By Tao Woolfe
Starting next year, Boynton Beach firefighters and paramedics will shift from a schedule of 24 hours on/48 hours off, to one of 24 hours on/72 hours off.
The change is expected to cut down on the city’s overtime costs and result in happier, healthier public safety workers, interim City Manager Jim Stables told the City Commission at a meeting on June 7.
“Forty-eight hours off is not enough time to decompress, especially when people are needed for overtime,” Stables said.
Hugh Bruder, interim Boynton Beach fire chief and director of fire and emergency medical services, further explained in an interview after the meeting how everyone will benefit from the new schedule.
Under the existing system, firefighters work a 48-hour week. Under the new system, the firefighters’ workweek is shortened to 42 hours, but the salary will stay the same.
Overtime has been paid, and will be paid, for any hours worked beyond the normal schedule.
Under the existing system, firefighter/paramedics are given a Kelly Day — a day off for rest and relaxation — every three weeks. The new system eliminates Kelly Days, which will automatically reduce overtime, the chief said.
The other half of the overtime reduction equation, he said, is that the department will hire 21 new full-time personnel. That way, there will be sufficient staff to fill all the department’s time slots.
There may still be the occasional shift that needs to be covered by overtime, but those needs will be drastically reduced, Bruder said. Last year, due to the coronavirus and staff shortages, the city paid $1.8 million in overtime.
More important, the chief said, the firefighters and paramedics will have time to decompress, rest and exercise, so they will have less reason to call in sick and will be better able to serve the community.
The city also will benefit from its ability to recruit and retain up-and-coming professionals who are seeking the 24/72-hour schedule, which is still a rarity in Florida.
Boca Raton’s is one of only a handful of departments in the state to offer the 24/72 schedule and, as a result, it is considered a destination workplace, Bruder said. Boynton is also expected to quickly earn that distinction.
Stables told the City Commission that the conversion will cost the city about $2 million up front, but ultimately will save — estimating conservatively — $1 million a year in overtime costs.
About $823,000 of the conversion cost will be used to hire the 21 new firefighter/paramedics, Stables said. They will be hired and begin training in October.
“We had 40 applicants in the first week of recruiting,” Stables said.
The commission approved the new schedule on June 7, and unanimously ratified a new, three-year contract with the Boynton Beach firefighters, Local 1891 of the International Association of Fire Fighters.
Bruder said the commission’s approval set into motion a plan that signifies a huge, positive change for the city.
“It’s an example of good governance and it’s quite an undertaking,” Bruder said. “Everyone has to work together to make this happen — the City Commission, city management, the department administration, the bargaining unit, and the city staff.”
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