supports the equipment needs of the City by providing equipment management services and advice to City departments so they can make efficient use of the existing equipment and infrastructure.

The branch’s major services include fleet maintenance, life-cycle management, and operations:

· Fleet maintenance services include the general maintenance, inspection, and repair of City vehicles and equipment;

· Life-cycle management services includes the development of vehicle and equipment acquisition plans and support programs, the optimization of replacement cycles, the development of new specifications, monitoring adherence to standards and performing safety investigations, and coordinating initiatives to reduce emissions and environmental impacts of the City vehicle and equipment pool; and

· Operations services include managing the City’s vehicle operator training, fuel management, operating and managing an integrated vehicle and equipment management information system, as well as, all other operational and administrative activities related to the daily operation of the City’s vehicle and equipment pool.

4.3.2 Findings

Overtime Data

The table below summarizes information relevant to the use of overtime in Fleet Services for the year 2005.

Data		Comments
Overtime - Planned	$1.45 million
Overtime - Actual	$3.64 million	Above the City average of $0.93 million
Overtime - Variance (Planned/Actual)	151%	Above the City average of 49%
Overtime per FTE	$6,569	Above the City average of $2,624
Overtime - Percentage of Compensation Budget	9.1%	Above the City average of 3.8%
Absenteeism	12.2 days/employee	Above the City average of 10.3 days/employee

Figure 17 – Overtime data for Fleet Services (2005)

Overtime Drivers

Non-Discretionary Overtime

Fleet Service’s non-discretionary overtime drivers include:

· Service Levels - In 2001, the branch met service levels 60%-70% of the time but they now operate at 95% service levels. This requires the use of overtime to maintain this improved service level;

· Accidents – The number of vehicle accidents increased significantly in 2005;

· Unplanned Leaves – Unplanned leaves of absence (i.e. LTD, WSIB, sick days) increased significantly in 2005 as reported by Fleet Services;

· Weather Conditions – Adverse weather conditions, which can cause an increase in the number of breakdowns and/or additional towing operations; and

· Vacancies – Delays in hiring staff to meet replacement and growth requirements. This area is starting to improve due to having HR reports on upcoming retirements, etc.

Discretionary Overtime:

Fleet Service’s discretionary overtime drivers include:

· Planned Absenteeism – this includes vacation (e.g. overtime is needed to offset impact of employees taking vacation), training (e.g. workers on midnight shift get trained during the day, outside of their regular hours), meetings, union grievances, Health & Safety committees, working groups, etc.

· Accommodating for modified job duties (for staff that have job restrictions due to injury, etc.) which can cause an increase in overtime usage.

Overtime Policies and Procedures

Fleet Services does not have any officially documented overtime policies and procedures beyond those stated in the collective agreements. The branch does, however, post bulletins periodically to reiterate the overtime procedures.

Overtime Tracking

Overtime is currently being tracked by Fleet Services through SAP and the M4 System. The M4 system records premium rates (premium differentials for different labour types).

Overtime Initiatives

Previous Overtime Audits/Studies:

· 2002 Audit of Overtime Costs – Some of the key recommendations from this Audit indicated several improvement areas in regards to overtime usage. They are summarized in the table below.

Recommendation	Management Response
· Address staffing deficiencies	· Staffing issues have been addressed and improved through utilizing HR reports. These reports have been helpful for identifying annual recruitment and hiring needs
· Address absenteeism	· The issue of attendance still needs additional attention. The branch has pursued the corporate-wide AIP process

Figure 18 – Previous audit results for Fleet Services

Current Initiatives to Improve Overtime Usage:

The following initiatives have been undertaken by Fleet Services to help reduce overtime usage:

· The previous open overtime process has been closed (i.e. posting overtime available and staff would sign-up/bid on overtime);

· Shift Restructuring – Shifts are being restructured to off-peak times for maintenance to keep more buses on the road and to improve service levels while minimizing overtime;

· Resource Restructuring – Increased responsibility and accountability has been assigned to program managers and supervisors, which will aid in minimizing overtime use in their respective areas;

· Optimization Studies – The branch has undertaken several studies including an examination of usage-based service (vs. time-based service) to optimize the time required for inspections and a review to reduce bus repairs through preventative maintenance; and

· Improved IT System – The branch has identified the need for a better FMIS system in Transit Fleet Maintenance that incorporates scheduling and planning features.

Collective Agreements

Fleet Services is represented by the ATU 279, ATU 1760, CIPP, CUPE 503 Inside/Outside, and CUPE 5500 collective agreements. All of these collective agreements pay overtime premiums once normal daily and/or weekly hours are reached and all of these thresholds are below the mandatory level as specified in the Employment Standards Act (ESA) and the Canada Labour Code (CLC), which require organizations to pay overtime after 44 hours (ESA) and after 48 hours (CLC) are worked in a week.

Cost Recoveries

Fleet Services recovers approximately $1 million in annual expenditures against the Bus Refurbishing capital project for Instruction-to-Service (ITS) and warranty work. Reimbursement from the manufacturer is not reflected in the compensation budget.

4.3.3 Areas for Improvement

Fleet Services has taken steps to reduce the use of overtime by restructuring shifts and resources, undertaking benchmarking and optimization studies, and identifying the need for an improved IT system for scheduling and planning.

Fleet Services is using substantially more overtime than most of the other City branches. The overtime used by Fleet Services is primarily non-discretionary but with the implementation of several overtime initiatives there may be the potential to make reductions in overtime usage. Fleet Services should continue to review and make improvements in tracking cost recoveries, improving its absenteeism rate, overtime policy and procedure development, and shift scheduling.

4.3.4 Recommendations

· Recommendation 1 – Track Overtime to Costs Recovered – In order to accurately reflect overtime expenditures, Fleet Services should track and report all overtime related cost-recoveries in conjunction with overtime costs.

· Recommendation 2 – Reduce Absenteeism - Fleet Services should continue to focus on reducing absenteeism.

· Recommendation 3 – Develop Overtime Policies and Procedures – Fleet Services should develop and document overtime policies and procedures. Employees should be properly trained on the use of these policies and procedures and managers and supervisors should ensure compliance with these policies and procedures.

· Recommendation 4 – Restructure Shift Schedules – Fleet Services should continue to review and change shift schedules, as necessary, in order to keep more buses on the road and improve service levels.

4.4 Surface Operations

4.4.1 Overview

Surface Operations are responsible for:

· Performing maintenance and emergency activities to ensure Ottawa has safe, dependable and clear roads, sidewalks and right-of-ways;

· Ensuring the preservation, protection and enhancement of parks, green spaces and forest cover for public use;

· Enhancing forest cover through tree planting in accordance with the City's Official Plan; and

· Maintaining the City’s road system, which includes 7,200 kilometres of roadways and more than 475 bridges, as well as, maintaining the over 200,000 trees that line the streets and other City property.

Due to the nature of its operations, Surface Operations is a 24/7 and front-line branch. The branch’s services are delivered to the City through three divisions within Surface Operations:

· Roads, Rights-of-Way and Sidewalks;

· Parks and Sports Field Maintenance; and

· Forestry Services.

4.4.2 Findings

Overtime Data

The table below summarizes information relevant to the use of overtime within Surface Operations for the year 2005.

Data		Comments
Overtime – Planned	$2.85 million
Overtime – Actual	$3.26 million	Above the City average of $0.93 million
Overtime – Variance (Planned/Actual)	14%	Below the City average of 49%
Overtime per FTE	$4,486	Above the City average of $2,624
Overtime - Percentage of Compensation Budget	7.1%	Above the City average of 3.8%
Absenteeism	11.21 days/employee	Above the City average of 10.3 days/employee

Figure 19 – Overtime data for Surface Operations (2005)

Overtime Drivers

Non-Discretionary Overtime:

The majority of overtime expenditures in Surface Operations (~82%) is spent during the winter months on winter-related activities such as snow and ice removal. Due to the unpredictability of the weather, the large number of evening hours involved and the urgent nature of these activities, the branch generally incurs overtime costs for these activities.

