Trading Shifts...valuable or not?

Hi brothers and sisters! My name is John McGee with the Albuquerque Fire Dept. I'm a firefighter/paramedic and have been with AFD for about 8 years. Like so many depts nationwide, we have our issues with shrinking budgets, contentious labor/management relations, and internal strife. That being said, 95% of us understand the privlege we have in serving our communities in such a unique way as firefighting/EMS.

Over the past several years, overtime, specifically caused by excessive sick leave has been a much debated issue. Labor says sick leave is earned and FF's should be able to use it as needed......management says it's exorbitant and makes us a target for City Hall. I think both are right.

Are trades difficult to obtain in your department? Does being able to trade shifts help manage your work/life balance? For me it has been very effective although tedious and difficult at times due to the size of my department. Any thoughts, issues, suggestions?

Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by capcityff on October 26, 2013 at 4:23pm

If we use sick leave, we actually have to drive into the city(many guys live outside of it due to the high cost of living) and report to the Police and Fire Clinic for sick call. A doctor has to sign you off for sick leave there. Kind of annoying because when you're really sick, you might spend two hours driving each way just to get approved. It's almost easier to go into work sick. This is their way of stopping guys from abusing sick leave.

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Permalink Reply by captnjak on October 27, 2013 at 8:48am

Same here.

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Permalink Reply by Don Catenacci on October 27, 2013 at 11:46am

My career FD didn't require a medical excuse unless you were out for 3 days or more.

If you were what they considered a sick time abuser they would either send a chief officer or perhaps an injured firefighter on light duty to check to see if you were home. Living 100 milesaway from my station they never once checked on me. But then again, I wasn't on the abuser radar.

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Permalink Reply by Jay Nicholson on November 1, 2013 at 11:13am

Trades were very easy to come by in my dept.. We didn't even have to trade entire shifts. The majority of trades were half shifts. There were a couple of rules though. OT for trades not allowed and the trade had to happen within the same pay period.

Trading Shifts...valuable or not?

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