Staffing & Overtime

Section 1 - ADMINISTRATIVE

PURPOSE:

To establish a baseline directive to maintain an adequate staffing level through the use of overtime assignments. This policy is designed to set forth a scheduling plan to distribute overtime hours fairly.

PROCEDURE:

Staffing Guidelines

• A minimum of eleven (11) personnel is required per shift. Of that 11, one must be a Battalion Chief or qualified ride-up Battalion Chief, one must be a shift Lieutenant or qualified relief Lieutenant, one must be a Paramedic assigned to each rescue vehicle, and one must be an Engineer or relief driver assigned to drive the engine and quint. Whenever possible, attempts should be made to maintain at least one Lieutenant at all times, (avoid two simultaneous ride-ups).
• Shift members are typically scheduled to work 24 hours on duty and 48 hours off duty. The standard shift begins at 0700 and ends at 0700 hours the following day. All shift members, regardless of their schedule, are expected to be present and available during their entire shift.
• Two (2) shift members may be permitted to be on personal leave when the leave does not create overtime.* If one person creates overtime due to staffing circumstances (i.e. only Paramedic on shift), then no other vacation will be approved. Vacation requests will be taken at any time. However, time off will not be officially approved until 60 days prior to the time off. In the event that circumstances change relating to shift staffing (FMLA or W/C absences), then the second person off may be cancelled up to one shift before the scheduled leave date. The first person approved will be granted the time off even if it requires overtime as long as the position can be covered. Mandatory OT will be avoided at all costs. No more than 5 shifts in a 10 shift period will be granted off, inclusive of time trades.

Special circumstances may be approved by Fire Administration.

∗ This was amended to allow a second person off with the understanding that it will not always be possible and at times there may be lengthy periods of time that certain shifts will not enjoy this benefit. All members employed as of July 1, 2010, agree and understand the limitations and unanimously voted to continue the practice even if the benefit will be limited.

• During times where shifts are at minimum staffing due to FMLA or worker’s compensation absence, the B/C will carefully scrutinize new vacations requests (those made after the reduced staffing issue arises). Requests made prior to the event may be honored even if OT is required. Additional leave requests will be reviewed on an individual basis. If the FMLA leave or workers comp will result in minimum staffing for an extended period of time (more than 1 month), then consideration will be given even if OT will result. However, if the expected time will be limited, new leave requests may not be approved if they will result in OT coverage.
• Engineer / Paramedics can be utilized as an OIC, Paramedic, or Engineer.
• Shift members attending training may be re-called to duty (depending on the situation) if the shift falls below minimum staffing.

Overtime Guidelines

• An overtime position will be filled by the rank that caused the shift to go below minimum whenever possible. The position causing the overtime is the one that made the shift fall below minimum.
• When initially offered OT, personnel must either accept or refuse the entire amount of OT offered. If a person is only able to work a portion of the OT that is needed, the Battalion Chief will continue to contact eligible individuals. If no one accepts the entire shift on a voluntary basis, he/she may complete the coverage by combining two or more shift members.
• Overtime is dependent upon the present situation remaining in effect. (I.e. person calling in sick and remaining out for the whole shift.) If the situation that created the OT is no longer in effect the member working the OT will be given the option of working to obtain a minimum of six hours (this only applies when you are originally offered more than six hours overtime). It is the member’s option to remain and complete the six hours or leave when the OT is no longer required.
• The six hour minimum rule does not apply to meetings, special events or when less than six hours OT was offered.
• Overtime will not be paid unless the hours are actually worked.
• Situations requiring overtime that are not covered by this policy are to be approved by, the Deputy Fire Chief or the Fire Chief prior to being offered.
• The Battalion Chief will document hours accepted for OT.
• The Battalion Chiefs are not required to utilize the overtime database when filling a staffing need that is four (4) hours or less or when timing is a factor. This includes, but is not limited to minimum staffing, meetings, public relation events/requests, emergency leave of on duty member, etc.
• The Battalion Chief is responsible for the correct offerings of all overtime regardless of whether or not he or she actually made the offering.
• All overtime offerings other than those made face-to-face will be made using pager or text messages. (Refer to SOG 110.08) The OIC may elect to use telephone methods after all efforts using pagers or approved text messaging have been unsuccessful.
• In no situation is it appropriate for an individual to accept OT knowing that they are unable to fulfill what has been offered.
• All efforts are to be made to restrict overtime usage to essential situations.
• All offers of overtime made to shift members to fill minimum staffing situations in excess of four (4) hours will be recorded on the OT data base. Public Relations/Training exceptions may apply.
• When an individual is promoted (i.e. Engineer/Paramedic to Lieutenant) an average of all overtime hours listed in the data base for the existing employees in that rank will be calculated. This number will then be the starting number on the cards for the newly promoted individual. In this manner, overtime offerings for a specific rank are not “skewed” when a person is promoted.

