Compensatory time

Everyone knows (or maybe not) that Watch Managers are limited to the number of compensatory time hours they're allowed to grant us on a monthly basis. We don't recall the exact number, and maybe someone can correct us, but we believe it's between 400 and 500 hours. The latter would mean that 62 people can have the day off "time due," which pretty much amounts to 2 people per day.

Not a happy thought for those who have upwards of 100 (or even 50) hours on the books. Hell, if you have any time on the books, it's a bitch. We've gotten denied days off that we put in for *months* in advance because of "manpower shortages."

Well, the city got told by a federal judge that they aren't allowed to do that anymore - at least not to the police. The story can be found over at SecondCityCop, and at the FOP website.

Now, when the hell are we going to get some justice like that? The judge told the city that they're not allowed to use "manpower" as an excuse for denying time due, and have to hire people who want to work overtime to cover spots for those who want the day off (don't we hire a ton of people to work overtime almost every day already anyway?). Too bad it probably won't apply to us. To quote SCC:

If we're reading this correctly, if you have time on the books and want to use it, YOU CANNOT BE DENIED TIME OFF. Manpower is NOT an excuse. If the Department cannot field a car, they are either going to have to leave it unmanned, allow officers to trade days off with other officers, or pay time-and-a-half to people who are RDO (by seniority) to work the uncovered car. This is huge. The City has been told in no uncertain terms that they are subject to Federal Labor Law. Imagine that.

But as we all know, the city doesn't see us in the same light. They screw us over sooner/longer than they'll screw sworn personnel over, always have, and will continue to. They'll come up with some excuse to exempt us from "Federal Labor Law."

Anyone from the union reading this who might want to, say, bring this up at CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS, to make sure it's in print for us, too?

Pretty much.

LEOMemorial writes:

when you're taking calls, is it so busy (and shorthanded) that you have calls waiting for you?

Not 100% of the time. But there are plenty of times in any shift when there are more than five 911 calls are waiting for service, sitting unanswered. The fortunate thing is that most of them are from those damned cell phones that were misdialed. In fact, we don't have hard numbers, but we'd bet that well over 50% of 911 calls don't get sent to zones to be dispatched. That would be mainly due to the high number of idiots who accidentally (or idiot children who purposely) dial 911 with no desire or need for service.

Here's a good laugh, though. The most calls we've seen waiting unanswered totalled 90-plus. We have a picture of the banner board from that time, if anyone can guess when it's from. We won't post it and get caught up on "unauthorized dissemination," but surely all any PCO has to do is wait until this summer to see it for him/herself. There are 4 unanswered calls as of this writing.

We've been hiding, but

This topic brings us out.

Rumor has it that during yesterday's staff meeting, it was decreed that time due is to be denied across the board if anyone is working overtime on a shift.

For those who have more trouble comprehending basic notions and need everything spelled out:

If anyone is working an extension on your shift on tomorrow's date, that time due you put in for 11 months ago will be denied.

If anyone is working his/her RDO on your shift on tomorrow's date, that time due you put in for 11 months ago will be denied.

We can't confirm it - hence the word "rumor." Nor have we seen anything in writing stipulating such. But if it's true, we see a lot of misery in the future, at least more than there already is. Family functions? Fuck 'em. Need the day off because 6 days on-2 days off is wearing on you 3 months after furlough? Fuck it. At this point, you'll be feigning illness if you need the day off. That's the only way you're going to get it.

Okay, okay, you'll be feigning illness more often than you already do.

Surely you all realize that on any given day, on practically all three watches, someone is working overtime in some way, shape, or form. And all of this before the summer's even in full swing. So for them to tell us that time due will be denied if one soul is working on a shift at overtime pay, is basically to tell us that all of our time due is denied well in advance. If you're one of those who have literally hundreds of hours of compensatory time built up, consider thyself shat upon. You now have it for nothing. Indefinitely, or until City Hall hires enough PCOs to fully staff Operations, or until you retire and cash your hours out. We'd bet a whole paycheck on the latter coming first.

We anxiously await the comments that're sure to come on this post. And by the way, we appreciate the way you all have kept the comment sections decent in our absence (although we were still watching the whole time).

We'll see you at work.

Every day.

Absolutely every day.

For a long time.

Mandatory overtime (again) and the long haul.

We hear that 2nd Watch dispatchers have been held over for at least three straight days now, and the new period doesn't start until Thursday. Surprisingly, mandatory overtime for 3rd Watch personnel has been held to a minimum, at least for now. Who knows what the new period will bring?

We do. It'll bring more regular mandatory overtime for all watches except for 1st Watch, including 4th and 5th Watches. There hasn't been any more medical use than usual, and there's plenty of inclement weather that people won't get "sick" to enjoy. It's still winter, even. We're just that short on people to staff the floor.

It's going to be a long summer/year, people.