Discussion Regarding Duty Officer On-call Pay

The purpose of this discussion is to update the City Council regarding the Fire Department’s  On-call Duty Officer Program, but more specifically to discuss Officer compensation and to recommend changes. 

Background and Value:
The duty officer program is a terrific benefit not only to the Fire Department but to the thousands of residents and visitors we serve. Above all, the program ensures that a Fire Department official is responding directly to the scene, using the take home Fire Department SUV, within the just a few minutes of being dispatched to a call.  The early arrival of an officer enables the Fire Department to begin a critical "size-up" of the situation and the officer can begin directing responding units accordingly. The quick arrival of an officer sets into motion a number of critical steps, including the request for additional resources and personnel and the tactical direction of first arriving personnel and resources.  For calls that are minor in nature, the duty officer has been able to cancel or "slow down" other responding units which reduces the wear and tear on the Fire Department's fleet and greatly lowers the risks associated with an emergency response. The Duty Officer, unless relieved by a higher ranking officer, is also the single point of contact at an incident, serving as the Incident Commander.

Schedules:
Duty Officers are scheduled from 10:00 pm to 6:00 am, Monday through Friday, and 10:00 pm to 10:00 am on Saturday and Sunday.  Duty Officers are scheduled from Wednesday to Wednesday and must remain 100% available to immediately respond when dispatched to a call.  

Compensation:
Currently, on-call Duty Officers are compensated only when they are dispatched to a call.  Staff recommends compensating Duty Officers at two hours of the Officer's normal hourly rate for non-holiday shifts and four hours for holidays.   Officers’ hourly pay ranges from $16.50 to $18.70 per hour, depending on their credentials and years of service.  This recommendation is similar to  the current Public Works on-call language and is aligned with what most of our neighboring fire departments have in place.  An example of  how our neighboring cities compensate their duty officers follows:  1)  Andover pays 24 hours of the officer's regular hourly pay for the one week of assigned on-call time. Andover's max wage in 2020 was $18.11 per hour which equates to $62.09 per shift.   Elk River pays $5.66 per hour, which equates to $67.92 per shift.  Ramsey's cost per non-holiday shift would be $33.00 to $37.40 (2 hours of pay) and per holiday shift would be $66.00 to $74.80 (4 hours pay).  

Summary:
Staff feels that in order to be competitive and fair, providing Duty Officers with on-call pay is essential.  

Up to 10 minutes.

The funding required for this action has been accounted for in the 2021 budget and is estimated to be $ 8,913.60. 

Matt Kohner, Fire Chief and Colleen Lasher, Administrative Services Director

For the City Council to provide staff with direction regarding On-call Duty Officer compensation in order for staff to bring a case forward at the next regular City Council meeting.