When I used to teach Desert Waters’ course Towards Correctional Fulfillment: For New Hires to cadets at the academy, I always gave a warning about voluntary overtime:
“Some of you are heading to facilities where, for various reasons, you’ll be able to write your own paycheck with the OT available. Just make sure you don’t come to depend on that overtime to pay your bills—because one day, it’ll dry up, and you’ll still have that truck, house, or motorcycle payment.”
That part about the OT drying up? Turns out, I was wrong.
Since 2021, staffing shortages in corrections have become a persistent, near-universal issue. Many agencies are still waiting for the light at the end of the OT tunnel—and it hasn’t come. In fact, for many, overtime has become less of a temporary measure and more of a lifestyle.
And that brings us to an important question: What is voluntary overtime actually costing you?
Not in dollars—but in physical, mental, and emotional health.
As other articles in this issue have pointed out: a lot. Maybe even years off your life, if you trust the science.
But let’s set aside the studies for a moment. Let’s make it personal.
- How many “healthy” coworkers have you seen suddenly pass away?
A heart attack in their sleep. A stroke out of nowhere. No signs—just gone. - How many were killed in car accidents, nodding off on the drive home after a double?
- How many bad decisions—small or serious—have been made on the job because someone was exhausted?
We already know working a regular 40-hour week in corrections for 20 years can cut your lifespan short. The old study that estimated the average life expectancy of a CO at 59 didn’t even account for overtime.
Now add in another 20, 30, or 40 hours on top of that each week.
Then, factor in the family impact. Corrections is already hard on relationships—odd shifts, high-stress environments, minimal support. Now throw in sleep deprivation and a calendar that never lets up. What starts as a “temporary sacrifice” can turn into chronic absence, strained relationships, and missed milestones. That’s not just impact anymore—that’s a risk factor.
In 2019, a corrections officer caused a rear-end crash that killed a 9-year-old girl. The police said he fell asleep behind the wheel on his way home after working consecutive 16-hour shifts. Allegedly, in the four weekly pay periods prior to the accident the lowest number of hours he worked was 94; the highest was 110. He was convicted of manslaughter in 2022. A life gone, a man ruined, families left shattered.
I remember two of these instances in my own department, particularly one in which I interviewed a young officer for our peer support team and found him to be a light in his workplace. He was a young father, about to be married, a recent college graduate, so much ahead of him. I was devastated to learn a few months later he had been killed on his drive home following multiple overtime shifts. A horrific tragedy.
Desert Waters has even received inquiries from concerned facility administrators asking about research that addressed limiting voluntary overtime, as they could see that staff who elected to work excessive amounts of overtime was not functioning up to par. This exemplifies the urgent need to address risk management and liability associated with staff allowed to work overtime unchecked. But money is stiff competition to personal wellbeing and scientific research identifying risks to health and safety.
So what’s the message? Stop working voluntary OT?
Not exactly.
We’re not saying don’t ever take voluntary overtime. We all know the job and its demands. Some overtime is unavoidable. Some of it may even be necessary, depending on your goals.
But this is about awareness.
It’s about recognizing that you are paying a cost, even if it’s not visible right now. And if your agency is mandating on the regular anyway, then maybe it’s time to step back and draw a line.
Sit down with your family. Talk honestly about what you’re doing and why. Set boundaries that protect your health, your relationships, and your future.
And whatever you do—don’t build your financial life around overtime. That OT may not dry up, but your health might. Don’t let your mortgage, car, or lifestyle depend on income that comes at the cost of your well-being.
Chronic sleep deficits among staff may be the single greatest life-safety risk and agency liability in corrections. And yet, despite growing awareness, we’ve seen little meaningful progress in moving the dial toward improvement.
Hopefully you have also noticed in this issue that we are addressing this topic from the top down, bottom up, and side to side. System leaders need to be addressing staffing, recruitment and retention within their sphere of influence. Frontline staff need to have accountability for safety with overtime, be it voluntary or mandated. If you see someone who isn’t doing or looking well, give them a ride home. If they are volunteering all the time and you can see negative impact—say something!
I think we can all agree we would rather have a friend or coworker mad at us than attend their funeral or another they cause.
