I am wondering if anyone works 24 hour shifts with sleep time that is not paid due to FLSA rules of up to 8 hours unpaid if there are no calls and a minimum of 5 hours of sleep is given? If you do does the sleep time count when you work overtime shifts or do you get the full 24 hours of overtime?
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Originally posted by Bombero36 View PostI am wondering if anyone works 24 hour shifts with sleep time that is not paid due to FLSA rules of up to 8 hours unpaid if there are no calls and a minimum of 5 hours of sleep is given? If you do does the sleep time count when you work overtime shifts or do you get the full 24 hours of overtime?
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While I do not work for a dept that is using this adaptation of FLSA, I have in the past.
What may be a bit diifferent was 8 hours was not paid for sleep and meals. If a call interupted sleep, then the Chief made the determination if hours would be paid. Mostly it depended on the nature of the call and the amount of sleep time interupted.
Under FLSA, the firefighter must have the opportunity for 5 hours sleep. That has a broad meaning since depending on policy, the department may give the firefighter the option for sleep anytime after 2000 until the end of shift at 0600 (or so). So by using these times, there are 10 hours of free time that can be used for sleeping.
In the dept that I was with at the time, firefighters began their free time at 1900 and the shift change occurred at 0700. The crews I had tended to be nightowls and didn't turn in until around 0000 or 0100. I didn't care as long as they did not let it interfere with the mission. But because of this, most overnight calls of less than 2 hours was not paid. If it moved beyond two hours, I would usually approve it. Interupted meals was not paid unless it became a frequent thing. It happened about 1 out of 20 shifts. That was one hour per shift, 7 hours for sleep time.
It was matter of budget constraints, and not to try to beat anyone out of the hours. In the last contract, it was a negotiated matter of cutting 10 guys or cutting 8 hours per shift (4.5 hours adjusted). They chose this way and stood together. They didn't throw 10 guys away. Good for them.Last edited by PaladinKnight; 08-18-2010, 03:58 PM.HAVE PLAN.............WILL TRAVEL
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But because of this, most overnight calls of less than 2 hours was not paid. If it moved beyond two hours, I would usually approve it.
Any of the "bean" counters that think sleep time in a firehouse is the same as at home curled up with your wife/lover/significant other has never spent any time in a firehouse. Lights, tones and bells go off on a constant basis, calls come in back to back, personnel and apparatus get moved for cover assignements, etc. etc. etc.
There have been many FD's here in the northeast that have made concessions to save jobs... and their communities cut the jobs anyways... so much for believing the bean counters..."The education of a firefighter and the continued education of a firefighter is what makes "real" firefighters. Continuous skill development is the core of progressive firefighting. We learn by doing and doing it again and again, both on the training ground and the fireground."
Lt. Ray McCormack, FDNY
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Gonz... I didn't say I liked it. Didn't say I endorsed it. It was just the way it was.
We all have done some of those things we didn't like or agreed with. If I put my principals in front of a paycheck on everything throughout my life, I would have eaten a lot more beans and bread.
Notice I put in that little 4.5 hour adjusted. Because I didn't like it, I tried to limit the effect as much as possible. Instead of the guys losing 8 hours out of 24.5, they lost about 4.5, bring them to a 20 hour shift. This reduced the likelihood of overtime, which was the intention of the issue. So it could have been much worse. Two floater positions were eliminated by way of attrition, so some overtime was still an issue, which is predictable.
The major change was going from 3 platoons to 4 on 24/72 schedules. So many things happened at once based on what the City Manager designed trying to reduce costs. A COLA was honored and another 3% added on top to ease some of the adjustments. Not many of the things I urged caution on were heard or heeded, so what he presumed or predicted was incorrect.
I might add that Call backs increased and that alone wiped out anything saved. The platoon change reduced daily staff levels which was bad in itself. So the plan was doomed from the beginning. This why bean counters should not count beans on things they know nothing about.
Any reduction has an effect on everyone. But the reality was either we cut payroll costs, or we cut positions. They were serious about it an no contract was going to matter. It was all about the bottom line.
