The Connecticut State Police Union filed a grievance against the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP) in October 2025, claiming that implementation of an updated scheduling and payroll system, called “New Kronos,” caused troopers to miss overtime opportunities.
NP-1 Bargaining Unit Attorney Andrew Matthews wrote in the grievance complaint that late in the afternoon on October 2, 2025, troopers “without notice” received orders to update their scheduling preferences into the new system by the next day, and that DESPP turned off the old Kronos system without properly activating the new one, creating a system of “first come, first serve,” for overtime.
“Surprisingly, the Union immediately discovered that on October 3, 2025, the employer turned off the old Kronos system but also failed to properly activate the ‘New Kronos’, which eliminated the possibility of a fair and equitable assignment of overtime opportunities,” Matthews wrote. “This created a system of ‘first come – first serve’ assignment process and required members to call into the Special Duty Office, even though they had already provided their availability for overtime opportunities in the ‘Old Kronos’ system.”
Special Duty overtime is for outside contractors, organizations, and municipalities who hire a state police trooper for security or traffic control. The overtime costs are paid by the contractor and to get an assignment, troopers must submit requests by the 15th of the prior month, according to the union contract.
“This unilateral change and display of incompetence, caused members to lose overtime opportunities that were provided to others, who were not eligible for the jobs sent out agency wide via ‘blast’ by the employer,” Matthews continued.
According to the state police labor contract, non-emergency overtime is awarded through a list based on seniority, giving the most senior officers the first opportunity to get overtime. Troopers can also be mandated by the department to work extra hours.
DESPP is one of five state agencies that account for the most overtime in the state, amounting to $46.3 million last year, with some officer doubling their pay to make hundreds of thousands through overtime, which then counts toward their pension. The Department has been consistently understaffed for years, prompting lawmakers to increase salaries and bonuses to attract more recruits.
The switch to a new Kronos system was a $6 million 2025 endeavor between DESPP’s Office of Strategic Services and the Office of the Comptroller, along with the Department of Correction, Department of Veteran Affairs, and the Department of Children and Families.
The previous system at DESPP was subject to abuse after it was found that sergeant was approving his own overtime, purportedly because he was acting as a “liaison” to the colonel’s office, the Media Relations Units wrote in response to Inside Investigator questions. Emails obtained under a Freedom of Information request show top brass with the State Police requesting higher access to the system than is given other departments and being denied.
The union also filed a complaint with the State Board of Labor Relations against DESPP’s upgrade to body worn cameras, GPS monitoring, license plate readers, and drones, arguing the $120 million deal with Axon could affect an officer’s activity protected by the State Employee Relations Act and constitutes a change in working conditions subject to contract negotiation.
The union is demanding DESPP officials “activate a fair and equitable special duty overtime assignment rotational system and make whole all members negatively impacted by the Employer’s actions,” Matthews wrote.
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