I know a couple firefighters in the bay area and they definitely game this system. They'll work a typical salaried position for ~30 years, and then in their la

I know a couple firefighters in the bay area and they definitely game this system. They'll work a typical salaried position for ~30 years, and then in their last year (or last couple years) they'll stuff as much overtime as they possibly can in, sometimes more than triple their regular salary. Pension is based on wages over the last year or two, so their pension payments skyrocket upwards. Managers know and are complicit in this, in solidarity with their coworkers. There's often peer pressure too; lower ranked staff are urged to not even request overtime so that it can all go to the near-retirees without a paper-trail of favoritism. It's not uncommon for >98% of overtime to go to the 2 or 3 people who are close to retirement. I'm all for a living wage for people in critical or permanent roles, but this is not that, and it's not fair. This is the opposite, driving pay down for newer recruits (because they can't request overtime), driving retirement benefits up (far above what was earned during the career), and costing the public in the process.