Other causes of non-discretionary overtime include:

• Unplanned events such as support for rallies at Parliament Hill (where barriers need to be used) and rain in the summer which can delay the cutting of grass until off-hours;

• Planned events, such as large festivals, that require barriers and other support;

• Working on statutory holidays; and

• Vacancies.

Discretionary Overtime:

Most of the discretionary overtime used in the Surface Operations branch comes from planned events, such as Canada Day or festivals. The branch cannot hire outside contractors to support these events due to the limitations imposed by the collective agreements.

Overtime Policies and Procedures

Surface Operations does not have any formal documented overtime policies and procedures in place.

Overtime Tracking

Surface Operations uses SAP to track overtime expenditures but the causes of overtime are not tracked.

Overtime Initiatives

Previous Overtime Audits/Studies:

· 2002 Audit of Overtime Costs – Some of the key recommendations from this Audit indicated several improvement areas in regards to overtime usage. They are summarized in the table below.

Recommendation

Management Response

· Review scheduling and adjust if possible to reduce the amount of overtime built into the booking processes.

· Management have implemented the following changes:

o Premiums and overtime provisions of the new collective agreement have been implemented across the branch;

o Weekend shift overtime premiums will be reviewed by an arbitrator for settlement; and

o Management now receives and reviews monthly financial reports that include overtime costs.

Figure 20 – Previous audit results for Surface Operations

Current Initiatives to Improve Overtime Usage:

As part of a current initiative within Surface Operations, there is an effort underway to improve reporting as the current data on overtime usage is not available at the level of detail that is desired. Management feels there needs to be more detail available and it needs to be tracked on a weekly basis. There is currently a pilot in Parks and Forestry Services where supervisors are reviewing the necessary changes to reporting so that accountability for overtime use will be at the supervisor level.

Collective Agreements

Surface Operations’ employees are represented by the CIPP and CUPE 503 Inside/Outside collective agreements. These collective agreements pay overtime premiums once normal weekly hours are reached and all of these thresholds are below the mandatory level as specified in the Employment Standards Act (ESA) which requires organizations to pay overtime after 44 hours are worked in a week.

Cost Recoveries

Surface Operations had cost recoveries of $29,173 (in 2005) which was received through various capital projects. As Surface Operations performs mainly maintenance activities, overtime recovery from capital projects is not a regular occurrence for the branch.

4.4.3 Areas for Improvement

Surface Operations is a large and complex 24/7 operation that requires the use of overtime to support its operations. The branch is well below the City average for overtime budget variance and they are in the process of improving its operations through a current initiative, which includes improving the reporting on the data details for overtime usage.

While overtime cannot be eliminated altogether, opportunities do exist to reduce the reliance on overtime.

In order to reduce the use of overtime, Surface Operations should focus its efforts on:

• Improving attendance (reduced absenteeism);

• Filling vacancies;

• Improving overtime tracking capabilities; and

• Developing and documenting overtime policies and procedures.

4.4.4 Recommendations

· Recommendation 1 – Reduce Absenteeism – Surface Operations should continue to monitor and reduce absenteeism in the branch.

· Recommendation 2 – Improve Process to Fill Vacancies – Surface Operations should continue to reduce the number of vacant positions within the branch.

· Recommendation 3 – Improve Overtime Tracking – Surface Operations should continue to ensure that more detailed overtime tracking capabilities are developed.

· Recommendation 4 – Develop Overtime Policies and Procedures – Surface Operations should develop and document overtime policies and procedures. Employees should be properly trained on the use of these policies and procedures and managers and supervisors should ensure compliance with these policies and procedures.

4.5 Utility Services

4.5.1 Overview

Utility Services has six divisions including; Drinking Water Services, Wastewater & Drainage, Customer Services , Solid Waste Services, Environment Program, and the Director’s Office. The core services of the branch have been defined as the provision of water, wastewater, and solid waste services that directly impact customers, their health and safety, prevention of environmental damage, and protection of the City infrastructure from loss.

Utility Services are a 24/7 branch and provide front-line/direct services to citizens. There are 532 budgeted FTEs within Utility Services.

4.5.2 Findings

Overtime Data

The table below summarizes information relevant to the use of overtime within Utility Services for the year 2005.

Data		Comments
Overtime - Planned	$1.6 million
Overtime - Actual	$2.1 million	Above the City average of $0.93 million
Overtime - Variance (Planned/Actual)	35%	Below the City average of 49%
Overtime per FTE	$4,165	Above the City average of $2,624
Overtime - Percentage of Compensation Budget	6.01%	Above the City average of 3.8%
Absenteeism	8.9 days/employee	Below the City average of 10.3 days/employee

Figure 21 – Overtime data for Utility Services (2005)

Overtime Drivers

Non-Discretionary Overtime:

The majority of the overtime drivers in Utility Services are non-discretionary and include:

• Service levels and emergency prevention - Unplanned overtime that is incurred to prevent customer service interruption; prevent property or environmental damage; avert regulatory infraction; avoid financial loss to the City, and/or mitigate imminent risks to the public health or safety;

• Unforeseen events - Extreme weather, power failures, critical equipment breakdown, chemical spills, fires, flooding, and/or maintain minimum shift coverage;

• Public enquiries; and

• Plant operations or maintenance that cannot be done during regular hours.

Discretionary Overtime:

Discretionary drivers of overtime in Utility Services include:

• Data input backlogs - Addressing the backlog of data inputting (i.e. data input to ITX-MMS (Maintenance Management System); and

• Providing reports to council.

Overtime Policies and Procedures

Utility Services branch has recently developed an Overtime Policy/Procedure document that provides definitions and examples of discretionary and non-discretionary overtime and also defines unplanned versus planned overtime.

Overtime Tracking

Overtime tracking varies by divisions within Utility Services but includes SAP, MS Outlook (i.e. for Heavy Equipment Operators, records when employees are off, which employees are working overtime, and records equipment issues), MS Excel, and logbooks. In the Solid Waste division, they utilize logbooks (as they don’t have SAP) and at the Trail Road landfill site, they utilize MS Outlook.

Overtime Initiatives

Previous Overtime Audits/Studies:

· 2005 Audit of Overtime – Some of the key recommendations from this Audit indicated several improvement areas in regards to overtime usage. They are summarized in the table below.

Recommendation	Management Response
· Monitor and manage overtime within the limits of the established overtime budget, independently from the compensation envelope	· Management agreed with this recommendation but will continue to work within the total compensation envelope to continue to provide front-line services where and when needed
· Conduct a more detailed review of the overtime budget annually, in conjunction with FTE levels and service levels, to reflect anticipated/optimum overtime expenditures	· Management agreed with this recommendation. Efforts will be made in documenting and analyzing the relationship between FTEs, overtime, and service levels
· Review shifts on a regular and ongoing basis ·	· Management agreed with this recommendation ·
· Update manuals, etc. (i.e. First Response Manual, etc)	· Management agreed with this recommendation. The branch recently developed the Overtime Policy/Procedure document (issue date: April 27, 2006) ·

Figure 22 – Previous audit results for Utility Services

Current Initiatives to Improve Overtime Usage:

· Currently, Utility Services is addressing and implementing the recommendations as specified in the Audit of Overtime 2005 Report.

Collective Agreements

Utility Service’s employees are represented by the CIPP and CUPE 503 Inside/Outside collective agreements. These collective agreements pay overtime premiums once normal weekly hours are reached and all of these thresholds are below the mandatory level as specified in the Employment Standards Act (ESA) which requires organizations to pay overtime after 44 hours are worked in a week.

Cost Recoveries

Most of the cost recoveries received by Utility Services is for the Water divisions (Drinking Water Services and Customer Services & Operational Support). In 2005, approximately $240,000 was charged to capital projects which the branch received cost recoveries for.

4.5.3 Areas for Improvement

Utility Services are a 24/7 operation that requires the use of non-discretionary overtime to meet service level demands. There will always be some unplanned overtime due to the 24/7 nature of the branch’s operations.

In 2005, Utility Services were below the City average for the variance between planned and actual overtime. They were also below the City average in absenteeism for 2005.

Overtime improvement areas were highlighted in the 2005 Audit of Overtime (as discussed previously). Some additional improvement areas that should also be considered include tracking cost recoveries.

