3-05-040 Overtime / Draft Policy

PURPOSE OF ORDER:

To establish guidelines and procedures for maintaining a full complement of on-duty staff for all shifts.

SCOPE OF ORDER:

This order shall apply to all personnel assigned to the Twin Towers Correctional Facility. 

ORDER: 

Overtime Policy

The following guidelines concerning overtime will be adhered to by all employees assigned to the Twin Towers Correctional Facility:

• With the exception of emergencies, all overtime must be authorized in advance by the Unit Commander or watch commander.  Only that overtime which, in the Unit Commander’s judgement, is necessary to provide required services toward the accomplishment of Department objectives shall be approved.

• No employee shall work more than ninety-six (96) hours per month, excluding on-call court time.

• Employees will work no more than 12 consecutive days without a regular scheduled day off (RDO), except as ordered by the Division Chief.

• Unless authorized by the Division Chief, personnel shall not work back-to-back doubles as stated in the Manual of Policies and Procedures (MPP), Section 3-02/010.15, Work Schedules.

• Personnel are authorized to work back-to-back doubles when necessary to appear in court.

• Additionally, without approval from the Unit Commander, personnel shall not work more than nineteen (19) hours consecutively, and shall not work more than twenty-four (24) hours within any forty-eight (48) hour period.

• Personnel wishing to work overtime at units other than the TTCF must have a letter of approval from the Unit Commander.  A copy of the overtime slip from other facilities shall be submitted to the employee’s immediate supervisor on the employee’s next regular work day.  All overtime hours worked, regardless of where the overtime was worked, shall be considered when hiring for voluntary overtime at TTCF.

• Personnel shall not use any form of variance time (E, S, V, or F) in order to work an overtime shift.

• TTCF personnel shall work overtime only on regular day’s off (RDO), and prior to or following an assigned shift.

• Overtime shifts shall be limited to eight (8) hours, unless authorized by a supervisor.  There must be a minimum of eight (8) hours off between the last hour worked at the end of the day, including overtime, and the start of the next regular shift.

• An RDO can be adjusted only with prior approval from the Watch Commander or his designee (five days notice must be given), with one exception.  Those on a 9/80 schedule cannot change their RDO’s.

• For those employees on an A+ schedule, a holiday occurring during vacation period shall not be considered a working day.  County employees shall not work overtime on such a day.

• It shall be the responsibility of each supervisor to ensure compliance of these general guidelines by the personnel under their supervision.

• The Scheduling Sergeant shall be responsible for establishing and maintaining fair and impartial overtime procedures and guidelines that fall within the Departmental policy and the Memorandum of Understanding.

Any employee who signs up for overtime is committed to working that shift.  If an employee cannot work the assigned overtime shift, the employee must contact the Scheduling Office as soon as possible.  The position shall then be filled from the availability list.  Personnel may not transfer overtime to another member until the availability list has been exhausted.

All overtime must be approved, and all overtime slips must be initialed by the Watch Commander prior to the employee beginning his shift.  The Watch Sergeant shall sign all overtime slips at the end of the overtime period and the overtime slip must be submitted prior to the employee leaving the facility.

NOTE: A deputy can only work a custody assistant position on overtime when the custody assistant overtime and stand-by overtime rosters have been exhausted.  Custody Assistants shall not work positions designated to be performed by sworn personnel.

All employees are expected to monitor themselves to ensure compliance.  Employees not in compliance with the overtime policy may be subject to discipline and may be restricted from overtime the following month.

Scheduled Overtime

Personnel desiring scheduled overtime shall sign up for available shifts using the Scheduling Management System (SMS).

When overtime becomes available in advance, the Scheduling Office will refer to the SMS sign-up list and hire overtime based on the following criteria:

• Position: A position shall be filled by personnel of the same classification (deputy for deputy, CA for CA).  If a position cannot be filled in this manner, the Scheduling Office shall have the discretion to hire from the appropriate classification of personnel.

• Overtime hours worked: The individual on the list who has worked the least overtime hours for the cycle will be contacted first.  If two or more people have worked the least number of overtime hours, then the individual who worked the least number of overtime hours the previous scheduled cycle will be hired. If still tied, the individual with the most Department seniority shall be hired.

In the event that overtime becomes available without advanced notice, the on-duty Watch Commander will attempt to fill that position with available on-duty personnel  from the availability list, or with volunteers from a nearby facility. If this is not possible, the position will be filled at his or her discretion by drafting.

The Scheduling Office will maintain an overtime list on a continuous basis. This list shall be kept in the SMS.

Any employee who cancels a pre-approved overtime shift three (3) times within any cycle, may not be considered for overtime at TTCF the following cycle.

Personnel Draft

Unscheduled overtime that cannot be filled on a voluntary basis, or by deputies or custody assistants at neighboring facilities, shall be filled by either pre-assigned or last-minute “drafting” of personnel.  All “drafts” must be approved by the Captain, Scheduling Lieutenant, or Watch Commander.

On-duty personnel shall be first considered for the last-minute draft. If the needs of the facility cannot be met with available on-duty personnel, off-duty TTCF personnel may be called in to work. Drafting of personnel on their regular days off (RDOs) shall be limited to circumstances where a critical operational staffing need exists and all other efforts to voluntarily fill the vacancies have been adequately exhausted.  To make drafting more equitable, the following guidelines shall be considered to assist supervisors in selecting the employee(s) to be drafted:

• The individual on the list who has worked the least overtime hours (voluntary or involuntary) for the current and previous calendar month combined will be contacted first.  If two or more people have worked the same number of hours, then the individual who worked the least number of overtime hours during the previous thirty (30) calendar days will be hired. If a tie still exists, the employee having been drafted the fewest times in the current calendar month shall be drafted (pre-assigned involuntary overtime shifts count as being “drafted” for the purpose of last-minute drafting). If still tied, the individual with the least Department seniority shall be drafted.

• An employee who is scheduled to work a double the following day on a trade will not be considered for the draft. 

• An employee who is assigned to work a scheduled overtime double the following day may be drafted if the assigning supervisor replaces the employee’s overtime for the next day. Back-to-back doubles may only be worked by an employee if exigent circumstances exist necessitating extra staffing, and then only with the approval of the Division Chief. The Watch Commander may consider a “kick-off” double as acceptable to draft. The supervisor shall personally contact or submit a memo to the Scheduling Sergeant advising of the changes.

Note: When determining overtime hours worked, only overtime hours worked filling vacancies at the employee’s home unit of assignment shall be considered. Outside overtime, court overtime, hold-over overtime, special contract/special event overtime, etc. shall be excluded, unless those additional overtime hours would cause the employee to exceed the monthly maximum of 96 hours for the calendar month.

Any exceptions to the above policies shall be made by the Unit Commander. All overtime which, in the Unit Commander’s judgment, is necessary to provide required services in the accomplishments of TTCF will be assigned.