The Auditor General initiated continuous controls monitoring of overtime and other payroll related expenses at the City in 2011. This program was expanded to Toronto Transit Commission in 2012. The objective of the program is to develop exception reports to proactively identify unusual levels of overtime and other expenses on an ongoing basis.
Since the initiation of this program, the Auditor General has been providing continuous monitoring reports to TTC management on a periodic basis. These reports provide information related to staff with unusual levels of overtime and other payroll related expenses.
The purpose of this report is to provide the results of our analysis of staff overtime and other payroll related costs for 2014 and management’s comments on the analysis. A comparative analysis of 2014 and 2013 TTC staff overtime is provided in Appendix 1.
Our analysis of TTC’s payroll identified certain areas for follow-up by TTC management.
- Total staff overtime for 2014 increased by $5.3 million or 6.8 per cent when compared to 2013. We note that overtime has increased in each of the past two years. In 2013, the increase in overtime when compared with 2012, was $11 million or 17 per cent.
- The number of staff with unscheduled overtime exceeding 50 per cent of their base pay increased from 106 in 2013 to 132 in 2014, an increase of 25 per cent.
- Staff meal allowance for 2014 was $304,000, an increase of over eight per cent or $23,000 from 2013, roughly in line with the increase in overtime during 2014.
In 2013, there were external events, such as summer flooding and a winter storm contributing to the increase in overtime. For 2014, management has provided a mix of factors contributing to increased overtime, such as staff absenteeism, unfilled vacant positions in certain departments, capital projects and additional work in certain areas. However, management has also advised that steps are being taken to fill certain vacant positions and this should help reduce overtime levels.
The Auditor General is in the process of expanding the continuous monitoring program to staff absenteeism and has also included in her audit work plan for 2015 to perform a detailed audit on long term disability, staff overtime and absenteeism. The results of our audit are expected to be presented to the TTC Audit Committee in early 2016.