4.5.4 Recommendations

· Recommendation 1 – Track Overtime to Costs Recovered – To accurately reflect overtime expenditures, Utility Services should track and report all overtime related cost-recoveries in conjunction with associated overtime costs.

4.6 Paramedic Services

4.6.1 Overview

Paramedic Services provides advanced medical care and transport to the Ottawa region. The branch delivers services through three divisions:

• Paramedic Operations provides care, treatment, and transport of emergency and non-emergency (medically-required) patients;

• Paramedic Technical Services provides and manages medical supplies and equipment; and

• Provincial Central Ambulance Communications Center (CACC) Contract manages the CACC contract for Eastern Ontario, which includes receiving requests from various sources such as 911 and health.

Paramedic Services are a 24/7 branch and provide front-line/direct services to citizens. The branch has 420 budgeted FTEs to deliver these services.

4.6.2 Findings

Overtime Data

The table below summarizes information relevant to the use of overtime within Paramedic Services for the year 2005.

Data		Comments
Overtime - Planned	1.5 million
Overtime - Actual	$2.0 million	Above the City average of $0.93 million
Overtime - Variance (Planned/Actual)	36%	Below the City average of 49%
Overtime per FTE	$4,861	Above the City average of $2,624
Overtime - Percentage of Compensation Budget	5.8%	Above the City average of 3.8%
Absenteeism	10.6 days/employee	Above the City average of 10.3 days/employee

Figure 23 – Overtime data for Paramedic Services (2005)

Overtime Drivers

Non-Discretionary Overtime:

For Paramedic Services, the majority of overtime drivers are non-discretionary and include:

· Planned events such hockey games at Scotiabank Place (also generates revenue as services are paid for by Scotiabank Place) and NCC events such as Winterlude;

· Statutory holidays (e.g. Paramedic Services receive three times the call volume on the Canada Day holiday);

· Unforeseen activities such as storms and accidents; and

· Emergencies – This can result in a paramedic extending their shift because an emergency call may cause them to have to work past their shift end.

Discretionary Overtime:

Discretionary drivers of overtime include:

• Overtime used by administrative staff; and

• Cuts implemented from the Universal Program Review.

Overtime Policies and Procedures

Overtime policies and procedures have been established by management and rules have been built into the TeleStaff software system. They are documented in the Policy and Procedure Manual and are also posted on the City’s intranet.

Overtime Tracking

Paramedic Services use SAP to track and report overtime usage. They also utilize TeleStaff, which is primarily a scheduling system that also tracks overtime usage. Telestaff utilizes the same overtime codes as SAP but breaks down each code in more detail in order to track overtime usage more effectively. Weekly reports, such as the Summary Payroll Report, are run from this system and are reviewed by management.

Overtime Initiatives

Previous Overtime Audits/Studies:

· 2002 Audit of Overtime Costs - Some of the key recommendations from this Audit indicated several improvement areas in regards to overtime usage. They are summarized in the table below.

Recommendation	Management Response
· Address the shortfall in the number of FTEs	· Implemented changes which reduced part-time positions and increased full-time staffing which has reduced overtime costs
· Reduce absenteeism	· Implemented the corporate-wide Attendance Improvement Program. From 2004 to 2005, there was a reduction in the absenteeism rate

Figure 24 – Previous audit results for Paramedic Services

Current Initiatives to Improve Overtime Usage:

· Paramedic Services is considering recruiting more candidates from college in the spring when a majority of students are graduating.

Collective Agreements

Paramedic Services employees are represented by the CIPP and CUPE 503 Inside/Outside collective agreements. The CIPP collective agreement states that if full-time workers work more than 39 hours/week and paramedics work more than 42 hours/week, they would be entitled to overtime pay at the rate of 1.5 times the hourly rate. The CUPE 503 Inside/Outside collective agreement requires that overtime be paid to salaried full-time workers for greater than 35 hours/week and for wage full-time workers for greater than 40 hours/week at a rate of 1.5 times the hourly rate.

The Employment Standards Act only requires organizations to pay overtime after 44 hours are worked in a week.

Cost Recoveries

Revenue earned and cost recoveries are components of budgeting for Paramedic Services. Revenue is earned by the branch staffing paramedics at hockey games (i.e. overtime would be paid for by the hockey centre). Cost recoveries are received for the CACC-Dispatch division, as this division is funded by the Ministry of Health.

4.6.3 Areas for Improvement

Paramedic Services are a 24/7 operation that requires the use of non-discretionary overtime to meet essential service demands. Paramedic Services have been able to reduce its absenteeism rate from 2004 to 2005. As well, revenue earned and cost recoveries compensate for some of the overtime expenditures incurred within the branch.

While overtime cannot be eliminated altogether, some opportunities do exist to reduce overtime usage. Some improvements could still be made in the areas of:

• Staffing;

• Absenteeism; and

• Tracking cost recoveries.

4.6.4 Recommendations

· Recommendation 1 – Review Staffing Needs – Paramedic Services should fully assess its appropriate staffing needs in order to meet call volumes and should receive budgetary approvals to meet these needs.

· Recommendation 2 – Reduce Absenteeism – Paramedic Services should continue to monitor and reduce absenteeism in the branch.

· Recommendation 3 – Track Overtime to Costs Recovered – To accurately reflect their overtime expenditures, Paramedic Services should track and report all overtime related cost-recoveries in conjunction with the associated overtime costs.

4.7 Real Property Asset Management

4.7.1 Overview

The Real Property Asset Management (RPAM) branch is responsible for rationalizing, designing, constructing and maintaining the City’s real property portfolio. Other objectives of the RPAM branch are to set maintenance standards for all City property and facilities, provide day-to-day facilities and property management services, provide professional advice in regards to Real Property, and develop and implement branch-wide policies, procedures, and standards for the management of the real property portfolio.

4.7.2 Findings

Overtime Data

The table below summarizes information relevant to the use of overtime within RPAM for the year 2005.

Data		Comments
Overtime - Planned	$1.52 million
Overtime - Actual	$1.31 million	Above the City average of $0.93 million
Overtime - Variance (Planned/Actual)	- 14%	Below the City average of 49%
Overtime per FTE	$1,864	Below the City average of $2,624
Overtime - Percentage of Compensation Budget	2.9%	Below the City average of 3.8%
Absenteeism	7.77 days/employee	Below the City average of 10.3 days/employee

Figure 25 – Overtime data for RPAM (2005)

Overtime Drivers

Non-Discretionary Overtime:

The majority of the overtime drivers for RPAM are non-discretionary and include:

· Unforeseen/unplanned emergencies - RPAM provides an on-call service to respond to unplanned/unforeseen emergencies such as gas leaks, water leaks, ammonia leaks, fire alarms, and vandalism. It is estimated that RPAM receives approximately 800 to 1000 of these calls annually. Other emergencies such as ice storms, electrical blackouts, or environmental cleanups may also result in unplanned overtime;

· Collective agreement provisions - The ESA requires that RPAM employees be paid overtime if they work on a statutory holiday. Many of RPAMs facilities operate on statutory holidays (i.e. pools, arenas, etc.) which requires the branch to pay overtime to these employees; and

· Absenteeism - Overtime is used to make up for absences in operation’s staff when part-time resources are unable to fill the absence. Some of the causes of absenteeism include vacation and illness.

Discretionary Overtime:

There are several circumstances that result in the use of discretionary overtime, including:

· Special events - Event-driven activities, such as those held in City parks, may result in discretionary overtime although sometimes these costs are recoverable;

· Special projects - Including within the Professional Services Division P3 projects, projects as determined by clients or Council, or from seasonal work that impacts project-load levelling; and

· Public meetings – Public consultations that are held after hours as part of the development process or as a result of a Councillor request, (e.g. extended legislative meetings with Council, Standing Committees, Advisory Committees, meetings with private landowners and developers) lead to the requirement for overtime.

An on-call service request system which prioritizes calls as Emergency, Urgent, Routine, or Deferred helps the RPAM branch to minimize discretionary overtime.