I understand that the City Manager changed cities right after I left, so perhaps it was not working to the boss's liking. I would like to say that I left because of it (fall on my sword), but that wasn't the reason. This was going on when I came in (2007) and my contract didn't include the duties of contract negotiation. I was there for a specific reason, 1 year with a possible 6 month extension, and a 6 month escape clause. I was there for 400 days without fanfare, no headlines, and no issues. I let the junior officers have the 5 minutes of fame thing on TV and print.Last edited by PaladinKnight; 08-18-2010, 06:17 PM.HAVE PLAN.............WILL TRAVEL
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A private ambulance cannot adopt FSLA. They could choose to not pay for sleep time and be wrong.
If an employer requires an employee to be at their job site, then the employee is entitled to be compensated. The only exception is if the Jurisdiction has become 7K compliant (FSLA).HAVE PLAN.............WILL TRAVEL
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Originally posted by flipper123 View PostI worked for a private ambulance that used this system back in 1994 or so.
Eventually the owner was sued by multiple employees and they won back pay.
I almost went to work there in 1990, and I remember that being mentioned.
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Originally posted by RFDACM02 View PostF-Dat. I can't see anyone taking it that far. You aren't paying me, I'm not staying in the firehouse. For many of us this is a job, and while it may be one many of us truly enjoy, there is a point where the city can only ask so much,. I thought the low pay and constant battle for adequate staffing and continued benefits was the limit, but deducting hours slept?Last edited by Bombero36; 08-19-2010, 11:44 AM.
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I currently work for county EMS. That is the way we are paid. Any call during our sleep time is OT. If it last longer than 3 hrs we get the full 8 hrs OT. I don't like it at all. We would make more if we were paid the whole 24. You can either take the job or be unemployed.FF/Paramedic
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Originally posted by Bombero36 View PostJust to clarify the discussion, our department is a combination department and to get the funding entities to approve 24 hour career coverage we had to come up with a deal for our firefighter who were working 12 hour shifts at the time. Their pay is very good and to go to 24 hour coverage they had to either take an hourly pay cut or agree to the 7 hours of sleep time to be able to afford the system or our firefighters would have end up making over $100,000 a year working only the shifts required. Our department also allows career staff to return for any fire calls on their days off plus wildland which adds a lot of overtime. The sleep time allows us to afford the 24 hour system and if the firefighters respond to calls in the middle of the night they receive pay at 1 1/2 times their normal salary plus if the calls go over two hours they get paid overtime for the full 7 hours of sleep time. I will guarantee their is no loss of pay and they are very well compensated.
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looking at it worng
Like most firefighters, everyone gets the azz and says if they aren't getting paid thay are going home when in actuality it is for the individuals betterment that they are not getting paid these "sleep" hours because their hourly rate of pay is higher when they receive OT pay.RK
cell #901-494-9437
Management is making sure things are done right. Leadership is doing the right thing. The fire service needs alot more leaders and a lot less managers.
"Everyone goes home" is the mantra for the pussification of the modern, American fire service.
Comments made are my own. They do not represent the official position or opinion of the Fire Department or the City for which I am employed. In fact, they are normally exactly the opposite.
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Originally posted by MemphisE34a View PostLike most firefighters, everyone gets the azz and says if they aren't getting paid thay are going home when in actuality it is for the individuals betterment that they are not getting paid these "sleep" hours because their hourly rate of pay is higher when they receive OT pay.
It would only work to the firefighters benefit if they are not forcing them to move to this system to save money, in which case they're leaving the rate the same and not adjusting the rate based on hours worked. We've sen this before in the opposite way when a FD moved from 56 hr weeks to 42's and left the rate the same. Good deal for the crew. But if a city is using this as a cost saving measure, I'm betting their not offering to change the rate as it would defeat the purpose of saving dough. The hourly rate can be a negotiable wage, vs. the weekly, or bi-weekly, so it depends on how they work it. This is a bean counter rule that wouldn't come up for discussion unless it saved money, meaning brothers and sisters will make less money or there will be fewer of them.
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Originally posted by MemphisE34a View PostLike most firefighters, everyone gets the azz and says if they aren't getting paid thay are going home when in actuality it is for the individuals betterment that they are not getting paid these "sleep" hours because their hourly rate of pay is higher when they receive OT pay.FF/Paramedic
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