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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/04/1996, 6 - APPRENTICE/FIREFIGHTER-I PROGRAM f counciL 6496 ar6n6a Rep= CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO FROM: Robert F. Neumann, Fire Chief SUBJECT: Apprentice/Firefighter-I Program CAO RECOAD4E DATION Consider a report proposing an Apprentice/Firefighter-I Program and give staff direction to pursue implementation following adoption of the 1996/97 budget. REPORT IN BRIEF At the mid-year budget review, Council directed staff to explore ways to reduce the Department's overtime expenditures. This report analyzes the possibilities of using a combination, two-tiered Apprentice/Firefighter-I Program, consisting of Apprentices and certified California State Fire Marshal Firefighter-I's. These positions would be filled by temporary part-time employees. The program is designed to take advantage of a number of associated benefits which include: streamlining the hiring of full-time positions, creating a career path, meeting Affirmative Action goals, augmenting existing staff, and assisting in controlling overtime. The proposal has significant labor relation impacts which will need to be addressed. DISCUSSION Background In the 1995-97 Financial Plan, the Emergency Response Program did not receive funding for overtime staffing. It was believed that overtime would be offset by the filling of the three Firefighter positions. This was not the case and staff requested funding at the mid-year budget review. Council approved overtime funding for 1995/96, but denied a request for an additional $120,000 for 1996/97. Council expressed a concern that even with the hiring of the three Firefighter positions in July of 1995, overtime was still occurring at too high a level. Council directed staff to develop overtime cost saving and containment measures. The Apprentice/Firefighter-I Program is one of several measures being explored by the Department. Staffing Level An analysis of overtime costs determined that meeting the required minimum staffing level of 12 was the major source of overtime. The Department has developed its staffing level based upon a combination of experience, modern technology and a scientific approach. Scientific Council Agenda Report - Firefighter I/Apprentice Program Page 2 formulas have been used by the fire service to calculate the needed equipment, water systems and human resources necessary to prevent conflagrations and human suffering. An independent Fire Department management study of 1995 indicated the Department's current staffing level was at a minimum acceptable level. This study, as well as additional staff analysis, also revealed that a 3-person engine company is the norm for cities of similar size and population base. San Luis Obispo, at its current staffing level, does not meet this norm. (See Attachment#1). We consistently provide three engine companies with 3 personnel and one with two. A number of nationally recognized studies indicate that a 3-person engine company is the bare minimum to safely and efficiently initiate immediate fireground operations. On the fire scene this configuration allows one person (Engineer) to remain with the engine to operate the pump and associated support equipment. The remaining two personnel (Captain and Firefighter) can then start effective firefighting efforts. In addition, emergency medical calls are much more efficiently handled with a 3-person company, when assisted by the private ambulance company. In the past, prior to June of 1995, the Department responded to emergencies using a different configuration. The purchase of a combination ladder/pumper truck allowed the Department to reduce the number of first-out response vehicles. We were able to eliminate the 2-person Paramedic Squad moving those personnel to the engine companies creating a 3-person engine company at three of our four fire stations. (The minimum staffing of 12 includes one Battalion Chief to manage the four fire companies resulting in one station being staffed with only two personnel.) This new configuration solved a number of longstanding problems, which included: • Two pieces of emergency medical equipment, plus the ambulance company, responding "Code-3" was very inefficient and created citizen complaints and increased risks for both the public and Firefighters. • The Paramedic Squad, due to travel distance and increased response times and heavier traffic congestion in the community, would be delayed. • The Department's call load had increased to a point where oftentimes the Paramedic Squad would be unavailable, which placed a 2-person engine company on scene without the essential services of a Paramedic. The Fire Chief feels strongly that reducing the staffing level below 12 would jeopardize both safety of Firefighters and the general public. The recommended program outlined below would assist the Department in meeting the goal of providing 3-Person engine companies throughout the Department and reduce overtime expenditures. G- � Council Agenda Report - Firefighter I/Apprentice Program Page 3 Overview There are many