Overtime Policies and Procedures

RPAM has developed documented overtime processes, SAP coding and on-call procedures, and system reviews that have helped to improve the management of overtime in the branch. These processes and procedures are documented and employees are trained on their effective use (i.e. orientation on procedures, SAP training, and completion of activity sheets).

Current payroll procedures are designed to reinforce the appropriate use of overtime by requiring documentation of the reason for the overtime incurred. This is generally consistent across all divisions with the exception of the operational divisions, which use activity sheets to report overtime. The implementation and use of activity sheets has proven instrumental in monitoring overtime in the operational divisions.

In the professional groups, authorized overtime hours are recorded as part of the exception reporting, approved accordingly, and recorded in Human Resources.

Overtime Tracking

RPAM has recently implemented a new process for tracking overtime as a result of the 2005 Audit of Overtime. Overtime can now be tracked and attributed to specific causes and is recorded in the activity reporting component of the Plant Maintenance (PM) module of SAP.

Overtime Initiatives

Previous Overtime Audits/Studies:

· 2005 Audit of Overtime – Some of the key recommendations from this Audit indicated several improvement areas in regards to overtime usage. They are summarized in the table below.

Recommendation	Management Response
· Continue to monitor and manage overtime within the limits of established overtime budget	· Have continued to monitor and manage overtime through well-established procedures and SAP tracking system
· Require that staff provide a rationale and justification on the daily Maintenance Activity Sheets as to the reason for any overtime claimed	· Overtime documentation, including Maintenance Activity Sheets, include the reason that overtime was used

Figure 26 – Previous audit results for RPAM

Current Initiatives to Improve Overtime Usage:

· The following initiatives have been undertaken by RPAM to reduce the use of overtime:

o Time Tracking – Consistent time tracking guidelines were developed and time tracking was implemented for some of RPAM’s divisions with the remaining divisions to follow;

o On-Call Incident Reports – On-call procedures require that employees record the details of the incident and send the report to the service desk. The procedures are well-documented and reporting occurs on a monthly basis. The on-call reports have an extensive analysis of the number, cause, facilities, and staff involved in the incident in order to better understand trends, etc.;

o Part-Time Resources – Districts have pooled their casual/part-time employees who can be called in to work on short notice (i.e. to respond to an unforeseen event, etc.). These resources are only used to replace employees who are required for operations; and

o Client Charge Back – Programs that extend beyond the normal hours of operations, and thus cause overtime usage, are now charged back to the client (in order to recover costs due to overtime).

Collective Agreements

RPAM is represented by the CIPP, ATU 1760, ATU 279, CUPE 503 Inside/Outside, and CUPE 5500 collective agreements. These collective agreements pay overtime premiums once normal daily and/or weekly hours are reached and all of these thresholds are below the mandatory level as specified in the Employment Standards Act (ESA) which requires organizations to pay overtime after 44 hours are worked in a week.

Cost Recoveries

Through the client charge-back initiative, operating costs associated with programming outside of the normal hours of operation are now being charged back to programs.

4.7.3 Areas for Improvement

RPAM has recently improved its overtime tracking and reporting capabilities. The branch has taken advantage of the enhanced functionality within the SAP Plant Maintenance module to track overtime to a significant level of detail. The branch has also implemented informal initiatives to minimize overtime where possible, including the use of part-time replacement workers, the consolidation of district resources, and the consolidation of venue operating hours.

RPAM is currently below average in its overtime costs per FTE and has kept overtime spending below its overtime budget. As well, the absenteeism rate within RPAM is well below the City average.

The overtime used by RPAM is primarily non-discretionary and significant reductions in overtime would require an adjustment to service levels. Marginal overtime improvements could still be made by tracking cost recoveries to overtime costs incurred.

4.7.4 Recommendations

· Recommendation 1 – Track Overtime to Costs Recovered – To accurately reflect overtime expenditures, RPAM should track and report all overtime related cost-recoveries in conjunction with the associated overtime costs.

4.8 Traffic and Parking Operations

4.8.1 Overview

The Traffic and Parking Operations (TPO) is responsible for a number of City services, including:

• Pavement Markings, Signage and Road Safety Devices;

• Traffic Control Signals;

• Red Light Cameras;

• Street Lighting;

• Parking Operations;

• Traffic Safety, Investigation and Studies;

• Right-of-Way, Permits, By-laws and Inspections; and

• Traffic Network Management.

Traffic and Parking Operations are a 24/7 branch and provide front-line/direct services to citizens. There are 260 budgeted FTEs within TPO.

4.8.2 Findings

Overtime Data

The table below summarizes information relevant to the use of overtime within Traffic and Parking Operations for the year 2005.

Data		Comments
Overtime - Planned	$0.90 million
Overtime - Actual	$1.10 million	Above the City average of $0.93 million
Overtime - Variance (Planned/Actual)	22%	Below the City average of 49%
Overtime per FTE	$4,246	Above the City average of $2,624
Overtime - Percentage of Compensation Budget	6.2%	Above the City average of 3.8%
Absenteeism	10.22 days/employee	Below the City average of 10.3 days/employee

Figure 27 – Overtime data for Traffic and Parking Operations (2005)

Overtime Drivers

Non-Discretionary Overtime:

Some of the drivers of non-discretionary overtime include:

• Road construction and other construction projects where construction activity timelines are beyond the branch’s control;

• Setting-up detouring signage;

• Emergencies, accidents, hydro failure, storm damage, etc., often need to be dealt with immediately and can lead to use of overtime;

• Meeting the expectations of the development review process in order to fulfill TPO’s mandate to provide accurate, defendable and complete traffic-related comments;

• Responding to developer requests for site plan traffic reviews within the 90 day window can lead to overtime during peak fluctuations;

• After roadways are overlaid, resurfaced, and/or reconstructed, there is often a requirement to paint as quickly as practical and often this may result in overtime. In addition, urban areas often contain too much traffic to paint roadways during regular working hours; and

• Traffic Control Central Computer and Video Centre Operations - During special events, major Scotiabank Centre events, incidents, detours, or accidents, operation’s personnel may be required to work outside of their regular working hours.

Discretionary Overtime:

Some of the drivers of discretionary overtime include:

• Requests from Councillors to attend evening meetings and public consultations;

• Overtime is often required to coordinate traffic signals with construction activities or coordinate detour routes around construction projects; and

• Special events - Winterlude, Central Canada Exhibition, and the Blues Festival, often require signage, or temporary signage to be set up outside of regular working hours.

Overtime Policies and Procedures

Traffic and Parking Operations does not have formal documented overtime policies and procedures in place.

Overtime Tracking

SAP is the only tool used by Traffic and Parking Operations to track overtime spending. As is the case for most of the branches, the causes of overtime are not currently tracked.

Overtime Initiatives

Previous Overtime Audits/Studies:

· An audit of overtime expenditures for Traffic and Parking Operations has not been conducted at the time of this review.

Current Initiatives to Improve Overtime Usage:

· New shift times – New shift times were implemented to reduce overtime usage. Job descriptions have been changed accordingly;

· Flex hours - Traffic Control System’s staff work within core hours, but can flex/alter their start times;

· Staffing - Improved alignment between staffing levels and the work that needs to completed; and

· Process improvements – As reported by TPO, each program area within the Traffic Operations Division tries to identify improvements to operations in order to realize cost savings. The Parking Division section is reviewing the possibility of implementing shift changes for weekend periods to reduce overtime costs. The Signals division is currently documenting the types of signs, and related damage to signs, and how this area impacts the usage of overtime.

Collective Agreements

TPO is represented by the CIPP and CUPE 503 Inside/Outside collective agreements. These collective agreements pay overtime premiums once normal daily and/or weekly hours are reached and all of these thresholds are below the mandatory level as specified in the Employment Standards Act (ESA) which requires organizations to pay overtime after 44 hours are worked in a week.

Cost Recoveries

For TPO, there is a budgeted relation for overtime to the cost recoveries from capital and external sources in the amount of $410,500 (for 2005) in the Traffic Division (it is not separately broken out between the two streams). Cost recoveries are received for various capital projects or for work for developers, as well as, accident recoveries.

