HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 02281989 - IO.1 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS 1. 0. 1
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FROM: INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE - Costa
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February 13 , 1989 ��. _ PCounty
DATE: TSTA couc+�
Scheduling Fire Dispatchers on a
SUBJECT: 56-Hour Week versus a 40-Hour Week
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1 . Request the County Administrator and Director of Personnel,
in cooperation with the Chief of the Consolidated Fire
District, to document the statement made by Chief Maxfield
that it would cost 40% more to work Fire Dispatchers on a
40-hour week rather than the 56-hour week they currently
work. This should include an analysis of the need for
additional staff, an analysis of the additional salary that
would have to be paid compared with the overtime now
being paid, and an analysis of the additional benefits that
would have to be paid.
2 . Request the County Administrator and Director of Personnel,
in cooperation with the Chief of the Consolidated Fire
District, to survey other fire jurisdictions in Contra Costa
County and in surrounding counties to determine what type of
schedule their Dispatchers work.
3 . Request the County Administrator and Director of Personnel
to determine the cost of equalizing the average gross pay
for Sheriff ' s Dispatchers and Fire Dispatchers, disregarding
FLSA overtime and regular overtime.
4 . Request the County Administrator to report all of the above
items back to our Committee on March 13 , 1989 .
BACKGROUND
On December 20, 1988, the Board of Supervisors referred to our
Committee the issue of why Fire Dispatchers work a 56-hour week,
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: X_YES SIGNATURE:
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY A ATOR —IX RECOMMENDATION OF BO RD COMMITTEE
X APPROVE HER
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NATURE S: Om Owers Sunne Wri"t McPeak
ACTION OF BOARD Feb►"llarV 28, 1989 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED x OTHER
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
X UNANIMOUS(ABSENT I I I ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN
AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD
ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN.
County Administrator
CC: Personnel Director
ATTESTED 1.7-C4 OIL /9 8 37
Chief William Maxfield, Consolidated FD PHIL BATCHELOR,C RK OF THE BOARD OF
Henry Clarke, Local I SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
Mike Price, Local 1230
BY � ,DEPUTY
M382 (10/88)
i
Page 2
rather than a 40-hour week. The problem with a 56-hour week is
that under federal law and court decisions, the provisions of the
Fair Labor Standards Act apply to fire dispatchers, meaning they
must be paid time and one-half overtime for all hours worked in
excess of 40 hours a week. This has the potential to mean that a
dispatcher who is not absent from work would be paid over $400 a
month in overtime. We asked Chief Maxfield to respond to this
issue and indicate why his dispatchers should not work a regular
40-hour week in order to save this built-in or "structural"
overtime, as opposed to the more typical overtime when a
dispatcher is asked to work beyond his or her normal schedule.
On February 13 , 1989, we met with Chief Maxfield and members of
his staff, as well as staff from the Personnel Department to
review the attached report dated January 24, 1989 . In his
report, Chief Maxfield states that it would cost 40o more to work
dispatchers a 40-hour week since additional staff would be
required. This additional staff and their associated benefits
would cost more than the savings from the FLSA overtime.
However, Chief Maxfield provided no breakdown of costs to prove
that this was the case.
We have, therefore, made the above recommendations in an effort
to determine exactly what the cost or savings would be of moving
to a 40-hour week rather than a 56-hour week.
i
i
• GON'SRA COST'S
U U IN,
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY CONSOLIDATED FIRE DISTRICT
`rO LIDS
�fRE DISTR�G,C
FIRE CHIEF BOARD OF FIRE COMMISSIONERS
William F. Maxfield Albert J. Gray
2010 Geary Road Edward B. Haynes
Pleasant Hill,California 94523-4694 Gary Hernandez
Donald J. Macintosh
TELEPHONE (415) 930-5500 B. Palmer Riedel
January 24, 1989
TO: Internal Operations Committee
FROM: William F. Maxfield, Fire Chief L(�;V�—
SUBJECT: Report on Fire District Dispatchers
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Internal 'Operations Committee requested that I review the December
2, 1988 report from the Director of Personnel on salary and
recruitment issues involving Sheriff' s Dispatchers versus Fire
Dispatchers, and comment on 1 ) the need to continue to schedule Fire
Dispatchers on a 56-hour a week schedule, necessitating the payment of
overtime under the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
and 2) why Fire Dispatchers should not be scheduled on a 40-hour week
as are Sheriff ' s Dispatchers.
First and most importantly, I want to point out a belief apparently
exists that the Fire Dispatchers ' average 56-hour workweek is somehow
a contributing factor to the recruitment and retention problems being
experienced with Sheriff 's Dispatchers. This is not true, has no
basis in fact and represents a misunderstanding of the situation. My
review of the Director of Personnel ' s report, the Sheriff ' s report and
related correspondence indicates the Sheriff ' s Dispatcher recruitment
and retention problems are the result of being under-staffed, high
workload, forced overtime, job stress, working conditions, low morale
and working within a structured County merit personnel system which is
not conducive to the timely hiring of dispatchers. Nothing leads me
to believe the problems are in any way caused by the Fire Dispatchers '
56-hour workweek. The Director' s report simply compares the gross
monthly pay of Sheriff and Fire dispatchers, states the former work a
40-hour week and the latter a 56-hour week, and lists the number of
filled and vacant positions in the Sheriff and Fire dispatcher
classes.