Types of Overtime

Non-Mandatory

• Used any time an overtime vacancy is created or will need to be scheduled in the near or distant future.
• In the interest of safety and to prevent firefighter fatigue, no person can volunteer to work in any capacity if time worked exceeds 48 continuous hours. A minimum of eight (8) off-duty hours must be taken after working 48 before an individual is eligible for further overtime. (See also the OT Eligibility section, item # 1). *(members shall not work at a part-time job within the 8 hour period prior to their shift) The intent is to provide for a rest period before returning to shift duties.
• When a Battalion Chief determines a need to fill a below minimum staffing position, he/she will utilize the OT computer program to fill the OT. The Battalion Chief will progress through the offerings beginning with the individual’s holding the same rank. The position to be hired should reflect the rank of the staffing need prior to shuffling of positions within the shift. (I.e. If the Battalion Chief needs to fill a paramedic position, the paramedic rotation should be used first. If the need is for a driver, the engineer rotation should be used first. If the need is for an OIC, a Lieutenant is called first). Deviations may be considered to avoid over use of any one particular position (i.e. Autonomous Paramedic when a Non Autonomous Paramedic is all that is needed to meet minimum staffing).
• Those individuals accepting normal overtime have one (1) hour from the time of call to report to duty. It is the discretion of the OIC to exceed the (1) hour rule as necessary depending on circumstances.
• Members shall not be permitted to work more than (2) two 48 hour shifts in a row except in rare and unforeseen circumstances. This shall include OT and timetrades. The Battalion Chief shall evaluate the situation and make decisions

based on individual circumstances.

Mandatory

• Used when the duty shift will be below minimum staffing requirements and all “non-mandatory” efforts to replace the vacancy have been exhausted.
• This position will be filled by the rank that caused the shift to go below minimum requirements, ex: If a Lieutenant creates the vacancy below minimum, a Lieutenant will be mandatoried to fill the need; if a Paramedic creates the vacancy, a Paramedic will be mandatoried. The person having the least amount of accrued hours within that position would be called first. The first person contacted is to be mandatoried. A holdover (also a mandatory situation) may be necessary until the primary individual arrives. *If a shift member is on vacation from the shift that is requiring OT that person will be contacted and required to return to duty before mandatory OT will be initiated if possible. (This may not be possible if the member is out of the area and travel time is extensive)
• Those who are off duty and are mandatoried to report to duty have up to two (2) hours to report to duty.
• In the interest of safety and to prevent firefighter fatigue, no person can be mandatoried to work if the duty shift will make the employee work more than 48 hours at one time (see also the OT Eligibility section, item a.) This may be unavoidable, but must be approved by the Deputy Fire Chief or Fire Chief if implemented.
• Because mandatory overtime is an inconvenience to the person held, any person who is mandatoried will not have their position on the overtime roster adjusted unless they request otherwise.
• Employees that have been mandatoried shall have a special entry on his or her OT card made to document the date and the hours of the mandatory overtime. It shall not, however, be counted as overtime hours worked or refused unless the member requests the hours to be added. All efforts should be made to avoid having to mandatory an individual within the same year if at all possible. The exception to this would be in the instance in which the same individual was needed to facilitate a mandatory holdover or no other members can be contacted and required to return to duty.

Hold Over

• Used as a form of mandatory overtime when a vacancy below minimum requirements is created when an oncoming shift member is unable to report to duty for whatever reason.
• The person filling the position for which the vacancy is created is required to remain until the replacement person arrives. This will be a rank for rank requirement, ex. If a paramedic creates the vacancy, a paramedic is required to remain.
• The person responsible for remaining can elect to give the holdover overtime to another person willing to stay as long as it does not adversely affect minimum staffing levels and it is approved by the Battalion Chief.
• Because the holdover is a form of mandatory overtime and an inconvenience to the person held, any person who is required to hold over will not have their position on the overtime cards adjusted unless they request otherwise.
• If someone is already committed to working overtime for the department in another capacity, the Battalion Chief must evaluate the commitment and if necessary, move to the next person on the list (i.e. CPR class, etc.).

Public Relations/Training

• Qualified CPR Instructors will not be charged hours on the overtime data base for instruction when overtime payments are the applicable form of payment for the training.
• The data base will be utilized to determine the correct order for the offering of overtime for special events, public training (other than CPR) and inhouse training events when the offering is six (6) hours or greater. If the offering for these events is less than six (6) hours, the hours will not be recorded on the overtime data base and it is not necessary to use the data base to establish a call order. The filling of overtime for special events and/or public education classes lasting longer than six (6) hours will involve the use of the data base and the hours will be recorded as appropriate.

OT Eligibility

• Employees working a 24/48-hour schedule are eligible to work overtime during all hours other than their normally assigned shift as long as 48 hours are not exceeded without a period of eight (8) hours off the clock. Any break in working 48 straight hours must be sufficient to allow for adequate rest before it can be considered that the 48 hours of work does not apply. Example – a one or two hour break taken in the middle of working two back-to-back 24 hour shifts does not negate the need for an eight (8) hour break at the end of the two shifts.
• No employee shall be eligible to work overtime hours in any capacity during a pay period when a Suspension from Duty or within 30 days of any disciplinary action issued pursuant to department/City guidelines unless approved otherwise by the Chief of the Department due to unforeseen circumstances.
• If an employee’s rotation in the overtime data base comes up during his/her ineligibility, his/her name shall be treated as a refusal and moved to the bottom of the rotation as prescribed by Section 2.2 of this Policy. If said rotation should constitute a mandatory requirement, said employee shall not be required to fill the vacancy at that time, but said employee shall remain subject to mandatory overtime upon completing the ineligible time period. He/she shall not be moved to the bottom of the overtime rotation roster.