4.8.3 Areas for Improvement

Traffic and Parking Operations currently have several initiatives underway to improve overtime usage. As well, the overtime budget variance for TPO is below the City average.

While Traffic and Parking Operations can identify the key drivers of overtime, they are unable to quantify the amount of overtime resulting from each driver. Without this data it will be very difficult for the branch to systematically reduce its overtime usage. TPO should also track cost recoveries, improve its absenteeism rate and develop and document overtime policies and procedures.

4.8.4 Recommendations

· Recommendation 1 – Track Overtime to Costs Recovered – In order to accurately reflect overtime expenditures, Traffic and Parking Operations should track and report all overtime related cost-recoveries in conjunction with the associated overtime costs.

· Recommendation 2 – Reduce Absenteeism – Traffic and Parking Operations should continue to monitor and reduce absenteeism in the branch.

· Recommendation 3 – Develop Overtime Policies and Procedures - Traffic and Parking Operations should develop and document overtime policies and procedures. Employees should be properly trained on the use of these policies and procedures and managers and supervisors should ensure compliance with these policies and procedures.

4.9 Infrastructure Services

4.9.1 Overview

Infrastructure Services is a 24/7 branch made up of four divisions; Constructions Services Development, Constructions Services East, Construction Services West, and Infrastructure Management. The branch’s primary objectives are to:

• Manage and optimize the lifecycle of the City’s public transportation and utility infrastructure, and develop annual Capital Programs to ensure ongoing reliability;

• Work to accommodate growth in the existing system in the most efficient manner possible in accordance with the City’s Official Plan;

• Provide design and construction services that are efficient, effective and financially responsible; and

• Coordinate with utility companies to effectively manage the competing uses of the City’s municipal right-of-way.

4.9.2 Findings

Overtime Data

The table below summarizes information relevant to the use of overtime within Infrastructure Services for the year 2005.

Data		Comments
Overtime - Planned	$571,229
Overtime - Actual	$1.1 million	Above the City average of $0.93 million
Overtime - Variance (Planned/Actual)	91%	Above the City average of 49%
Overtime per FTE	$4,400	Above the City average of $2,624
Overtime - Percentage of Compensation Budget	5.60%	Above the City average of 3.8%
Absenteeism	5.56 days/employee	Below the City average of 10.3 days/employee

Figure 28 – Overtime data for Infrastructure Services (2005)

Overtime Drivers

Non-Discretionary Overtime:

Most of the overtime usage within Infrastructure Services comes from the Constructions Services divisions (Development, East, and West) in the delivery of the Capital Program. These divisions manage the design and construction of municipal infrastructure projects and perform inspections to ensure that infrastructure constructed by private developers meets City standards and specifications.

While the Construction Services division oversees infrastructure projects, much of the work is contracted out. Contractors typically work 50 to 55 hour weeks and the City must have a qualified representative on-site at all times since they are responsible for the project. Leaving a site unmonitored would constitute an unacceptably high liability risk and, therefore, the use of overtime is required.

Other uses of non-discretionary overtime are also related to the delivery of the Capital Program and include:

• Meeting deadlines;

• Overseeing external consultants working outside of core hours; and

• Public Meetings.

Discretionary Overtime:

Discretionary overtime is typically used for routine operations such as:

• High work loads in general operating areas;

• Non-project based work; and

• Completing work that is not related to Capital Programs such as engineering studies and evening meetings.

Overtime Policies and Procedures

Infrastructure Services does not have any formal documented overtime policies and procedures in place.

Overtime Tracking

Infrastructure Services and Payroll have developed TRS (Time Reporting System) to use in conjunction with SAP to track employee hours. TRS allows the branch to track time on a project-by-project basis and then charge it to the appropriate capital project. As is the case for most of the branches, the causes of overtime are not currently tracked.

Overtime Initiatives

Previous Overtime Audits/Studies:

· An audit of overtime expenditures for Infrastructure Services has not been conducted at the time of this review.

Current Initiatives to Improve Overtime Usage:

· Detailed Tracking – Infrastructure Services has been analyzing its overtime usage down to the employee level to ensure excessive overtime is not being used; and

· Performance Measurement – Infrastructure Services is looking at alternate scheduling options to reduce overtime usage, such as the staggering of construction inspectors time on site.

Collective Agreements

Infrastructure Services is represented by the CIPP and CUPE 503 Inside/Outside collective agreements. These collective agreements pay overtime premiums once normal daily and/or weekly hours are reached and all of these thresholds are below the mandatory level as specified in the Employment Standards Act (ESA) which requires organizations to pay overtime after 44 hours are worked in a week.

Cost Recoveries

While Infrastructure Services use a significant amount of overtime in support of the Capital Program, they also receive cost recoveries from the capital budget. The Financial Services Unit estimates that $900,000, or 85%, of the branch overtime costs were recovered against various capital accounts in 2005.

4.9.3 Areas for Improvement

While Infrastructure Services have significant overtime costs, the majority of these costs are offset by cost recoveries. At present, this information must be extracted from TRS by Infrastructure Services and is not widely reported. It should also be noted that Infrastructure Services is well below the City average for absenteeism.

Other areas for improvement include tracking cost recoveries and developing and documenting overtime policies and procedures.

4.9.4 Recommendations

· Recommendation 1 – Track Overtime to Costs Recovered – To accurately reflect overtime expenditures, Infrastructure Services should track and report all overtime related cost-recoveries in conjunction with associated overtime costs.

· Recommendation 2 – Develop Overtime Policies and Procedures - Infrastructure Services should develop and document overtime policies and procedures. Employees should be properly trained on the use of these policies and procedures and managers and supervisors should ensure compliance with the policies and procedures.

4.10 Fire Services

4.10.1 Overview

Ottawa Fire Services is a 24/7 operation with 43 stations, including 27 urban and 16 rural stations, and have over 900 employees. Fire Services is responsible for protecting the lives, property and environment of the people who live, work and visit the City of Ottawa. Service personnel are highly trained to respond to a wide variety of emergency and non-emergency incidents including fires, rescues, and medical and hazardous-material emergencies. The department is also responsible for fire prevention, public education, and emergency preparedness programs.

4.10.2 Findings

Overtime Data

The table below summarizes information relevant to the use of overtime within Fire Services for the year 2005.

Data		Comments
Overtime - Planned	$1.15 million
Overtime - Actual	$1.08 million	Above the City average of $0.93 million
Overtime - Variance (Planned/Actual)	-6%	Below the City average of 49%
Overtime per FTE	$1,108	Below the City average of $2,624
Overtime - Percentage of Compensation Budget	1.2%	Below the City average of 3.8%
Absenteeism	9.84 days/employee	Below the City average of 10.3 days/employee

Figure 29 – Overtime data for Fire Services (2005)

Overtime Drivers

Non-Discretionary Overtime:

Most of the overtime used by Fire Services is non-discretionary. Overtime is predominantly used to maintain a minimum service level of 154 staff per shift, as stated in the collective agreements, in order to keep the fire stations open.

When Fire Suppression does not have enough regular time fire fighters available to meet service level requirements, the branch compensates with overtime. The pressures that cause staffing shortages include vacation time, time in lieu, and absenteeism.

Other non-discretionary overtime drivers include:

• Periodic high service level demands;

• Services provided outside of regular hours; and

• Statutory holidays.

Discretionary Overtime:

Very little discretionary overtime is used by Fire Services but for some planned events, such as the Bush presidential visit, overtime is used to meet the higher than standard service level requirement. For these special cases, Fire Services would typically receive a cost recovery from the parties requesting the service. In the example cited (presidential visit), the Federal Government reimbursed Fire Services for the associated costs.

Overtime Policies and Procedures

Overtime policies are documented in the Fire Services policy book, which consists of various standard operating procedures. There is a policy book at every fire station.

Overtime Tracking

Fire Services uses an Excel-based overtime tracking tool to track the use of overtime. It allows the branch to track the reasons for incurring overtime and this information is monitored and reviewed on a weekly basis. SAP is also used to track and report on overtime spending but, as is the case for most of the branches, the causes of overtime are not tracked in this application.

