Cook County Jail on lockdown after 18 percent of shift does not show up for work

Absenteeism has been a problem at the jail for 25 years. This article is from 1990:

Sheahan, in a news conference at the main entrance to the jail at California Avenue and 27th Street, said county budget documents show that about 100 correctional officers miss work at the jail on an average day, an absenteeism rate of 8.2 percent.

``In private business and government both, a 4 percent absentee rate is considered average,`` Sheahan told reporters. ``Five percent is on the high side and 8 percent means serious management failure.``

``It`s not just corrections officers who are absent from the jail, it`s also any notions of good management or leadership,`` Sheahan said.

But Larry Horist, a spokesman for O`Grady`s campaign, said Sheahan`s charges are ``dead wrong.``

O`Grady inherited a 16 percent absenteeism rate among correctional officers at the jail when he succeeded Democrat Richard Elrod in office, Horist said.

While Horist conceded the current 8 percent rate isn`t an acceptable level, he said it marks a ``tremendous`` improvement from four years ago.

Another O`Grady spokesman, John Nevin, also took issue with Sheahan`s charge that the high absenteeism has resulted in a huge overtime bill.

County employees are given one paid sick day a month, but correctional officers who are absent for unexcused or disciplinary reasons aren`t paid. Instead, that money goes into a fund to pay their replacements, Nevin said.

Sheahan Hits Jail Guard Absenteeism

 

Here's an easy solution to cutting the population and the number of jailers needed in half: Legalize pot.

 

Nor would I. In the original link, the numbers re: the scheduled workers weren't the ones I noticed. That bit about there being about 8,500 inmates, and only around 900 corrections officers? No thankee.

 

On the job:

 

Of course, private business and most government employees don't have to be surrounded by dozens of murderers and rapists by themselves each day.

 

Yeah, but that's the job. It's not like you don't know it going in.

If you can't handle it, quit.

 

At least in West Virginia, nearly half of them do so in the first year.

Turnover continues to be big problem in state prisons, jails

 

Huh. I wonder what could be different about the job in Cook Co. vs. West Virginia.

Oh: Exit interviews showed most left because of the pay. Rubenstein said starting salaries are in the low $20,000 range.

That's the kind of thing you would call "selective editing" if I did it.

 

No, "selective editing" is when you post multiple paragraphs of something and then ignore the rest of it which hurts your argument.

What I posted, if anything, shows why there needs to be good salaries and benefits for those type of jobs. They're the type of jobs that will only be attractive if there are good salaries and benefits. Otherwise, they'll quit because it's an extremely stressful job.

 

And, in Cook County, they get a good salary.

You suggested stress was the reason for absenteeism, and job turnover. Then you tried to tie West Virginia, which has high turnover, to Cook County.

But, the reason for the turnover in WV is low salary. And, you presented no evidence that there are hight turnover rates in Cook County.

 

Found this from a few y ears ago on Cook County Dept. of Corrections. It says it had an annual turnover rate of 25 percent (Page 7)

https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/Photocopy/104057NCJRS.pdf

Imagine what it would be if they were only making $25K a year.

 

First newspaper interview was with a publisher whose son was the previous SE and left to work at the local state prison.