successful apprentice and reserve Firefighter programs in operation throughout the State. Each is designed to accommodate the specific needs and desires of each department and community. In all these programs, one key factor in assuring their viability is to allow participants to gain credits towards permanent employment with the city. Properly organized and managed, these programs can provide necessary personnel during periods of peak commitment of Fire Department resources with significant savings over the cost of maintaining a permanent standby force. In addition to cost advantages and the assistance provided in emergency situations, there are many other benefits to be derived from these programs. • Help reach affirmative action goals through community outreach recruitment. • Assure a supply of skilled Firefighters for future needs. • Recruit from within the community. • Allow examination and evaluation of potential permanent employees for longer periods of time. The following two sections describe the proposed Apprentice and Firefighter-I programs. Proposed Apprentice Program The Apprentice Program consists of temporary part-time personnel with limited fire service experience who are interested in a fire service career. Apprentice Firefighters will work under the general supervision of a Fire Captain or Battalion Chief and be assigned to work a variety of schedules not to exceed 1,000 hours per fiscal year. During shifts, an Apprentice could participate and assist full-time personnel in training, maintenance, limited on-scene tasks, and fire prevention activities. When not assigned to a shift, an Apprentice could work with the Fire Prevention Bureau, perform hydrant maintenance, assist the Department's mechanic and work with Battalion Chiefs on special assignments. These responsibilities are designed to enable the Apprentice to work toward meeting the California State Fire Marshal Firefighter-1 certification and potentially advance to the position of Firefighter-I with the City. Apprentices will not enter burning structures or other hazardous environments and will not count for minimum staffing requirements. Apprentice candidates must possess a high school diploma or equivalency certificate and an Emergency Medical Technician-I (EMT-I) certificate. They must be a graduate of a California State Fire Marshal certified Firefighter-I academy. The number of Apprentices will be dependent upon the funding already available in the Department's Temporary Salaries budget (approximately 3-4). �-3 Council Agenda Report - Ykefighter I/Apprentice Program Page 4 It is envisioned that Apprentices will not work in excess of 1,000 hours per fiscal year. By maintaining this limit, they will not become members of the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS). Exclusion from PERS membership not only eliminates the 20% cost of public safety retirement but also makes Apprentices ineligible for industrial disability retirements which can have adverse effects on the City's retirement rates. In compliance with federal law, which mandates some sort of retirement plan for all employees, Apprentices will participate in a deferred compensation program which requires no City dollars and is funded by the employee contributions. This is the program currently in place for all City temporary employees who fall under the federal mandate. Proposed Firefighter--I Program The Firefighter-I would be a newly created, temporary part-time position within the department assigned to on-duty engine companies. (The Fire Chief proposes, following negotiations with the labor unit, to reclassify all existing full-time Firefighters to Firefighter-II level at the same salary level.) Firefighter-I's would augment the on-duty staff and respond to emergencies with "first out" units. They are available for immediate use by the incident commander at emergency scenes and would be considered part of required minimum staffing (12). Firefighter-I candidates must possess a high school diploma or equivalency certificate and an EMT-I certificate. They must be Firefighter-I certified and graduates of a California State Fire Marshal certified Firefighter-I academy, which is a higher standard that currently required for regular entry level Firefighters. Whenever appropriate, the City will advance employees from the Apprentice Program to Firefighter-I's. The program would require that a certain number of hours be spent in attending and participating in a specific number of drills and training sessions including routine daily engine company training and specialized instruction designed for their development. This training will insure that Firefighter-I's meet the City's standards and not jeopardize the safety of regular fire personnel. However, as with Apprentices, these employees will not work more than 1,000 hours in a fiscal year. This necessitates having nine Firefighter-I's. Although staff has set a goal of having one Firefighter-I on duty 365 days a year, we anticipate that we will only be successful 75% of the time in the first year. San Luis Obispo County, Morro Bay, South Bay, Arroyo Grande and Paso