Overtime Initiatives

Previous Overtime Audits/Studies:

· 2005 Audit of Overtime – Some of the key recommendations from this Audit indicated several improvement areas in regards to overtime usage. They are summarized in the table below.

Recommendation	Management Response
· Alter staffing practices	· Cannot implement due to collective agreements
· Address absenteeism	· Has already been addressed
· Reduce time lapses in processing leave/ overtime requests	· Agreed and has been addressed
· Stop using Excel tracking tool in favour of SAP	· SAP does not track reasons for overtime being used

Figure 30 – Previous audit results for Fire Services

Current Initiatives to Improve Overtime Usage:

· Reduced Fleet In Service - When Fire Services is short staffed, they have the flexibility to take 5 trucks out of service to avoid using overtime. Beyond this point, additional absences cannot be absorbed through further service level reductions which results in the usage of overtime to maintain the minimum level of service; and

· Absenteeism – Over the past few years, Fire Services has focussed on reducing absenteeism. In addition to the corporate-wide AIP, Fire Services have implemented internal initiatives which have resulted in an improvement in absenteeism. From 2004 to 2005, the absenteeism rate per employee has decreased from 10.62 to 9.84 days/employee.

Collective Agreements

Employees in Fire Services are represented by the OPFFA (Fire), CIPP, and CUPE 503 Inside/Outside collective agreements. These collective agreements pay overtime premiums once normal weekly hours are reached and all of these thresholds are below the mandatory level as specified in the Employment Standards Act (ESA) which requires organizations to pay overtime after 44 hours are worked in a week.

Cost Recoveries

Fire Services receive cost recoveries and/or generate revenue for some of the overtime costs incurred. Revenue is generated through the fees that Fire Services charges for some recruitment activities, i.e. conducting recruitment testing, etc. Revenue is also generated for building inspections, fire investigations, title searches, and summary reports. When Fire Services personnel respond to a call on a 400 series (provincial) highway, they charge the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario a fee based on the type of vehicle deployed. There are also various events that occur where Fire Services may incur overtime in providing coverage (i.e. Carp Air Show) or in responding to a call outside of the City (i.e. Gatineau Fire). Generally, the fees charged by Fire Services are based on the type of vehicle deployed and the direct overtime is not recovered.

4.10.3 Areas for Improvement

Fire Services is the second largest branch, by employee count, yet:

• The branch has one of the lowest overtime rates per FTE out of the 24/7 branches;

• Improvements have been made in the absenteeism rates within the branch;

• The total overtime expenditures relative to the branch’s compensation budget is below the City average; and

• Fire Services is one of only five (5) branches who spent less than its approved overtime budget.

Additionally, the majority of the overtime in the Fire Services Branch is non-discretionary as it is used to maintain mandated service levels. Accordingly, it would be difficult for Fire Services to make any substantial reductions in the overtime use. Some improvements could be made in the areas of improving absenteeism and tracking cost recoveries.

4.10.4 Recommendations

· Recommendation 1 – Reduce Absenteeism – Fire Services should continue to monitor and reduce absenteeism in the branch.

· Recommendation 2 – Track Overtime to Costs Recovered – To accurately reflect the overtime expenditures, Fire Services should track and report all overtime related cost-recoveries in conjunction with the associated overtime costs.

4.11 Other Branches

4.11.1 Overview

This section provides a summary analysis of the usage of overtime in the remaining twenty-two (22) branches. In total, these twenty-two (22) branches account for approximately 10% of the total overtime expenditures of the City. Each of these branches, therefore, is a relatively minor contributor to the City’s overall overtime usage. In general, these branches provide a variety of City services but have fewer programs that require 24/7 operations. These branches generally provide either direct service to the public and/or administrative functions within the City.

Highlights of these twenty-two (22) branches overtime usage (for 2005) and operational characteristics are presented in the table below.

Figure 31 – Overtime usage for the remaining twenty-two (22) branches (2005)

4.11.2 Findings

Overtime Data

The table below summarizes information relevant to the use of overtime within the other twenty-two (22) branches for the year 2005.

Data		Comments
Overtime - Planned	$ 62,053
Overtime - Actual	$125,243	Below the City average of $0.93 million
Overtime - Variance (Planned/Actual)	101.83%	Above the City average of 49%
Overtime per FTE	$1,986	Below the City average of $2,624
Overtime - Percentage of Compensation Budget	2.00%	Below the City average of 3.8%
Absenteeism	7.41 days/employee	Below the City average of 10.3 days/employee

Figure 32 – Overtime data for twenty-two (22) branches (2005)

Overtime Drivers

The primary drivers of overtime usage for the twenty-two (22) branches are detailed in the table below.

Branch	Overtime Drivers	Branch	Overtime Drivers
By-Law Services	· Vacancies · Special Projects · Planned Events · Public Consultation	Policy Coordination and Outreach
Parks and Recreation	· Absenteeism · Unforeseen/ Unplanned Events · Vacancies · Periodic High Service Level Demands · Stat Holidays	City Clerk	· Request from Council · Deadline Requirements · Special Projects · Periodic High Service Level Demands · Absenteeism
Emergency Measures	· Unforeseen/ unplanned events · Planned Events · Deadline Requirements	Client Services and Public Information	· Special Projects · Deadline Requirements · Planned Events
Employment and Financial Assistance	· Special Projects · Deadline Requirements · Unforeseen/ Unplanned Events	Employee Services	· Deadline Requirements · Special Projects · Unforeseen/ Unplanned Events
Library	· Periodic High Service Level Demands · Stat Holidays · Absenteeism · Special Projects · Services Provided Outside of Regular Hours of Work	Financial Services	· Deadline Requirements · Absenteeism · Vacancies
Housing	· Unforeseen/ Unplanned Events · Stat Holidays · Absenteeism · Services Provided Outside of Regular Hours · Periodic High Service Level Demands	Information Technology Services	· Planned Events · Special Projects · Vacancies · Unforeseen/ unplanned events
Cultural Services and Community Funding	· Services Provided Outside of Reg Hrs · Requests from Council · Planned Events · Periodic High Service Level Demands · Vacancies	Legal Services	· Deadline Requirements · Periodic High Service Level Demands · Vacancies
Long Term Care	· Absenteeism	Building Services	· Deadline Requirements · Periodic High Service Level Demands · Vacancies · Request from Council
Public Health	· Services Provided Outside of Regular Hours of Work · Unforeseen/ unplanned events · Planned Events · Request from Council	Planning and Infrastructure Approvals	· Public Consultation · Requests from Council · Deadline Requirements · Vacancies
Corporate Communications	· Unforeseen/ unplanned events · Planned Events · Request from Council · Periodic High Service Level Demands · Services Provided Outside of Reg Hrs	Planning Environment and Infrastructure Policy	· Deadline Requirements · Request from Council · Planned Events · Special Projects · Unforeseen/ Unplanned Events
Corporate Planning and Performance Reporting		Economic Development and Strategic Projects	· Special Projects · Unforeseen/ unplanned events · Planned Events

Figure 33 – Overtime drivers for twenty-two (22) branches

Overtime Policies and Procedures

With the exception of Planning and Infrastructure Approvals, none of these twenty-two (22) branches, have formalized and documented overtime policies and procedures.

Overtime Tracking

The majority of these branches utilize SAP to track overtime usage. None of the branches track, within SAP, the causes of overtime usage.

Overtime Initiatives

Previous Overtime Audits/Studies:

· None of these twenty-two (22) branches have had a formal audit and/or any recent studies conducted of overtime usage prior to this Branch-by-Branch Overtime Review.

Collective Agreements

These twenty-two (22) branches are represented by several different collective agreements. All of these collective agreements pay overtime premiums once normal daily and/or weekly hours are reached and all of these thresholds are below the mandatory level as specified in the Employment Standards Act (ESA) which requires organizations to pay overtime after 44 hours are worked in a week.

Cost Recoveries

Of these twenty-two (22) branches, only the following three (3) branches have cost recoveries and/or revenue generation that partially compensates for overtime expenditures:

· By-Law Services;

· Parks & Recreation – This branch has some events, i.e. renting a pool out at night, where overtime costs are recovered through client charge-backs; and

· Cultural Services & Community – This branch has the ability to offset overtime costs through user fees, registration, and client charge-backs (i.e. Centrepointe Theatre, Arts Court, Program Registration Fees, etc.).

