Shift Pay Parity

[SliceOfLife]

I never understood the whole pay drop thing. It's essentialy a way for the company to recover some of the money that is being paid out in overtime, while still having you work the hours.

My company dosen't do this but I remember AMR did, which was union at the time.

I personaly wouldn't work for a company that did this.

 

[adamjh3]

I'd rather take an hourly pay cut than not get paid for 10 out of 24 hours

 

[Medic2409]

Unfortunately you do what you gotta do in order to keep a job, especially in this area and this economy, but it doesn't make it right. Some don't get that it's not right, but that's fine. I guess trying to look out for the good of the workers in the industry might be called whining...eh, who cares.

Anyways, this thread is because I was curious about how wide spread this is, since initially I thought AMR was the only one that did this, but have recently learned that ETMC and my own employer do this also.

To answer a question from earlier, how am I working without getting paid?

4 - 12 hour shifts = 48 hours per week.
2 - 24 hour shifts also equals 48 hours per week.
If each are paid the same $15.00 per hour, the pay is equal. Using simple numbers, this comes out to $37,440 per year base pay, not counting overtime.

But what about the 3rd 24 hour shift that gets worked every 3 weeks?

If all paramedics are equalized out at making the same per year, it comes down to you are working a full 24 hour shift, for nothing. Or am I missing something in how the pay works?

 

[Sasha]

Unfortunately you do what you gotta do in order to keep a job, especially in this area and this economy, but it doesn't make it right. Some don't get that it's not right, but that's fine. I guess trying to look out for the good of the workers in the industry might be called whining...eh, who cares.

Anyways, this thread is because I was curious about how wide spread this is, since initially I thought AMR was the only one that did this, but have recently learned that ETMC and my own employer do this also.

To answer a question from earlier, how am I working without getting paid?

4 - 12 hour shifts = 48 hours per week.
2 - 24 hour shifts also equals 48 hours per week.
If each are paid the same $15.00 per hour, the pay is equal. Using simple numbers, this comes out to $37,440 per year base pay, not counting overtime.

But what about the 3rd 24 hour shift that gets worked every 3 weeks?

If all paramedics are equalized out at making the same per year, it comes down to you are working a full 24 hour shift, for nothing. Or am I missing something in how the pay works?

Every three weeks? It's 1 on 2 off here. One week you have 48 the next 72.

 

[socalmedic]

we do it, at AMR the official number is 27% less hourly to 24hr shift employees. which will yield equal pay to 40hr/we and 56hr/week employees. I absolutely agree with it. I dont see it as 24 hour shifts getting paid less, but as 12 hour shifts getting paid more.

in my system we are mostly 24s with a handful of day cars. the 12s take the IFTs and post while the 24s get to stay in quarters all day. on days when there is no day shift ambulance I will see my call volume almost double. I will gladly take a $3/hr pay cut to work 10 days per month and get paid to sleep almost every night. one overtime shift per pay period more than makes up for the difference in pay.

fyi- our 24 hour trucks make $14/hr starting with no experience and our 12 hour rate is $20 w/o experience.

 

[SliceOfLife]

we do it, at AMR the official number is 27% less hourly to 24hr shift employees. which will yield equal pay to 40hr/we and 56hr/week employees. I absolutely agree with it. I dont see it as 24 hour shifts getting paid less, but as 12 hour shifts getting paid more.

in my system we are mostly 24s with a handful of day cars. the 12s take the IFTs and post while the 24s get to stay in quarters all day. on days when there is no day shift ambulance I will see my call volume almost double. I will gladly take a $3/hr pay cut to work 10 days per month and get paid to sleep almost every night. one overtime shift per pay period more than makes up for the difference in pay.

fyi- our 24 hour trucks make $14/hr starting with no experience and our 12 hour rate is $20 w/o experience.

It sounds as if the two are almost different jobs, so that makes sense. But if operational need changes does your pay? If you work all night do you get compensation?

 

[Chief Complaint]

At my job, the ALS providers on shift work will make $7500 more per year than those on day work.

 

[46Young]

In systems that have 24 hour and 12 hour personnel, I find it unfair that the 12 hour employee will earn a higher rate on OT shifts than the 24 hour person.

Paid-on-call, where you only get paid for when you run a call, is BS unless your company has dedicated on call shifts that you sign up for from home. If I'm required to be at a station and quickly respond to a call, I should be compensated at my full rate. If I'm on call from home, there should be an hourly or on-shift stipend and my full rate when activated. This is how my hospital works, and it works for me.

A service should pay evening and night diff, as well as weekends, basically anything that deviates much from 9-5 M-F work hours. You're losing sleep, and/or sacrificing social time when others are typically available and off of work and school. This needs to be compensated for.

People get conned all the time by focusing on the yearly salary. A $40k/yr job may be almost $20/hr for the 40 hour tech, or only $12/hr for the 56 hour sucker. This may be okay if you get downtime and sleep, but where it really affects you is in the reduced OT rate. Using the above example, $30/hr is quite a bit different than $18/hr. This is how 56 hour schedules take advantage of you. Really, this is how any schedule over 40 hours rips you off. At least I'm FLSA, so 53 out of my 56 hours are straight time, and my yearly quoted salary is quite high, and does not include that built in Ot; it's a bonus. As such, my OT rate is much higher than the sucker that works 40 straight and then 16 at 1.5x to equal the same yearly salary.

Really, a good rule of thumb to see if you're being paid fairly is to decide on a fair yearly rate for 40 hours. I like $40k to start for medics (many urban IFT privates pay this as a starting salary). Now, add on the extra hours, whatever they may be, at 1.5x, and see if that's what the employer offers you as a starting salary. This ends up being $52,480 for the 48 hour tech, and $64,690 for a 56 hour employee. This is what you should be getting for your respective schedule, but hardly no one outside of fire actually pays this. Good luck getting night diff on top of that, too. Hence the need for multiple jobs and a lot of OT in EMS. Hence the copious turnover.

For comparison's sake, Charleston County EMS in SC starts at around $39k for both 48 and 56 hour schedules. Wake Co. in NC pays in the mid 30's/yr, but I'm not sure of the schedule. I think it's 56, but I'm not sure.