Robles currently have similar programs in place to help reduce costs. Even with the 1,000 hours per employee cap, when the City's program is fully operationally, staff is recommending these trained personnel be used to control overtime costs in the following manner. ■ Streamlining the Hiring/Initial Training Process . New employees currently must go through a one-month in-house recruit academy put on by on-duty fire personnel. During this time-frame recruits are not allowed to count towards minimum staffing levels. Therefore, overtime may be generated (approximately 6,-Al Council Agenda Report - Firefighter I/Apprentice Program Page 5 $35,000 in 1995/96) when the 3 Firefighters were hired. Firefighter-I's would transition immediately into the regular staffing pool and the in-house academy would no longer be necessary. However, such an academy would still be necessary for employees hired from outside the Firefighter-I pool. ■ Vacancies/Absences While it is difficult to anticipate where and when long-term vacancies due to injury or illness will occur in any given year, by using Firefighter-I's (no more than one per shift) to fill vacancies and count towards minimum staffing requirement, overtime should be significantly reduced. For example, an analysis of overtime has indicated that long-term vacancies due to injury and illness and open positions have contributed to 25% of this year's overtime costs. Similarly, by using Firefighter-I's to cover absences generated by the use of holiday, sick, and vacation leave, overtime (approximately 45%) should be reduced. Program Issues Prior to the implementation of either program, the following issues would need to be addressed. ■ Labor Relations In order to allow Firefighter-I's to be included in the minimum staffing requirement, it will be necessary to Meet and Confer with the SLO Firefighter's Association. Since Firefighter-I's are temporary, part-time employees, they are not included in the Association. By counting them in the minimum staffing requirements, the City is effectively moving fire suppression duties out of the bargaining unit. It can be anticipated that the Association may be resistant to this action. However, without including Firefighter-I's in the minimum staffing count, overtime reductions will not be significant although service to the community will still be improved through increased staffing levels on engine companies. ■ Equipment In order to contribute at the desired level of effectiveness, Apprentices and Firefighter-I's must be assigned the proper equipment to perform assigned tasks. Costs for providing this equipment are addressed under Fiscal Impact. ■ Training Training is also a major key to the program's effectiveness. It is critically important that Firefighter-I's, who will take the place of full-time Firefighters, be adequately trained to competently perform emergency response duties. Not only is this training important to 4�, S Council Agenda Report - Firefighter I/Apprentice Program Page 6 assure proper service to the community, but to assure the safety of other Firefighters. On the other hand, because we have a full-time staff of Officers, Engineers and Paramedics, it is not necessary to expect Firefighter-I's to be responsible for performing incident command functions, drive and operate pumpers or to operate in highly technical emergency medical situations. In order to minimize the training impacts on the Department, we have established the high entry level requirement of State certified Firefighter-I. To orient new Firefighter-I's to the City's specific requirements, a two week in-house academy will be held in the fall and spring. ■ Administration A consideration in implementing this type of program is deciding who will be responsible for organizing and supervising. As envisioned for the Department, responsibilities will be assigned to the Emergency Response Battalion Chief, with assistance from the Training Division. Consideration must be given to the fact that the number and types of employees tend to turn over rapidly as full-time employment becomes available thus potentially creating additional work load for Department staff. ■ Prognun Stan-Up It is anticipated that to properly implement the Apprentice/Firefighter-I Program and begin generating overtime savings could take nine months to a year. Some labor relations issues must be addressed before beginning recruitment. While it would then be possible to start the program, in order to include Firefighter-I's in the minimum staffing requirement, significant negotiations can be expected. In addition, staff anticipates there are a number of candidates currently available for the Firefighter-I position. Should this prove to be untrue, a smaller program would be initiated, impacting overtime savings. ■ Other On-Going Cost Containment Efforts The Apprentice/Firefighter-I Program is just one cost saving measure staff has explored with the labor unit. We have been successful in changing current staffing policy that requires a Battalion Chief be on-duty 24 firs. a day, 365 days a year. Under the new policy, when the duty Battalion Chief is absent, the