4.11.3 Areas for Improvement

Although overtime usage for these branches are relatively low as compared to the nine (9) other branches with the highest overtime usage, there are still some areas of potential improvement. These areas include:

· Develop and document formal overtime policies and procedures; and

· Develop overtime base budgets – Eight (8) of these twenty-two (22) branches did not have an overtime base budget although seven (7) of these eight (8) branches incurred overtime expenditures in 2005. Appropriate overtime base budgets need to be established in order to more accurately account for and justify the overtime requirements of a branch.

4.11.4 Recommendations

· Recommendation 1 – Develop Overtime Policies and Procedures – The Employee Services branch should develop corporate-wide overtime policies and procedures. Some branches may need to further develop branch-specific overtime procedures to address specific operational requirements. Employees should be properly trained on the use of these policies and procedures and managers and supervisors should ensure compliance with the policies and procedures.

· Recommendation 2 – Develop Overtime Base Budgets – Appropriate overtime base budgets need be established and implemented in order to more accurately account for and justify the overtime requirements of the branches.

Appendix A – Collective Agreements - Overtime Summary

Union Group/ Collective Agreement	Employee Type	Normal Hours Worked	Overtime Premium	Notes
CUPE 503 Inside/Outside	Salaried FT	35 hrs/wk	1.5 x hourly rate	· Hourly rate based on bi-weekly salary and bi-weekly regular hours.
CUPE 503 Inside/Outside	Wage FT	40 hrs/wk	1.5x hourly rate
CUPE 503 Rec. & Culture	Full Time	8 hrs/day or 40hrs/wk	1.5 x hourly rate
CUPE 503 Library	Full Time	7 hrs/day or 35 hrs/wk	1.5 x hourly rate
CIPP	Full Time	39 hrs/wk	1.5 x hourly rate	· Grandfathering rights result in some employees having a 35 hour normal work week.
CIPP	Paramedics	42 hrs/wk	1.5 x hourly rate	· 42 hours/week is averaged over two week period.
ATU Local 279	Full Time	8 hrs/day^*	1.5 x job classification rate	• ATU 279 agreement currently in draft form. • *Does not apply to agreed upon long shifts. • Overtime 1.5 x job classification paid for work performed on an employee’s day off.
ATU Local 1760	Full Time	70 hrs averaged over bi-weekly period	1.5 x hourly rate	• Overtime rate of 1.5 x paid for all hours worked on statutory holidays.
CUPE 5500- Transit Security CUPE 5500- Transit Supervisors CUPE 5500- Transit and Fleet Maintenance	Full Time	Shift is extended or 40 hrs/wk	1.5 x hourly rate	• Information meetings before or after shift are paid overtime of 1.5 x hourly rate.
OPFFA (Fire)	Suppression	42 hrs/wk	1.5 x hourly rate	• Weekly hours are averaged.
	Comm.	42 hrs/wk	1.5 x hourly rate
	Prevention	35 hrs/wk	1.5 x hourly rate
IATSE	Full Time	8 hrs/day or 40 hrs/wk	1.5 x hourly rate

Appendix B – Additional SAP Data

1. Overview of Key Data Points for 2005

Branch	Actual Overtime	Actual Overtime: Overtime Budget	Actual Overtime/ Comp Budget	Actual Overtime/FTE*	Absent Days/ Employee**
Building Services	$189,840	0.81	2.01%	$1,289	5.81
By-Law Services	$264,607	2.55	2.69%	$1,874	10.89
City Clerk	$177,565	8.84	2.19%	$1,676	8.35
Client Services & Public Information	$85,012	2.96	1.04%	$746	11.67
Corporate Communications	$7,975	1.00	0.77%	$1,329	2.24
Corporate Planning & Performance Reporting	$403	-	0.21%	$81	-
Cultural Services & Community Funding	$158,239	-	2.85%	$1,950	4.95
Economic Development & Strategic Projects	$13,288	1.11	0.89%	$1,208	3.71
Employee Services	$47,037	0.42	0.36%	$840	4.05
Employment & Financial Assistance	$11,442	-	0.03%	$19	11.30
Financial Services	$289,951	1.22	0.92%	$659	8.21
Fire Services	$1,083,301	0.94	1.18%	$1,108	9.84
Fleet Services	$3,636,761	2.51	9.10%	$6,569	12.21
Housing	$73,876	1.23	1.44%	$1,130	9.35
Information Technology Services	$416,381	1.01	1.43%	$1,214	5.73
Infrastructure Services	$1,091,462	1.91	5.60%	$4,400	5.56
Legal Services	$18,833	-	0.49%	$698	3.36
Library Services	$126,054	-	0.61%	$302	-
Long Term Care	$61,247	-	0.18%	$113	14.63
Office Of Emergency Management	$84,480	42.24	19.88%	$25,369	9.23
Paramedic Services	$2,022,379	1.36	5.75%	$4,861	10.57
Parks & Recreation	$238,518	-	0.56%	$267	7.60
Planning & Infrastructure Approvals	$132,244	3.15	1.42%	$1,155	5.85
Planning Environment & Infrastructure Policy	$66,723	2.22	1.07%	$1,076	6.22
Policy Coordination and Outreach	$0	-	-	$0	-
Public Health	$291,632	4.94	0.97%	$697	7.72
Real Property Asset Management	$1,308,771	0.86	2.90%	$1,864	7.77
Surface Operations	$3,258,093	1.14	7.08%	$4,486	11.21
Traffic & Parking Operations	$1,096,044	1.22	6.16%	$4,246	10.22
Transit Services	$10,441,676	1.62	9.05%	$5,963	14.72
Utility Services	$2,123,299	1.35	6.01%	$4,165	8.89
Averages	$929,585	1.49	3.80%	$2,624	10.3

(* FTE = Full Time Equivalent - budgeted, and eligible for overtime and for ** Absent Days/Employee, “-“ = data not available)

2. Overtime Recorded on Statutory Holidays for 2005

Branch	2005 Actual Overtime	2005 Overtime Due to Statutory Holidays	Percentage (%) of Overtime Due to Statutory Holidays
Building Services	$189,840	$418	0.2%
By-Law Services	$264,607	$54,155	20%
City Clerk	$177,565	$3,157	2%
Client Services & Public Information	$85,012	$4,656	5%
Corporate Communications	$7,975	$66	1%
Corporate Planning & Performance Reporting	$403	$0	0%
Cultural Services & Community Funding	$158,239	$5,219	3%
Economic Development and Strategic Projects	$13,288	$219	2%
Employee Services	$47,037	$538	1%
Employment & Financial Assistance	$11,442	$4,324	38%
Financial Services	$289,951	$27,987	10%
Fire Services	$1,083,301	$41,864	4%
Fleet Services	$3,636,761	$333,070	9%
Housing	$73,876	$3,461	5%
Information Technology Services	$416,381	$6,690	2%
Infrastructure Services	$1,091,462	$27,904	3%
Legal Services	$18,833	$242	1%
Library Services	$126,054	$3,774	3%
Long Term Care	$61,247	$2,607	4%
Office of Emergency Management	$84,480	$0	0%
Paramedic Services	$2,022,379	$59,938	3%
Parks & Recreation	$238,518	$126,462	53%
Planning & Infrastructure Approvals	$132,244	$697	1%
Planning Environment and Infrastructure Policy	$66,723	$882	1%
Policy Coordination & Outreach	$0	$0	0%
Public Health	$291,632	$5,898	2%
Real Property Asset Management	$1,308,771	$48,739	4%
Surface Operations	$3,258,093	$221,215	7%
Traffic & Parking Operations	$1,096,044	$43,275	4%
Transit Services	$10,441,676	$1,575,686	15%
Utility Services	$2,123,299	$56,875	3%
Totals / Averages	$28,817,131	$2,660,018	9%

