PENSION OVERTIME

 THIS IS MY OPINION ONLY



MY CRYSTAL BALL TELLS ME

1) The City will pay BC/DC Extra Hours Retention Bonus from the Referendum Fund.

2) The City will no longer pay "overtime" to BC/DC, saving that amount from the General Fund.

3) Being a "Bonus" the City can discontinue this at anytime.

4) The City would be under no obligation to revert back to "straight time overtime" for BC/DC since they have now been classified at "exempt," just like Sr. Management.

Welcome to the latest peak behind the green curtain.

By now, we all are aware that the Fire Department is making Battalion Chief and Division Chief "extra time" pensionable. 

Under this proposal, Battalion Chiefs and Division Chiefs would no longer receive "overtime" for the overtime hours they work. Rather, they would receive this "Bonus" each quarter at the same pay rate that they would have ordinarily received for their regular pay.

It's overtime, but it's really not.

Based on my prior experiences (and my experiences alone), it is my opinion that the City is not going to provide a benefit such as this to the employee, without the benefit to the City being greater. It doesn't have to be by much, it just has to benefit them more.

We know that the Fire Department is doing everything it can to recruit. To the extent that the Fire Department retains employees rests with the City, and the pay and benefits the City is going to authorize (or not).

Does the City REALLY want to retain employees (new employees specifically)? I'm not convinced, but that's an opinion for a later post.

The first question I asked myself is "how does retaining upper management benefit the City?" The only answer I could come up with is that there is no benefit to retaining upper management vs. that of Rank & File firefighters. In my opinion, it is equal (dollars & cents wise).

What I would consider a greater incentive is promotional opportunities, rather than someone getting promoted to Chief, and locking up that position for twenty+ years.

So what benefit is there to the City by offering this?

First, I am of the opinion that this provides the City with the opportunity to finally be able to declare that once you make BC and DC, you are not entitled to overtime; just like Sr. Management.

The City / Fire Department have long held that BC's and DC's are considered management, and therefore are not entitled to overtime pay at the 1.5x rate. By finally discontinuing the practice of paying extra pay for extra hours (i.e. extra straight time pay for overtime hours worked) they can achieve the goal of no longer paying BC's and DC's "overtime."

This "Extra Hours Bonus" would be just that, a "Bonus."

This Bonus is not part of the Code of Ordinances, nor is it codified in the City Charter. Once the BC's and DC's accept this new wage standard, the Bonus could later be discontinued at any time. I don't think it will be discontinued (any time soon). But in my opinion, there would not anything to prevent them, and there would be no going back (why would they). Once it's gone, it's gone.

Also by doing this, the City would no longer pay for BC/DC overtime out of the General Fund. The City saves the money it would ordinarily pay BC's / DC's out of the General Fund, and pays for it quarterly out of the Referendum Fund.

The City would be required to pay their portion of pension contributions for these hours. But even if that 6% came out of the General Fund, the City is still saving 94% of BC/DC overtime payroll.

I can hear the BC's & DC's now. "I'm not working if I'm not getting extra pay." I haven't formed an opinion about the work around for this yet. There is a plan though. Mandatory Holdovers? Mandatory Callback? I don't know, but I feel comfortable there is a plan. They will let you know when the time comes.

Will it be worth it for the BC's / DC's in the end? Just like the 2016 pension plan, all the decision makers will be long gone before we know the answer.

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The opinions listed here are mine alone, and do not reflect the opinion of The City of Memphis, The Memphis Fire Department, or IAFF Local 1784.







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