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POLICEPAY.NET
NEGOTIATION TRAINING JANUARY 18-19 -
JULY 26-27 - Santa Fe, NM (click here for information)
THE DONNING AND DOFFING
JACKPOT The New Gold Mine By
Ronald J. York, President of POLICEPAY.NET, Inc. Donning
and doffing is the hottest topic on the police beat today. For those of you
who have been barricaded in a log cabin in remote So
what’s the point you ask? Well,
according to “brilliant legal minds” this extends the time that a police
officer must be compensated and if this new extended day is greater than
eight hours overtime must even be paid.
On what authority do “brilliant legal minds” base their claim for this
new found manna? The Fair Labor
Standards Act (FLSA). Oh, it’s been
changed you ask? No, nothing has
changed, except that “brilliant legal minds” have found this unenumerated and unarticulated concept hidden deep within
the law. They are slow learners. It took sixty years to find it, but they
found it. And, “no”, FLSA is not a
book in the Old Testament. Some
lawyers just think it is. So
far, all I have discussed is Donning and Doffing Lite. The full body lager reads like this – if
you put on and take off your uniform at home, your commute time is on the
clock also. Holy Cow! If you live in Rancho Cucamonga and work in
You
can sue for back wages too. How sweet
it is. Before you rush off to buy a
million dollar summer home in Okay,
how do I collect the money my employer has unlawfully cheated me out of? I have good news, it is easy. First, you call this toll-free number 1
(800) THE-PIMP. You answer a few
simple questions. A form is mailed to
you. You sign and return the
form. The postage is pre-paid both
ways. You then just sit back in your
easy chair and sip on a cool Budweiser and wait for the check to come in the
mail. It is painless and it can
actually be fun. In a few weeks you
will probably see your mayor on television ranting and raving about the large
number of donning and doffing lawsuits.
Just keep sipping on a cool one and waiting for the check. What
a country! Where else can you stick it
to the boss and win the lottery at the same time? This donning and doffing stuff is going to
be really big. I have even found a stock
market play that can increase your “winnings” – buy stock in Vaseline. Maybe I should call that into Jim Cramer on
Mad Money. Before
you pick up the phone to dial the toll free number, I would like to present
something for your consideration. Although
the check you might receive looks like manna from Heaven, it is not. It is actually “fools gold.” What do you think happens six months later
when contract negotiations begin? Do
you think that the mayor will compartmentalize the issues and forget about
your lawsuit? If he can, he is better
man than me. Remember that jar of
Vaseline? Well, the mayor stopped at
Walgreens on his way to negotiations to purchase a jar of Vaseline for his
use. If you cannot figure out what happens next, read The Merchant of
Venice. You can get a CD version and
listen to it while you commute to Every
dollar you might collect from a donning and doffing lawsuit will come
directly out of your pay matrix, along with loan shark rate interest. People do not just idly sit by and let
other people run over them. They
retaliate. Employment is a long-term
relationship. To maximize the benefits
of a relationship you must cultivate it, not sabotage it. The people who are pushing these lawsuits
make their money from hostilities – hostilities that come back to bite you in
the butt. What
should you do? Rewrite your contract
to make the dressing and undressing period within the normal work day that
you agreed to when you were hired. As
for the guy in Forget
about putting points on the board.
Concentrate on the total compensation package. If lawsuits were the secret to success the
underpaid large cities in the East would be making the big bucks – they are
not. Learn to lobby and politic and
your agency can become among the best paid.
Oh, it’s hard work, certainly much more than calling the toll-free
number. Probably,
the thing that bothers me the most about this donning and doffing assault is
how people who are frustrated by other people using legal technicalities to
avoid the intent of a law now find themselves using the same methods when it
is perceived to benefit them. When
this issue is fully milked the toll free number will not go silent. Some
new convoluted concept will replace it.
Think about it. I believe in
your heart you know what to do. Police stand firm behind
6% raises The city says the
Fraternal Order of Police won't budge on salary demands, forcing both parties
closer to a labor hearing. From
The As
No
major decisions are likely to come from the conference call today with the
state's Public Employee Relations Board, lawyers from both sides said
Tuesday. But
the discussions move the two sides another step closer to a formal hearing
that, barring successful negotiations, would result in a ruling that determines
which party needs to make concessions to the other. The
city in October filed a complaint saying the Fraternal Order of Police was
not negotiating in good faith and wouldn't budge from its demand for a 6
percent pay increase and several other benefits. "Nobody
begrudges the FOP for wanting to get the maximum possible raise," said
Carl Gallagher, the city's hired lawyer. "But in my opinion there has to
be a spirit of compromise, and I don't think there is one." Altogether,
the 6 percent raises and related police demands could cost the city an
estimated $25.9 million over three years, according to the city's finance
department. A
2 percent raise and related benefits would cost about $4.1 million. It
costs $36.3 million to pay roughly 650 union police members now. Meanwhile,
the police call the city's charge "baseless." And they've filed a
similar complaint alleging that the city is delaying mediation and
fact-finding sessions that would show how local police compare to other
police departments in the region, said Steve Bukaty,
lawyer for "They
know if they can drag this out long enough they can get through the
elections," he said. "They're sadly underestimating their police
officers." Police,
firefighters close to meeting contract goals Although
hearing about stalled contract negotiations, automatically brings assumptions
that there are differences over raises and pay, such is not true.