3. Overtime in Comparison to Compensation Budget for 2005

Branch	2005 Actual Overtime (000's)	2005 Compensation Budget (000's)	Actual Overtime / Total Compensation Budget
Building Services	$190	$9,464	2.01%
By-Law Services	$265	$9,845	2.69%
City Clerk	$178	$8,090	2.19%
Client Services & Public Information	$85	$8,150	1.04%
Corporate Communications	$8	$1,035	0.77%
Corporate Planning & Performance Reporting	$0	$193	0.21%
Cultural Services & Community Funding	$158	$5,560	2.85%
Economic Development & Strategic Projects	$13	$1,498	0.89%
Employee Services	$47	$13,053	0.36%
Employment & Financial Assistance	$11	$40,784	0.03%
Financial Services	$290	$31,450	0.92%
Fire Services	$1,083	$91,860	1.18%
Fleet Services	$3,637	$39,952	9.10%
Housing	$74	$5,131	1.44%
Information Technology Services	$416	$29,047	1.43%
Infrastructure Services	$1,091	$19,503	5.60%
Legal Services	$19	$3,880	0.49%
Library Services	$126	$20,784	0.61%
Long Term Care	$61	$34,892	0.18%
Office of Emergency Management	$84	$425	19.88%
Paramedic Service	$2,022	$35,165	5.75%
Parks & Recreation	$239	$42,895	0.56%
Planning & Infrastructure Approvals	$132	$9,284	1.42%
Planning, Environment & Infrastructure Policy	$67	$6,232	1.07%
Policy Coordination & Outreach	$0	$0	0.00%
Public Health	$292	$30,024	0.97%
Real Property Asset Management	$1,309	$45,066	2.90%
Surface Operations	$3,258	$46,030	7.08%
Traffic & Parking Operations	$1,096	$17,803	6.16%
Transit Services	$10,442	$115,322	9.05%
Utility Services	$2,123	$35,315	6.01%
Totals / Averages	$28,817	$757,732	3.80%

Appendix C – Documents Reviewed

The following documents were collected and reviewed for this project:

Documents

2005 Audit of Overtime

Budget 2002 – Information on Budget Reductions

City of Ottawa 2005 Operating Budget

Key Contacts and Organizational Chart

KPMG Transit Review

Overtime Review Brief Sent to Branch Directors

Collective Agreements

Management Bulletin - Running Human Resources and Finance Reports Just Got Easier! -
May 10, 2006

Management Accountability Matrix

Management Investment Strategy Implementation -2005 Project Charter

IBS Program Employee Handbook – May, 2004

Sample SAP Reports (from FSU Account Managers - various branches)

Forms

ELR/TR and PLR/TR Forms

MMS-ITX System – Work Order

MMS-ITX System – Time Sheet

Data

Attendance Improvement Program Statistics for 2004 and 2005

Budgeted Overtime for City of Ottawa Branches for 2003, 2004 and 2005

Overtime Costs for City of Ottawa Branches for 2003, 2004 and 2005

Overtime Costs Due to Statutory Holidays in 2005

Operational Budgets for City of Ottawa Branches

Budgeted FTEs & Employee Headcount for 2005

Appendix D – Interviews Conducted

Thirty-seven (37) interviews were conducted within the City of Ottawa organization. The tables below list the individuals that were consulted with during this project:

I. Phase 1 Key Stakeholder Interviews

Interview	Attendees	Date
Payroll Division	Jane Shannon	April 21, 2006 and May 2, 2006
Labour Relations	Marianne Phillips	April 21, 2006
Financial Services Branch	Wayne Martin Brian Flynn Brian McCuan Geoff Simpson Marian Simulik (A/City Treasurer)	April 26, 2006
Occupational Health and Safety (Absenteeism)	Louise Chayers-Ayers	May 5, 2006

II. Phase 1 Branch Interviews

Interview	Attendees	Date
Surface Operations	John Manconi (Director)	April 25, 2006
Transit Services	Alain Carle (Director) Bob Goody	April 25, 2006
By-Law Services	Susan Jones (Director) Linda Anderson Delores MacAdam Troy Leeson	April 25, 2006
Paramedic Services	Anthony Dimonte (Chief)	April 26, 2006
Utility Services	Ken Brothers (Director)	April 28, 2006
Library	Barbara Clubb (City Librarian) Monique Desormeaux	May 1, 2006
Planning Environment & Infrastructure Policy	Dennis Jacobs (Director)	May 1, 2006
Corporate Communications	Sharron Ellis (Chief Communication Officer)	May 2, 2006
Housing	Russell Mawby (Director)	May 3, 2006
Long Term Care	Diane Officer (Director)	May 3, 2006
Client Services & Public Information	Philip Clark (Director)	May 3, 2006
Economic Development & Strategic Projects	Rejean Chartrand (Director)	May 4, 2006
Legal Services	Rick O’Connor (City Solicitor) Diana Poitras	May 4, 2006
Emergency Measures	John Ash (Manager)	May 4, 2006
Fire Services	Rick Larabie (Chief) Michel Seguin Helen Collier	May 5, 2006
City Clerk	Pierre Page (City Clerk)	May 5, 2006
Real Property Asset Management	Stephen Finnamore (Director)	May 5, 2006
Employment & Financial Assistance	Danielle Masse (Director)	May 5, 2006
Infrastructure Services	Wayne Newell (Director)	May 8, 2006
Building Services	Arlene Gregoire (Director)	May 8, 2006
Planning & Infrastructure Approvals	John Moser (Director)	May 8, 2006
Employee Services	Lois Pearce Jane Shannon	May 8, 2006
Fleet Services	Ron Gillespie (Director) Phil Eagen	May 8, 2006
Traffic & Parking Operations	Michael Flainek (Director)	May 9, 2006
Parks & Recreation	Aaron Bury (Director)	May 9, 2006
Information Technology Services	Janet Harris-Campbell (Chief Information Officer)	May 10, 2006
Financial Services	Marian Simulik (A/City Treasurer)	May 10, 2006
Public Health	Dr. David Salisbury (Medical Officer of Health)	May 10, 2006
Cultural Services & Community Funding	Colleen Hendrick (Director) Debbie Hill	May 15, 2006

III. Phase 2 Interviews

Interview	Attendees	Date
FSU Account Manager - Transit and Fleet Services	Jim English (FSU Account Manager) Geoff Simpson (FSU Manager for PWS)	May 10, 2006
FSU Account Manager - Surface Operations and Traffic & Parking Operations	Jim Raycroft (FSU Account Manager) Geoff Simpson (FSU Manager for PWS)	May 11, 2006
FSU Account Manager - Utility Services	Francois Leury (FSU Account Manager)	May 12, 2006
FSU Coordinator -Infrastructure Services	Andre Lessard (FSU Coordinator for Infrastructure Services) Geoff Simpson (FSU Manager for PWS)	May 15, 2006
Transit Services	Bob Goody, Dave St. Germaine, Jim English (FSU Account Manager)	July 18, 2006

[1] These percentages apply to the proportion of overtime drivers only. They do not apply to the proportion of actual overtime expenditures. Due to the fact that the causes of overtime usage are not formally tracked by the majority of the branches, objectively measuring and assessing the causes and proportionality of actual overtime expenditures was not possible within the scope of the review. Additional work to analyze and sample overtime costs and their causes may help the City to ascertain the proportion of overtime expenditures that are discretionary and non-discretionary.

[2] These percentages apply to the proportion of overtime drivers only. They do not apply to the proportion of actual overtime expenditures. Due to the fact that the causes of overtime usage are not formally tracked by the majority of the branches, objectively measuring and assessing the causes and proportionality of actual overtime expenditures was not possible within the scope of this review. Additional work to analyze and sample overtime costs and their causes may help the City to ascertain the proportion of actual overtime expenditures that are discretionary and non-discretionary.

[3] These percentages apply to the proportion of overtime drivers only. They do not apply to the proportion of actual overtime expenditures. Due to the fact that the causes of overtime usage are not formally tracked by the majority of the branches, objectively measuring and assessing the causes and proportionality of actual overtime expenditures was not possible within the scope of the review. Additional work to analyze and sample overtime costs and their causes may help the City to ascertain the proportion of overtime expenditures that are discretionary and non-discretionary.