NY comptroller criticized for Web pension guide

ALBANY — The office that oversees retirement benefits for state workers in New York is taking heat for suggesting on its Web site that employees pad their pensions by working lots of overtime.

A spokesman for State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli tells the Democrat and Chronicle of Rochester that his office is making changes to the Web page.

New York is in a major cash crunch and has been under pressure to cut labor costs.

The Web how-to guide had also suggested that workers stockpile vacation time as a way of boosting benefits.

Both practices have been criticized by state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo as abuses of the system.

A DiNapoli spokesman said the office just wants to make sure workers understand their rights, and called the previous language on the page "unfortunate."