Cook County workers get OT without working OT, report says

Cook County officials say they're looking into news reports exposing a longtime practice that lets county highway department employees collect overtime without working more than eight hours in a day.

Highway workers have been able to collect overtime during the same day in which the first eight hours worked were charged to the worker's sick pay, according to an online report in the Chicago Sun-Times. The story cited multiple instances of the practice, drawn from workers' time card records.

County spokesman James Ramos said he couldn't confirm the practice exists as reported, but said President Todd Stroger's office is looking into it.

Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley said the practice is a travesty.

"The scam here is that if you're sick, how can you work overtime? It's disingenuous, and that has to change," he said.

The report comes at a crucial time in negotiations for the 2009 budget, in which Stroger is arguing he doesn't have enough money to avoid borrowing hundreds of millions of dollars. Opponents, such as Quigley and Cook County Commissioner Forrest Claypool argue wasteful spending could be trimmed instead of borrowing more money.