10/14s on 56 hr Week

[gunnyv]

Does anyone out there work 10/14 hr shifts on a 56 hr week? The Dept in my hometown just went full time and they got stuck with this by the chief. This is the schedule: 10/10/10/14/14/14/off/off/off. Yes, they work 6 days in a row with three off. BTW, there are only 5 FF per shift, so they carry pagers for call back. The shift changes are at 6 AM and 4 PM. There are no beds in the two stations, I think they sneak in roll-a-ways. It seems they are being punished for taking the job, and I got to believe the fatigue affects their safety.
I'm trying to get my neighbors to b***ch at the twp. board about this. Any suggestions to help them fight "city hall"?

[firemangeorge]

Yeeech! They could get the exact same result with 24 on 48 off. No additional personnel needed. Can they work out some permanent trades to get to 24 hour shifts? The Chief must hate his men. Sounds like a really great place to work.

[DrInferno]

Not sure what the labour standards are in your area but I think I would be looking into the labour act and Health and Safety concerns. In my part of Canada most departments work 10/14 but any shift longer than 12 hours requires that you have a place for rest. (e.g. bed) We work the 10/14 shift but ours is averaged to 42 hours a week. Health and Safety here is a good tool to help keep the men safe from people who count the beans.

[gunnyv]

Fireman george,
They are not allowed to trade. The dept is brand new, so every one of them is on probation.
The local paper had a letter from the chief on the schedule today:

"They work shorter shifts so they are rested. Would you want someone responding to your emergency after working 23 hours straight?"

He doesn't explain why his are the only 56 hour firefighters in the Detroit Metro area not on 24s.
The chief was against full time firefighters until a new Twp supervisor was elected who campaigned on the issue. The new union went along with the schedule because refusing the schedule could have ruined the deal to go full time.

[EUitts]

I've heard of many different work schedules, but never that one; I can't say that it is a schedule that I would want to try.

Sounds to me as if the members have a long road ahead of them. I hope things work out well for them.

[trumpeter75]

How about having the FF's (as unpleasant as it may seem) suffer for a year until their probation is all done, and then negotiate for a 24-48 the next contract?

[R1SAlum]

We had the same schedule in the District of Columbia from 1963 until 1986 when we went to 24 on and 48 off. We called it "3,3, and 3" .We were allowed to sleep on night work after 2000 hrs. Ours was not a 56 hour work week though; we had "Kelly Days" to reduce the hours to 48. When we went 24/48 we had retained the Kellys and got them every 7 tours to maintain the 48 hour work week until they reduced it to a Kelly Day every 5 tours for about a 45 hour work week. Now we work 24 on and 72 off for a 42 hour week.
At about the same time we were working 3,3,and 3, Arlington County Va. was working 4 days, 4 nights and 4 off until going to a 24 hour tour in the 80's also. Lot's of guys I knew over there hated it.
Nothing is as bad as Federal Firefighters working a 2 platoon system at 72 hours a week.

[BCmdepas3280]

New York Labor Law is the best ... We have a 40hr work week....4 shifts ...24 on 72 off I hope we never lose that schedule

[ 01-17-2002: Message edited by: mdepas3280 ]

[Dalmatian90]

"They work shorter shifts so they are rested. Would you want someone responding to your emergency after working 23 hours straight?"

Perfect retort for that dipstick is, "Do you want someone responding whose just worked 72 hours in the last six days?" Never mind if they got called back at all during their off hours.

2 10/2 14/4 off for 42 hour departments is one thing. This schedule is just asking for fatigue injuries at the end of the cycle.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure logic would work here 'cause someone is either very thick skulled or has an ax to grind.

[Jedimike007]

That sucks.

[firemedic53]

First thing I'd do is drop my pager in the toilet.........

[glowpop]

Check out www.dol.gov/dol/esa/public/whd_org.htm. This is the wage and hour division of Department of Labor. There is a section of this act that allows firefighters and police officers to work a 53 hour work week, in a pay period up to 28 days, without paying overtime. It is commonly refered to as the 7k exception. It refers to section 207k. After 53 hours in a week the employeer is required to pay time and one-half for all hours worked in that pay period. This pay can be either cash or comp time, but it must be paid at time and one-half. Additionally, there needs to be a written agreement with the employee that this pay can be comp time and not cash.

There is also requirements of on-call status and what amounts to time off when someone is considered on-call. If the on-call does not allow for use of that time for personal pursuits then a court or the Labor Department might award back pay up to two years if there was ignorance on the departments part and up to three years if they knew there were such provisions and didn't act.

Additionally there are provisions where career firefighters can not be volunteers in the same jurisdictions as where they are career, if they are doing the same job. So they can't say that once you are on the scene of a working job that you suddenly turn into a volunteer like the pumpkin.

Good luck.

amfm