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HomeMy WebLinkAbout13.A.1. Fire Department Pay Policy Modification-Res. No. 6539 -# 1'3,1+. C CITY OF SHAKOPEE Memorandum TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Mark McNeill, City Administrator SUBJECT: Fire Department Pay Policy Modification - Res. No. 6539 DATE: November 17,2006 INTRODUCTION: The Council is asked to consider a change to the written policy for Fire Department pay, which was approved earlier this year. BACKGROUND: At its meeting on May 2, 2006, the Council adopted a resolution which formalized in writing policies regarding pay in compensation for Shakopee Fire Fighters. The information from attached memo from Fire Chief Ed Schwaesdall was approved at that meeting. It has recently come to our attention that one practice which Chief Schwaesdall indicates has been ongoing for the Fire Department for many years is the practice of treating individual fire calls separately, and receiving compensation for those calls while otherwise attending a fire drill. All fire department activities are currently compensated at a flat $10 per hour. In this case, fire drills are normally held for two hours each Monday night. There would be two hours of pay at $10 per hour. If a fire call comes in during that two hour period, they respond to that call, and have been billing for and receiving a separate hourly compensation on top of the fire drill pay. Therefore, if a single call was received during that two hour period, they would be paid for a total of three hours. If a second fire call is received, that would be treated separately as well, and would receive a total of four hours pay (two hours for the drill activities, and an hour each for each of the two separate fire calls). In addition, the proposed policy also clarifies the practice that pay for increments of an hour are always rounded up to the next full hour for fire calls, drills, and meetings. The proposed changes are as follows: 1. Fire Call Attendance Pay Fire Fighters shall be paid the hourly wage for actual attendance at a fire call, with pay in increments of an hour, rounded up to the next full hour. A call is defined as any time the firefighter's pager sounds, and mutual aid call/standby are counted as fire calls. Multiple calls within that same hour shall be considered each as separate calls, and shall be compensated as such. 2. Fire Drill Attendance Pay Firefighters shall be paid for aeffial attendance at all drills, in increments of an hour, rounded up to the next full hour. Firefighters who are unable to attend drills due to attendance at another fire service-related activity will receive credit towards the Department's 35% minimum attendance requirement. They will not be paid unless foregoing pay for fire service activity as listed in #4 below. (Note: in attached resolution.) Fire calls received during drills or fire meetings shall be treated as being separate events, and paid separately from drill or meeting pay. 3. Fire Department Meeting Pay A Firefighter will be paid for actual attendance at Fire Department meetings, in increments of an hour, rounded up to the next full hour. Firefighters will be paid for the meeting ifthey are unable to attend if they are sent by the Fire Chief to another unpaid fire service-related activity. BUDGET IMP ACT: Chief Schwaesdall indicates that this has been practice for the Fire Department for many years, and as such, this is built into the existing proposed FY 07 budget. Therefore, there is no additional impact on the City's budget. RELATIONSHIP TO VISIONING: This would support Goal F, as it is a housekeeping item. RECOMMENDATION: If the Council wishes to formalize as written policy the practice that the Fire Department indicates has been in place, it should adopt the attached resolution. ACTION REQUIRED: If the Council concurs, it should, by motion, adopt the following resolution: Resolution No. 6539 A Resolution Amending the Compensation Policies for the Fire Department /1fU-Q lfudV-tiU Mark McNeill City Administrator MM:th RESOLUTION NO. 6539 A RESOLUTION AMENDING THE COMPENSATION POLICIES FOR THE FIRE DEPARTMENT WHEREAS, the City of Shakopee if staffed by a paid on call Fire Department; and, WHEREAS, the City of Shakopee desires to compensate fairly its Firefighters for time spent on department activities. WHEREAS, the City of Shakopee desires to amend the compensation policy for the Fire Department. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the following compensation polices are hereby adopted: 1. Fire Call Attendance Pay Fire Fighters shall be paid the hourly wage for attendance at a fire call, with pay in increments of an hour, rounded up to the next full hour. A call is defined as any time the Firefighters pager sounds, and mutual aid call/standby are counted as fire calls. Multiple calls within that same hour shall be considered each as separate calls, and shall be compensated as such. 2. Fire Drill Attendance Pay Firefighters shall be paid for attendance at all drills, in increments of an hour, rounded up to the next full hour. Firefighters who are unable to attend drills due to attendance at another fire service-related activity will receive credit towards the Department's 35% minimum attendance requirement. They will not be paid unless foregoing pay for fire service activity as listed in #4 below. Fire calls received during drills or fire meetings shall be treated as being separate events, and paid separately from drill or meeting pay. 3. Fire Department Meeting Pay A Firefighter will be paid for attendance at Fire Department meetings, in increments of an hour, rounded up to the next full hour. Firefighters will be paid for the meeting if they are unable to attend if they are sent by the Fire Chiefto another unpaid fire service,..related activity. 