NEW: RIOpenGov.org Make RI State Workers' Salaries Public Online
GoLocalProv News Team
NEW: RIOpenGov.org Make RI State Workers' Salaries Public Online
The interactive web tool, which allows users to search for and view the regular and overtime pay made to individual state employees in 2011 and 2010, also includes colorful charts and other employment details. "Given the recent exposure of certain employees who earn six-figures in overtime alone, now every citizen can look up any employee and make their own judgment", said Mike Stenhouse, CEO for the Center. "This level of transparency is indispensable to democracy".
How to search the site
Data on the RIOpenGov.org website can be searched by name, department, or division with results sorted by regular pay, overtime pay, or gross pay. Other employment details such as title and hire date are also available. Over 34,000 records are posted for the two years.
The matter of overtime pay became an issue last week when initial inspection of the raw data revealed that a group of nurses were pocketing over a quarter-of-a-million per year, while laundry workers were bringing home over $123,000 in large part due to a state overtime budget of almost $90 million per year to unionized state workers, as reported on The Ocean State Current, the journalism wing of the Center.
The transparency website, launched in 2011, also includes 2010 public employee base and COLA pension payments to all retired state employees and for retirees in certain municipalities. The Center hopes to update both the pension and payroll data to more current years as it obtains the data from the state.