About Pension Padding
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In March 2010, Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo commenced an investigation into a recurring problem known as “pension padding" or “pension spiking”– the manipulation of salary and overtime payments to inflate the ultimate pension benefits paid to retirees.
The New York State Office of the Attorney General (“NYSAG”) collected data from various State and local agencies, municipalities, and authorities, from across the State, which participate in the New York State Common Retirement Fund.
In July 2010, NYSAG released its Preliminary Report, Pension Padding: We All Pay the Price, and expanded its ongoing investigation, requesting data from additional public employers throughout the State.
This website is intended to inform public employers, who have a fiduciary duty to utilize taxpayer dollars in the most efficient manner and to avoid waste. Public employers, like private employers, must be conscious of the long-term costs of rising pensions and take corrective measures to curb abuse. To that end, public employers must control overtime hoarding and pension benefit inflation. Public employers must not enable their employees to boost their compensation towards the end of their careers by accumulating excessive overtime, or by any other artificial means.
While the NYSAG continues to investigate pension padding practices, including contributing factors and potential solutions, it is imperative that public employers take steps to control excessive overtime accruals.