Round Rock
Georgetown (October)
Leander (~EOY)
Taylor
Florence
Jerrell
Sam Bass
Liberty Hill
Hutto
*Cedar Park and Jollyville are the only Fire Departments in Williamson County not on or going to a 48/96
Round Rock - 14 day
Oak Hill - 14 day
Sam Bass - 14 day
Pedernales - 14 day
North Lake Travis - 14 day
Manchaca - 14 day
Lake Travis - 112 avg hour pay period
Hutto - 14 day
Round Rock - Seems to have gone down
Oak Hill - Gone down significantly
Sam Bass - Unknown
Pedernales - Gone down
North Lake Travis - Sick leave used some, but nowhere near the amount before 48/96 was implemented
Manchaca - Not much change. PTO usage has gone down
Lake Travis - Unknown
Hutto - Has gone down
Manhattan Beach Fire Dept. CA - Sick leave decreased 80%
Minneapolis Fire Dept. MN - Sick leave usage decreased by 34%.
West Metro Fire, Colorado - Sick leave usage decreased the first year by 28%, and 38% against 2 years prior
Pacifica Fire Dept. CA - Sick leave decreased by 20%
Half Moon Bay Fire Dept. CA - Sick leave decreased 10%
Fresno Fire Dept. CA - Lowest they have been in years
Round Rock - Pick 8 days per year by seniority
Oak Hill - Off going shift responsible for day 1, oncoming shift responsible for day 2. Mandos scheduled at the beginning of the year
Sam Bass - Off going shift responsible for first 8 hours. Its up to the captain to find a replacement for the remainder of the time. Usually not an issue
Pedernales - List kept by admin like secret list.
North Lake Travis - No mandatory policy. Overtime is handled people signing up for it.
Manchaca - None
Lake Travis - List based on seniority
Hutto - Off going shift responsible for day 1, ongoing shift responsible for day 2
Round Rock - Allows trades
Oak Hill - Allows trades, cant work more than 72 hours
Sam Bass - Allows trades
Pedernales - Allows trades
North Lake Travis - Allows trades, cant work more than 72 hours
Manchaca - Allows trades
Lake Travis - Allows trades, cant work over 72 hours
Hutto - Allows trades
Round Rock - Both days
Oak Hill - Both days
Sam Bass - Both days
Pedernales - Day one only
North Lake Travis - 1st day only
Manchaca - Both days
Lake Travis - Day one only
Hutto - Both days
The Colony Fire Department
48/96 Work Schedule
Leadership and Management Summary
OVERVIEW
The Colony Fire Department has been discussing switching to a 48/96 hour work schedule for several years. The first vote by the organization several years ago indicated that the organization wasn’t ready to have a serious discussion. In 2019, switching to a 48/96 work schedule was once again brought up for discussion. I asked The Colony Professional Firefighters Association to take a vote to see where we stood as an organization before we did any formal work on switching from 24/48 to 48/96.
The formal vote came back with roughly 72% of the organization wanting to look at making the switch. The leadership team spent the better part of a year doing research prior to approaching city leadership. As part of the research, we looked at sleep studies, stress studies, performance studies from the military, departments in Texas that have made the switch, and departments like Albuquerque NM, one of the first metro cities to make the switch, and Sacramento CA Fire. In doing so I spoke to Bobby Halton who worked in Albuquerque at the time of the switch, and who at the time was animatedly against going to 48/96, only to later write a letter to the organization expressing his change of opinion to supporting 48/96. We only found one department who went back to 24/48 from 48/96.
In January of 2020 TCFD made the switch. The only stipulation from my boss, the City Manager, was that it could not cost the city any extra money…which it has not. While we had a few time keeping software challenges in the beginning, once we switched to Time Clock Plus, time keeping issues no longer exist.
One of the things I kept hearing over and over again from those against 48/96 was “there is not benefit to the city.” I disagree. If 48/96 minimizes our turn over, there is a cost savings to the city associated with hiring and onboarding new “replacement” members because someone left for 48/96. If 48/96 attracts competent and highly skilled firefighters and paramedics, there is a service delivery benefit to the city.
Many said that clean cabs benefit the city by possibly reducing cancer claims. The same can be said about the mental and physical health benefits associated with 48/96.
Finally, there is no benefit to the city when we give an employee a cost of living raise, an additional holiday, or when there is a shit load of gold leaf and custom embroidered seats on and in the rigs, expensive custom paint jobs, or buying a $500,000 ambulance versus a $300,00 ambulance, etc., etc. 48/96 is a perk, benefit, recruitment and retention tool, and an employee fulfillment and satisfaction action step.
Just like with clean cabs, the negativity towards vertical vent and VES, hose and nozzle choices, there is a lot of emotion based opinion being tossed around when discussing 48/96... I was one of them until I looked past the emotions associated with change. As the Chief of Department, I was fundamentally against 48/96 right up until the time I approved it. I have no regrets. It has gone better than I expected.
REASONS FOR CONSIDERING A SWITCH TO 48/96
EXPECTATIONS
INITIAL QUESTIONS/CONCERNS & POS (+) AND NEGATIVES (-) AS OF 8/2022
Why switch from 24/48 to 48/96?
What are the costs associated with a 48/96 work schedule for firefighters and paramedics?
What is the impact to operations?
From the Overtime Policy
Personnel may volunteer to work any of the 96-hour time off period following a tour.
No personnel may be permitted to work more than (72) continuous hours of duty without at least (24) hours off from duty without approval from the Assistant Chief of Operations or Chief of Department.
Members working a 72-hour work period must be allowed a 4-hour rest, recovery, and nutrition period (RNNP) by their 51st hour on duty (1000 hours on their 2nd shift).
All members completing a 72-hour, or greater, work assignment must have twenty-four hours of rest before being assigned to any TCFD assignment.
What are the health and safety concerns?
NOTE: Don Abbots project Mayday indicates an increase in maydays called during the second 24-hours of a 48 hour period of work. Since going to 48/96, TCFD has had one mayday event. This occurred on the first shift or the 48-hour tour.
NOTE: I am paying attention to possible indicators of substance abuse and possible mental health issues. One of concerns based solely on a “gut feeling” is the potential for alcohol abuse related to casual drinking because of more days of in a row. Also the possibly of mental health issues because of too much time off, or time away from the crew after a critical call. I am continuing to pay attention to this possibility.
What is the impact on quality of life for our members?
What is the impact on the chosen culture?
What will the perception be within the city?
FINAL THOUGHTS
I'm not interested in debating the pros and cons... been there done that. We switched and it is working for our little suburban department. Do what's best for you.
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