While the Fire Dispatchers have a higher base salary than Sheriff 's
Dispatchers, the Sheriff ' s Dispatchers enjoy a higher hourly rate.
This is because the Fire Dispatchers work a greater average number of
hours per month than Sheriff 's Dispatchers, namely 242. 67 hrs. /mo.
versus 173 . 33 hrs. /mo. An argument that the Fire Dispatchers ' gross
Serving the communities of Clayton, Concord, Lafayette, Martinez, Pleasant Hill,
Walnut Creek, and some unincorporated County areas
pay and/oar 56-hour workweek negatively affects the recruiting and
retention of Sheriff 's Dispatchers has no justification for the
following obvious reason: there are 9 Fire Dispatcher/Senior
Dispatcher positions versus 62 Sheriff ' s Dispatcher/Senior Dispatcher
positions. :The small number of Fire dispatchers coupled with a low
turnover rate does not create a situation where significant numbers of
Sheriff ' s dispatchers are leaving the Sheriff' s Department to work for
the Consolidated Fire District. Only one dispatcher left D.R.C.C. to
work for Consolidated Fire, and when she left she thought she would be
at a lower salary than a Sheriff 's Dispatcher. The facts clearly
illustrate there is little, if any, impact our dispatch operation can
have on the high turnover rate for dispatchers being experienced in
the Sheriff 's Department.
With the respect to the need to continue Fire Dispatchers on a 56-hour
workweek and why they should not be scheduled on a 40-hour week like
Sheriff 's Dispatchers, the following points are presented for your
consideration:
Fire Dispatchers have been on an average 56-hour workweek
(working 24-hour shifts as do firefighters) for more than 30
years. Any change in their working hours would be subject
to meet-and-confer.
Fire Dispatchers do receive an average of $400+ overtime
compensation per month when they work all their scheduled
hours, pursuant to the provisions of FLSA. However, when
they are absent from the job for any reason such as vacation
or sick leave use, the $400+ amount is reduced accordingly
and may in fact be $ 0 . This is because under the FLSA, an
overtime obligation only exists for hours actually worked in
excess of 40 hours per week. Thus , the $400+ amount is a
maximum and, in reality, FLSA overtime costs are actually
less when scheduled hours are not worked.
The FLSA did not apply to .State and local government
employees until a 1985 U.S. Supreme Court decision.
Subsequent federal legislation made 'the FLSA applicable to
our employees effective April 15, 1986. FLSA overtime
payments are made to Fire Dispatchers as well as
Firefighters in accordance with federal law.
From a cost standpoint, there are 7 days times 24 hours per
day or 168 hours per week that need to be covered in an
around-the-clock emergency operation. The 56-hour workweek
provides for such coverage with exactly 3 shifts. If we
were to change to a 40-hour workweek for our Fire
Dispatchers, we would need 4 shifts plus; it is evident 4
times 40 equals 160 and there are 168 hours in a week.
Hiring a fourth shift plus -- including the added pay and
fringe benefits -- would be prohibitively more expensive
(approximately 400) than continuing the present system and
paying existing dispatchers on the 56-hour workweek their
built-in FLSA overtime as required by federal law.
,J
From an operational standpoint, the District believes the
56-hour workweek for Fire Dispatchers is beneficial to the
fire service and the taxpayer. Not only are less employees
required in the dispatch operation, but the dispatchers and
firefighters are on the same work schedule, working 3
24-hour shifts in a 9-day cycle. This allows dispatchers to
become familiar with the emergency response crews on their
particular shift, to identify individuals by recognizing
their voices during radio transmissions and provides for a
greater continuity of dispatcher coverage due to 24-hour
shifts being worked rather than 8-hour days. Training
schedule, supervision and coverage is also facilitated by
consistent shift staffing, rather than constant turnover.
Based on the information presented above, the current 5.6-hour workweek
for dispatchers in Consolidated Fire District is appropriate for the
following reasons:
It provides greater continuity in dispatch operations for
Consolidated Fire as well as the contract dispatching for
Orinda, Moraga and East Diablo Fire Districts.
It allows the use of shift Firefighters to replace fire
dispatchers on vacation, sick leave or absent for other
reasons.
It results in significant salary savings (approximately 400)
by utilizing fewer dispatchers.
There are no fringe benefit costs associated with paying
FLSA overtime.
The current dispatch system is working efficiently and
effectively without high turnover costs.
There would be a severe negative impact on morale if the
Fire Dispatchers '- work schedule is changed to a 40-hour
workweek.
I am not aware of any benefits of changing from the current
56-hour workweek for Fire District Dispatchers to a 40-hour
workweek.
In conclusion, it is important to recognize the 56-hour workweek of
the Fire Dispatchers is not causing the Sheriff ' s Dispatcher
recruiting and retention problems. However, changing our 56-hour
schedule to a 40-hour workweek would create poor morale and employment
problems similar to those currently experienced in the D.R.C.C. The
Consolidated Fire District and its Fire Dispatchers support the
56-hour workweek, and believe it meets the needs of the fire service,
both economically and operationally.
WFM:ccr
cc: County Administrator
Director of Personnel
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