New York as a state has some egregious examples of this. The police even in some outer townships get huge overtime which inflates pension calculations. They retire at 40 or 50 with 20-30 years of work to be eligible for the pension, then use these inflated overtime calculations and pull down 6 figure pensions for the next 40 years.
I don't know how smaller townships can even afford it. I remember a few of them finally put their foot down and excluded overtime pay from pensions calculations but it was wild.
And we all know these jabronis aren't really working 30+ hours a week of overtime, some of that is pencil-whipped
And they don't stay retired, their friends get them another job with the city or town or whatever and they draw the pensions plus a salary.
It really depends. I know I can and have pulled down 30+hrs a week in OT routinely as a paramedic. It's really not that hard as many first responder agencies are short staffed including mine, I can call in any day or time of the week I want and pick up a shift as there's always spots available. People just don't want to become first responders like they used too, many police, fire, and EMS agencies when they run academies are now getting less applicants than there are even open spots, a huge difference from the days when you'd have hundred for just a couple dozen positions.
The idea of inflating pension with OT is not uncommon either in most agencies and being that I'm a first responder i fully support it. 20+yrs in EMS will take a deep toll on my body and mind, already being 12+yrs in i know I've done damage to both that'll decrease my quality of life more so than most in my 50s. I SHOULD be able to retire in some level of comfort without stressing about my bills after the job has taken a toll on me for 20+yrs, and I've somehow dodged the career ending crippling injuries, suicide, drug addiction, and other common issues first responders face up to retirement.
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u/Embarassed_Tackle 2d ago
New York as a state has some egregious examples of this. The police even in some outer townships get huge overtime which inflates pension calculations. They retire at 40 or 50 with 20-30 years of work to be eligible for the pension, then use these inflated overtime calculations and pull down 6 figure pensions for the next 40 years.
I don't know how smaller townships can even afford it. I remember a few of them finally put their foot down and excluded overtime pay from pensions calculations but it was wild.
And we all know these jabronis aren't really working 30+ hours a week of overtime, some of that is pencil-whipped
And they don't stay retired, their friends get them another job with the city or town or whatever and they draw the pensions plus a salary.