NYS Inspector General Lucy Lang issued a 2023 report regarding DOCCS’ workers “Lost Wage Benefit”, and in light of recent events, is bringing it up again, saying more action is needed.
In that 2023 report, the IG office stated: “Since the enactment of DOCCS’ collectively bargained labor contract in 2015, the Offices of the New York State Inspector General has received hundreds of complaints alleging that DOCCS correction officers are abusing the lost wage benefits afforded to them under that agreement. These complaints have been echoed by staff at many of the 44 DOCCS correctional facilities visited by the Inspector General over the past year, and have resulted in a daily struggle to simultaneously ensure safety while maintaining the delivery of critical services in the face of significant workers’ compensation-driven staffing shortages.”
Lang serves as the Workers Compensation Inspector General, and says she’s visited all of New York’s 42 prison in recent years, which also led to her 2024 report on the implementation of the HALT Act…