High Cost of Overtime Also Measured in Toll On Employees’ Health

Historically, the debate over the cost of overtime for New York City’s uniformed services has focused on the expense of the additional hours and the pension-payout consequences. But a grow­ing body of research indicates that there can be serious long-term health effects for those working that overtime in the form of shorter life­spans and a significant hike in long-term costs to the health-care system.

Yet experts warn that residual macho attitudes about the rigors of first-responder work that dismiss such findings are still part of the organizational DNA in most agencies.