Fire Chief will, when working, cover these responsibilities. In addition, staff is currently looking at other means to reduce costs and overtime uses which include: creating sick leave reduction incentives program, "contracting in" to provide services for others such as we do for Cal Poly, hiring only licensed Paramedics, using CDF/other municipal department reservists to augment our force, automatic aid agreements with other fire agencies, and tiering employee benefit programs for new employees. Council Agenda Report - Fn efighter I/Apprentice Program Page 7 Conclusion As noted above, the Apprentice/Firefighter-I Program will have a number of overall positive benefits to the Department. These include: more effectively managing overtime, augmenting the existing staffing levels, assisting the Department with its Affirmative Action goals, and increasing the service level to the public in both emergency and non-emergency situations. On the negative side we can expect significant employee relations implications. A copy of the proposed Apprentice/Firefighter-I Program handbook is available in the Council Reading File. CONCURRENCE The Personnel Director has reviewed and supports the program. FISCAL IMPACT Anarentice Proemm Currently, $16,000 is allocated for temporary employees in FY 1996-97. Through a combination of reassigning duties and moving existing temporary employees into the Apprentice Program, staff will be able to use these monies to fund the Apprentice Program. &_efighter--I Program Assuming nine Firefighter-I positions working an average of 750 hours in the first year and 1,000 hours a year in 1997/98, at an estimated salary of $6.25/hour with a start-up date of January 1, 1997, the following costs can be anticipated. 1996/97 1997/98 Salaries 21,100 569300 Benefits including: 2,500 6,800 Medicare, Worker's Comp., Unemployment Protective Clothing & Equipment 147400 59000 Medical Examinations 1.800 600 Total 399800 689700 Funding for this program is currently unavailable and will be requested as part of the 1996/97 budget. Potential Openfte Sapines The 1995/97 Financial Plan includes: $3,800 for overtime in Administration, $9,000 for Hazard 6 - 7 Council Agenda Report - Firefighter I/Apprentice Program Page S Prevention/Special Events, and $25,000 for Training. However, no funds were included for Emergency Response staffing overtime. Given the Department's current staffing and the current policies, practices and wide range of uncontrollable factors that can impact overtime, one-time cost estimates to field 12 Fire personnel each day could range from $60,000 to $120,000. Past expenditures for overtime have been as high as $363,000 in 1993/94. It is estimated that if we implement the Apprentice/Firefighter-I program and are able to include the Firefighter-I's in the minimum staffing level, we should be able to reduce overtime to approximately $34,500 per year. However, since the Apprentice/Firefighter-I Program is not anticipated to be fully operational until January, 1997, at best, and possibly later than that given the significant labor relations impacts, it is not prudent to anticipate substantial reductions in overtime for the 1996/97 fiscal year. Therefore, staff will be requesting $60,0004120,000 (still under study) funding for overtime for 1996/97 as part of the budget process while continuing to explore other cost containment efforts, as well. Staff will report back to Council on a regular basis on our success in these efforts. ALTERNATIVES • Modify the program by reducing its size and scope, while retaining as many cost saving aspects as possible. Certain advantages could still be obtained, however, significant decreases in the Department's overtime costs would not be achieved. • Maintain the program as presented with the exception of excluding Firefighter-I's from the minimum staffing level. This alternative would speed implementation, as it would not meet significant resistance from the labor unit, but would fail to achieve substantial reduction in overtime. ATTACCENTI T Attachment 1 Engine Company Survey The proposed Apprentice/Firefighter-I Program Handbook is available for review in the Council Office. 1p e ATTACIEWENT #1 ENGINE COMPANY SURVEY California State Frefig_hters' Association Statistics 106 Cities surveyed 6 No reports 14 Cities staff 4 Person Engine Companies 57 Cities staff 3 Person Engine Companies 28 Cities staff 3 Person Engine Companies 71% of all cities staff with at least 3 Person Engine Companies Cities with for Four Fire Stations Name Minimum Staffing Engine Company Staffing Brea — Chico 14 3 Downey 21 3 El Monte 18 3 Encinitas 12 3 Lakeside 15 3 Merced 12 2 Milpitas 15 3 Novato 20 3 Rialto 20 3 Santa Monica 30 4 Vacaville 14 3 Vernon — 4 Visalia — 3 Vista 16 3 West Sacramento 13 3 16.92 3 Cities with Population 40.000 -50.000 Culver City 19 4 Lompoc 6 3 Palm Springs 14 2 Petaluma 16 3 13.75 3 Comparison Cities Stas. Chico 4 14 3 Davis 3 10 4 Lompoc 2 6 3 Monterey 3 11 3 Napa 3 13 3 Pleasanton 4 15 3 Redding 7 19 2 Salinas 5 20 3 San Clemente 3 14 4 Santa Cruz 3 11 3 Santa Maria 3 8 3 3.6 12.8 3.1 San Luis Obispo 4 12 3/2