Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo is recommending that weekend overtime pay for sheriff's officers be eliminated, which he says would result in $500,000 of annual savings for the county. 

The existing labor contract—which is currently being renegotiated—dictates that sheriff’s officers automatically be paid time and a half when they work on the weekend, even when weekend shifts are part of a 40-hour work week. DiVincenzo is recommending that a 24/7 schedule be implemented, which would allow the sheriff to assign weekend shifts to officers as part of their regular workload. sheriff’s officers would still have a 40-hour work week and would earn overtime pay only after working 40 hours.

The majority of sheriff’s officers are assigned to provide courtroom security at the courthouses and Gibraltar Building in Newark and work during regular business hours. However, certain functions of the sheriff’s office are provided on a 24-hour basis, including the Bureau of Criminal Identification, the jail processing unit at the Essex County Correctional Facility and a portion of the Patrol Division. Officers with these assignments receive overtime compensation when they work on the weekend.

Reducing overtime pay isn't the only cost-cutting initiative DiVincenzo is urging during his administration's negotiations with the 26 unions. Last month, he introduced a recommendation to reduce the number of holidays that county employees receive from 14 to 10 days.