The Social Network & Community JUST for Firefighters
Report Details Michigan City's Fire Department Sick Leave
BAY CITY, Mich. (AP) -- A report from Bay City officials says there's been an abuse of sick leave in the fire department, costing taxpayers $284,000 in sick pay and associated overtime last year alone.
Details of the report were published Sunday by The Bay City Times, which obtained the findings under the Freedom of Information Act. The report found Bay City's 51 firefighters called in sick an average of nearly 120 hours each last year.
Police Chief Michael Cecchini wrote in a 23-page report that the findings point to a "systematic abuse of sick leave." The analysis was conducted by Cecchini and Chris Lewis, the city's human resources director.
Over the past three years, they says sick pay and related overtime in the fire department totaled nearly $1.1 million.
Firefighters and their union representative say they've done nothing wrong and nobody is calling in sick unnecessarily.
Union president Kurt Wagner said firefighters work 24-hour shifts, so it takes only five missed days to accumulate 120 hours of sick time. Firefighters are scheduled to work nine or 10 shifts a month on average.
Wagner said the department must call in firefighters on overtime to meet a 12-person minimum staffing requirement set by the city.
"It's a double-edged sword," said Wagner, who added that the cost of sick leave is unavoidable. "Yeah, it's the cause of the overtime, but the reasons for it are a lot different than what they're explaining."
Bay City firefighters are allowed up to 144 hours of sick leave per year plus a bonus of 12 hours for every three months they go without using a sick day. Firefighters can get a cash payout of half unused sick days upon retirement.
The findings, however, say some firefighters regularly combine sick days and vacation time to stay off work with pay for extended periods, including around holidays such as Labor Day, Memorial Day and Fourth of July.
___
Information from: The Bay City Times, http://www.mlive.com/bay-city
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Details of the report were published Sunday by The Bay City Times, which obtained the findings under the Freedom of Information Act. The report found Bay City's 51 firefighters called in sick an average of nearly 120 hours each last year.
Police Chief Michael Cecchini wrote in a 23-page report that the findings point to a "systematic abuse of sick leave." The analysis was conducted by Cecchini and Chris Lewis, the city's human resources director.
Over the past three years, they says sick pay and related overtime in the fire department totaled nearly $1.1 million.
Firefighters and their union representative say they've done nothing wrong and nobody is calling in sick unnecessarily.
Union president Kurt Wagner said firefighters work 24-hour shifts, so it takes only five missed days to accumulate 120 hours of sick time. Firefighters are scheduled to work nine or 10 shifts a month on average.
Wagner said the department must call in firefighters on overtime to meet a 12-person minimum staffing requirement set by the city.
"It's a double-edged sword," said Wagner, who added that the cost of sick leave is unavoidable. "Yeah, it's the cause of the overtime, but the reasons for it are a lot different than what they're explaining."
Bay City firefighters are allowed up to 144 hours of sick leave per year plus a bonus of 12 hours for every three months they go without using a sick day. Firefighters can get a cash payout of half unused sick days upon retirement.
The findings, however, say some firefighters regularly combine sick days and vacation time to stay off work with pay for extended periods, including around holidays such as Labor Day, Memorial Day and Fourth of July.
___
Information from: The Bay City Times, http://www.mlive.com/bay-city
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
© 2025 Created by Firefighter Nation WebChief.
Powered by