4. Attendance at Fire Conference or Schools Non-City Employees: Firefighters will be paid the hourly rate for attendance at a fire conference or school, for the actual class hours attended. Firefighters will receive credit towards the 35% attendance requirement, without fire call pay, for those calls during class hours. Firefighters will be paid and receive credit towards the 35% attendance requirement for all fire calls while not in class, but while attending Chief-approved conferences or schools. Regular City Employees: Regular City employees who attend a fire conference or school during their normal work shift will receive only their regular City pay. They will not qualify for additional fire pay. They will, however, receive credit for calls towards the 35% attendance requirement during that work shift. 5. Firefighter Mandatory Meetings or Events Firefighters will be paid the hourly rate for any function or event the Chief designates as "mandatory attendance". However, they will not receive credit towards the 35% attendance requirement. 6. Workers Compensation Firefighters receiving workers compensation income benefits while unable to perform fire fighting duties will not receive fire call or drill pay. 7. Approved Leaves Firefighters on approved leaves will not receive payor credit towards attendance. 8. Attendance at Initial Training Firefighters will not be paid for attendance at initial training that is required by the Shakopee Fire Department, Firefighter 1-120 hours, Firefighter II-40 hours, and First Responder Training -40 hours, etc. 9. Fire Officer Pay Officers of the Fire Department are paid an annual salary for their duties. This is in addition to pay for items 1-8 above. If an injury occurs and the firefighter is unable to perform his or her duties they will receive workers compensation for that, in accordance with State Law. That Resolution No. 6418 is hereby repealed. Adopted in adjourned regular session of the City Council of the City of Shakopee, Minnesota held this 21 st day of November, 2006. Mayor of the City of Shakopee ATTEST: Judith S. Cox, City Clerk CITY OF SHAKO PEE Memorandum TO: Mayor and Council Mark McNeill, City Administrator FROM: Ed Schwaesdall, Fire Chief SUBJ: Fire Department Pay DATE: April, 2i\ 2006 Introduction Council is asked to adopt a written policy for the situations in which firefighters will be paid. Background This issue is brought to Council because of the need to have a more specific policy and the recent awareness of additional wage claims for firefighters. Formerly, firefighters were paid for fire calls. Pay for drills was added many years ago, as for pay for department meetings and schools was added a number of years ago. Recent claims for wages have included "extra duty" and school/conference attendance which has been denied payment as of January 1 st, 2006 to which the city has always paid in the past. Proposed policy: Fire pay is only authorized for the below listed situations as approved by the Chief of the Shakopee Fire Department. (In effect, what these do is to eliminate any confusion which might result in someone getting paid twice for a single attendance.) 1. Fire Call Attendance Pay Fire Fighters shall be paid the hourly wage for actual attendance at a fire call, with pay in increments of an hour. A call is defined as any time the Firefighters pager sounds, and mutual aid call/standby are counted as fire calls. 2. Fire Drill Attendance Pay Firefighters shall be paid for actual attendance at all drills. Firefighters who are unable to attend drills due to attendance at another fire service-related activity will receive qfydit towards the Department's 35% minimum attendance requirement. They will not be paid unless foregoing pay for fire service activity as listed in #4 below. 3. Fire Department Meeting Pay A Firefighter will be paid for actual attendance at Fire Department meetings. Firefighters will be paid for the meeting if they are unable to attend if they are sent by the Fire Chief to another unpaid fire service-related activity. 4. Attendance at Fire Conference or Schools Non-City Employees: Firefighters will be paid the hourly rate for attendance at a fire conference or school, for the actual class hours attended. Firefighters will receive credit towards the 35% attendance requirement, without fire call pay, for those calls during class hours. Firefighters will be paid and receive credit towards the 35% attendance requirement for all fire calls while not in class, but while attending Chief-approved conferences or schools. Regular City Employees: Regular City employees who attend a fire conference or school during their normal work shift will receive only their regular City pay. They will not qualify for additional fire pay. They will, however, receive credit for calls towards the 35% attendance requirement during that work shift. 5. Firefighter Mandatory Meetings or Events Firefighters will be paid the hourly rate for any function or event the Chief designates as "mandatory attendance". However, they will not receive credit towards the 35% attendance requirement. 6. Workers Compensation Firefighters receiving workers compensation income benefits while unable to perform fire fighting duties will not receive fire call or drill pay. 7. Approved Leaves Firefighters on approved leaves will not receive payor credit towards attendance. 8. Attendance at Initial Training Firefighters will not be paid for attendance at initial training that is required by the Shakopee Fire Department, Firefighter 1-120 hours, Firefighter II-40 hours, and First Responder Training -40 hours, etc. 9. Fire Officer Pay Officers of the Fire Department are paid an annual salary for their duties. This is in addition to pay for items 1-8 above. If an injury occurs and the firefighter is unable to perform his or her duties they will receive workers compensation for that, in accordance with State Law. These have been formalized into the attached resolution. RECOMMENDATION: I recommend that the above policies be formalized by Council adoption. The recommendation is for this to be retroactive to January 1, 2006. RELATIONSHIP TO VISIONING: This supports Goal D - Vibrant, Resilient, and Stable. ACTION REQUIRED: If the Council concurs with the recommended Fire Department pay policies as submitted, it should adopt the following resolution: RESOLUTION NO. 6480 A RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE COMPENSATION POLICIES FOR THE FIRE DEPARTMENT OF THE CITY OF SHAKOPEE, MINNESOTA And further, all pay earned through participation covered by Items 1-9 shall be made retroactive to January 1, 2006.