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Target 32: Working Conditions Trouble Dispatchers
TheLouisvilleChannel.com
12:51 p.m. EST March 8, 2007
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The call-takers and dispatchers at Metrosafe, the 18-month old agency charged with taking the Metro area?s emergency calls, racked up thousands of hours of overtime in the past fiscal year. And some Metrosafe workers claimed the stressful workload is risky given the serious nature of the job. One former call-taker, who wished to remain anonymous, said mandated overtime ? which is agreed to in the workers? contracts, but often not by individual workers ? makes it hard to perform correctly.
I think considering the stress level and the anxiety level, I think it's a very difficult job to perform for eight hours, forget 12 or 16,? he said. The man worked for Metrosafe as an emergency call-taker for five months before resigning. One major issue he had with the job was scheduling. Currently, call-takers and dispatchers work six days with two days off in order to rotate their off-days.
But the former call-taker said during the week there was mandatory overtime and workers wouldn?t know if they had to stay over until the ends of their shifts. He said this led to some dispatchers routinely working 12- and 16-hour shifts.
Your senses could be dulled, you could be overly tired,? the source said. ?Yeah, it?s a potentially bad situation to be in. But Metrosafe director Doug Hamilton rejected claims that the working conditions there are unacceptable. I don?t think it?s unreasonable at all,? Hamilton said.
He said the mandatory overtime is included in the dispatchers and call-takers? Teamsters Union contract and so is the 16-hour maximum workday. It?s a job that?s in the best interest of safety and our staffing is for that reason,? Hamilton said. ?It?s for no other reason. He also pointed out that Metrosafe must be staffed 24 hours per day, seven days per week.
According to Metro Louisville records, Metrosafe had 162 employees on average in 2006, with an average of 11 unfilled job positions at any given time. Those call-takers and dispatchers worked more than 51,000 hours of overtime or an average of seven hours of overtime per week per employee.
But the former call-taker who Newschannel 32 interviewed said overtime isn?t distributed evenly. Junior employees or probationary workers are typically forced to work more overtime and some employees choose to take as much overtime as possible.
According to his records, he worked 189 hours of overtime in 17 weeks, averaging more than 11 hours of overtime per week. When you add up mandatory overtime, you really don?t have access to much of a life at all,? he said. Hamilton said there?s nothing unreasonable to the working conditions although the situation isn?t taken lightly.
It's inconvenient, is what the issue is,? Hamilton said. ?I'm sympathetic when you don't know going in that you're not going to be able to get off, but it's not something that's taken lightly.?
Meanwhile, the number of unfilled positions has grown. The average of 11 open positions last year is currently more than double at 23. Hamilton said a new state law requiring drug, alcohol and lie detector testing for new employees has slowed down the hiring process there, but he said a new class of trainees will begin in Spring.
In 2006, its first full year of operation, Metrosafe took 1,357,000 calls in the course of handling 635,000 separate incidents. According to the city?s mid-fiscal-year budget projections, Metrosafe is expected to come in $1.2 million over-budget in 2007 and $300,000 of the overrun is expected to be for employee overtime.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17519836/
TheLouisvilleChannel.com
12:51 p.m. EST March 8, 2007
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The call-takers and dispatchers at Metrosafe, the 18-month old agency charged with taking the Metro area?s emergency calls, racked up thousands of hours of overtime in the past fiscal year. And some Metrosafe workers claimed the stressful workload is risky given the serious nature of the job. One former call-taker, who wished to remain anonymous, said mandated overtime ? which is agreed to in the workers? contracts, but often not by individual workers ? makes it hard to perform correctly.
I think considering the stress level and the anxiety level, I think it's a very difficult job to perform for eight hours, forget 12 or 16,? he said. The man worked for Metrosafe as an emergency call-taker for five months before resigning. One major issue he had with the job was scheduling. Currently, call-takers and dispatchers work six days with two days off in order to rotate their off-days.
But the former call-taker said during the week there was mandatory overtime and workers wouldn?t know if they had to stay over until the ends of their shifts. He said this led to some dispatchers routinely working 12- and 16-hour shifts.
Your senses could be dulled, you could be overly tired,? the source said. ?Yeah, it?s a potentially bad situation to be in. But Metrosafe director Doug Hamilton rejected claims that the working conditions there are unacceptable. I don?t think it?s unreasonable at all,? Hamilton said.
He said the mandatory overtime is included in the dispatchers and call-takers? Teamsters Union contract and so is the 16-hour maximum workday. It?s a job that?s in the best interest of safety and our staffing is for that reason,? Hamilton said. ?It?s for no other reason. He also pointed out that Metrosafe must be staffed 24 hours per day, seven days per week.
According to Metro Louisville records, Metrosafe had 162 employees on average in 2006, with an average of 11 unfilled job positions at any given time. Those call-takers and dispatchers worked more than 51,000 hours of overtime or an average of seven hours of overtime per week per employee.
But the former call-taker who Newschannel 32 interviewed said overtime isn?t distributed evenly. Junior employees or probationary workers are typically forced to work more overtime and some employees choose to take as much overtime as possible.
According to his records, he worked 189 hours of overtime in 17 weeks, averaging more than 11 hours of overtime per week. When you add up mandatory overtime, you really don?t have access to much of a life at all,? he said. Hamilton said there?s nothing unreasonable to the working conditions although the situation isn?t taken lightly.
It's inconvenient, is what the issue is,? Hamilton said. ?I'm sympathetic when you don't know going in that you're not going to be able to get off, but it's not something that's taken lightly.?
Meanwhile, the number of unfilled positions has grown. The average of 11 open positions last year is currently more than double at 23. Hamilton said a new state law requiring drug, alcohol and lie detector testing for new employees has slowed down the hiring process there, but he said a new class of trainees will begin in Spring.
In 2006, its first full year of operation, Metrosafe took 1,357,000 calls in the course of handling 635,000 separate incidents. According to the city?s mid-fiscal-year budget projections, Metrosafe is expected to come in $1.2 million over-budget in 2007 and $300,000 of the overrun is expected to be for employee overtime.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17519836/
