Comp Time Off

[chainsaw5vent]

does your fire dept. allow the use of comp time off?
if so, how many hours/shifts can you keep on the books?
what is the minimum block of time that has to be used? 4, 8, 12, 24 hrs?
are there restrictions as to when you can use it? high holy days, christmas, thanksgiving, new year's, etc.?

if you have it, do you like it?

[FRN-FFS]

Our department allows the accrual of Comp Time Off (CTO) in lieu of cash payment for overtime worked, in 24 hour increments only, to a maximum balance of 108 hours (3 shifts at time and a half) per calendar year. On June 30th, any unused CTO will be carried over to the next fiscal year. This carry over amount will then be applied towards the 108 hour maximum for that year.

CTO will be secured not less than 10 hours in advance of the requested absence, exceptions will be made in the event of an emergency. Our BC's are responsible for solicitation of an appropriate replacement for members requesting the use of CTO through the normal overtime hiring process (Telestaff - Shift Replacement). However, CTO will not be approved until a replacement of like rank is obtained. The member requesting CTO may provide a relief if one is not found through the normal overtime hiring process. Shift replacement of four hours or less is subtracted from our Telestaff bucket so coverage is rarely a problem; while more than four hours to 12 hours coverage results in neutral time being added to your bucket. Time greater than 12 hours is added to your bucket.

CTO may be used in the same manner as our Unscheduled Holiday time. There is a four hour minimum required for the use of UH time but the CTO time does not have the same requirement. However, most of us abide by the same rule when using UH time, 4 hours. This is to decrease the hardship of coming in for someone for an hour or two. There are cases where CTO is used for the first couple of hours, before of after a shift, where less time is used. CTO may also be used for coverage of full shifts and for payback of AWR's.

The only days which have any potential for the limited the use of UH or CTO time are the major holidays; Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, Fourth of July and Thanksgiving Day. There is usually no trouble finding coverage as all of these days are neutral in Telestaff (No hours added to your bucket) plus the time and a half pay.

CTO is great. It is a nice benefit to have and use for getting away for short periods of time. Special engagements, Church functions, getting out of town first thing in the morning, kids sporting events and for the occassional AWR payback are all things I've personally used it for in the past. It has also been used occasionally by those who commute to work when they run into an emergency on the way in, hence the emergency use function listed above. We also have opportunity to cash out our CTO at the end of the year so it is sort of an emergency cash account as well when needed.

Hope this helps...

[fatcobra]

WOW. That CTO information is very helpful.

Here in Vegas we have no CTO or TILO (Time in Lieu of) to speak of. The union did look into requesting it in our last contract but I think it became too expensive of an issue to win.

Our Vacation time is based on or positions and seniority. As of right now we are allowed 19 people off on Vacation per shift (approx 18%) and two on Birthday Leave. This is all based on seniority from the prior year.

We sign up for Vacation for the next calendar year in Oct/Nov. Then on January 1 at 0000hours you can simply go to any addition days you would like off and sign up. Our computer system will tell you right then and there if you got the vacation. The good thing about it is that once you have been approved for vacation it can not be taken away by someone with more seniority.

Also we do not have Vacation Lockdown of Holidays, which in my opinion sucks. When it is my year to work Christmas I work it. Then the next year I work Xmas eve and am forced to work Christmas because someone with seniority takes it off.

When we all took our oral boards, did they not ask if we were willing to work longer shifts on holidays? I know they asked me. But, when it is my scheduled day off, and I am required to work because the person that is scheduled takes it off, sure it ticks me off.

[jude23]

[QUOTE=FRN-FFS;513]Our department allows the accrual of Comp Time Off (CTO) in lieu of cash payment for overtime worked, in 24 hour increments only, to a maximum balance of 108 hours (3 shifts at time and a half) per calendar year. On June 30th, any unused CTO will be carried over to the next fiscal year. This carry over amount will then be applied towards the 108 hour maximum for that year.QUOTE]

Please help me understand...if you work a 24 hour shift and ask for it in comp time, do you get 36 hours of straight time added to your "bank"?
If your department has constant staffing, when you take some of your comp time and someone else works it, couldn't they ask for it to go toward their "bank" and now from that original 24 hours you worked, you have 12 hours left and now the next guy can use his comp time and have 12 hours left also...I must be missing something. I'm sure the payroll people have a way to make sure this doesn't happen.
We don't have comp time but we can use educational time...if we need "X" number of hours off for a class, the department will cover it with O.T. but the next time we work an overtime, "X" number of hours are deducted from the overtime. We save vacation/holiday time but give up time and a half for it in that instance.

[FRN-FFS]

Jude23

Please be patient and let me try to shed some light.

"Please help me understand...if you work a 24 hour shift and ask for it in comp time, do you get 36 hours of straight time added to your "bank"?"

Yes, if we work 24 hours of shift replacement we can take it as CTO in lieu of cash payment and will thus "bank" 36 hours of time for future use.

"If your department has constant staffing, when you take some of your comp time and someone else works it, couldn't they ask for it to go toward their "bank" and now from that original 24 hours you worked, you have 12 hours left and now the next guy can use his comp time and have 12 hours left also...I must be missing something. I'm sure the payroll people have a way to make sure this doesn't happen."

[B]No, if you work shift replacement that another member has taken off using CTO, you (the one working) can not take the shift in CTO payment. No CTO for CTO, if that makes sense.

Hope that helps shed a little light. Our CTO benefit is a pretty cool thing. The City actually pays more when we "bank" and then use CTO than they would with regular shift replacement. This combined with our Annual Vacation (AV), our Unscheduled Holiday (UH) and CTO I think we have it pretty good. We are currently in negotiations with the City and are pursuing the conversion of all AV to UH.

[chainsaw5vent]

Jude23

Please be patient and let me try to shed some light.

"Please help me understand...if you work a 24 hour shift and ask for it in comp time, do you get 36 hours of straight time added to your "bank"?"

Yes, if we work 24 hours of shift replacement we can take it as CTO in lieu of cash payment and will thus "bank" 36 hours of time for future use.

"If your department has constant staffing, when you take some of your comp time and someone else works it, couldn't they ask for it to go toward their "bank" and now from that original 24 hours you worked, you have 12 hours left and now the next guy can use his comp time and have 12 hours left also...I must be missing something. I'm sure the payroll people have a way to make sure this doesn't happen."

[B]No, if you work shift replacement that another member has taken off using CTO, you (the one working) can not take the shift in CTO payment. No CTO for CTO, if that makes sense.

Hope that helps shed a little light. Our CTO benefit is a pretty cool thing. The City actually pays more when we "bank" and then use CTO than they would with regular shift replacement. This combined with our Annual Vacation (AV), our Unscheduled Holiday (UH) and CTO I think we have it pretty good. We are currently in negotiations with the City and are pursuing the conversion of all AV to UH.


i like the way you do it. i'd max the cto bank out in about one month and keep it stacked.:rolleyes::):D

[jude23]

Thanks for the explanation, FRN-FFS. It makes sense that it would be kept track of that way. It sounds like an awesome benefit for you guys!