For the most part, the pay issues have been resolved, but there are
other sticking points in the contract that could determine whether an
agreement can be reached. "We
are going to get a contract, one way or the other," Carlos Torres said
to the council this week. He
said that all his firefighters want is a fair deal. Pay issues have been
completely worked out, but there is no agreement yet on a drug policy. City
Manager Skip Noe said they just want to use the
same policy to which other city employees are subject. But
Torres said there are minor issues in that policy that
firefighters believe are unfair. Police officers have just one
unresolved issue also. Their
immediate pay raises have been agreed upon, but within a few years, officers
want their salaries to be indexed. That means their pay would based on the average of other departments of similar size
around the state. Association
President Domingo Ibarra said he believes it's a way to stay competitive with
other cities. But city officials aren't so supportive. "It's
kind of like saying, 'We're going to let these 25 other cities' pay system
determine what our pay ought to be.' And that's a radically
different way of setting pay for us," Noe
said. Ibarra
said that they're very insecure about what the employees are asking for.
"They
don't feel they can come up with that kind of commitment," he said. Councilmembers said they are
sympathetic to both sides, and Councilwoman Melody Cooper said it is usually
this tough. "We
want to give our police and firefighters the most we can because of the hard
job that they do, but we are pulled on the other side by what the budget can
bear," she said. The
council didn't comment much on the drug policy issue, but both Cooper and
Councilman Jerry Garcia said the index pay for police is an issue that needs
more analysis first. "Let's
bring it to a negotiating table. Let's sit opposite sides from each other;
let's hammer out a deal," he said. Noe said the city is an inch away from the goal
line. The question now is whether the firefighters and police officers are
willing to wait a little longer. According
to the Police Officers Association, next week is the deadline for a
contract. After that, a mediator will be called in and the two sides
will have a few more days to work it out. If that doesn't help, the
association can call for a referendum on the April ballot. Members
of the association said there's a good chance things could be worked out
by the end of the week, but if that doesn't happen, they'll circulate
petitions and try to get the signatures they need in about three weeks time
to force a public vote in April on their contract as well. Council OKs 3 percent
raise for police From
the Argus Leader, December 12, 2006 City
Council members approved a one-year collective bargaining contract Monday
with Members
of the fire union have agreed to a two-year deal that also includes 3 percent
cost-of-living increase. Typically,
city officials try to negotiate multi-year contracts. But members of the
police union voted down a three-year contract that included 3 percent salary
increases in each of those years. Mayor
Dave Munson said the unions were good to work with, and that officials
understood the city couldn't go above 3 percent next year. A
3 percent cost of living increase for all of the city's employees will run
$1.6 million next year. Cities,
counties cop new attitude on police pay Good
cops are getting harder to find in metro With
three new cities springing to life in north Cities
and counties are responding by raising pay and benefits to compete for the
best cops, and to keep the ones they have. "It's
very important, especially for the officers that have families," said Officer
Bruce Ford, a nine-year veteran of the Atlanta Police Department. "If
Sandy Springs is going to offer more than Atlanta, that officer is going to
talk it over with his wife and then go for that." The
new cities of Sandy Springs, And
where better for new cities to get their cops than right here in metro "They
change shoulder patches and go to work the next day," said Police
work is tough and dangerous, and even with the recent increases the pay isn't
great: Most cities and counties in the region are paying in the $30,000s for
beginning officers, in the $40,000 range for journeymen and the $50,000 range
for senior officers. A bonus or night differential pay can set one town's
offer apart from another's. "When
one jurisdiction pays a few more dollars or has extra incentives, they have a
leg up in recruiting," Beach said. The
north "We
weren't offering as good a deal as some other places," Roswell Mayor Jere Wood said. "It's a competitive market out
there." Several
other cities and counties in metro Gwinnett
and Cobb counties, and their cities, have been particularly aggressive. Gwinnett
recently approved a package for police, fire and sheriff's employees that
averages 12.4 percent pay raises, starting in January. County commissioners
said the increases were needed to compete with other metro The
Cobb cities of The
sheriff in Gwinnett even offers his deputies an extra vacation day if they
refer a recruit who gets hired. In
Joe
Davis of "It's money well spent because it has to be spent,"
said Davis, who works for an Internet technology company. "When the
market thins out, employers have to pay more." What's
important to Police Chief Ed Williams in Roswell is not so much that the new
incentives will help him hire cops for the seven vacancies in his 130-officer
department, but that they will help him attract — and keep — the best people. "The
high-quality candidates are in huge demand, and I am in that market,"
Williams said. "We have some outstanding police officers here. If I were
starting a department in a CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS POLICEPAY provides
complete contract negotiations for your bargaining unit. We will:
Our fee will be a fixed
amount that is agreed to up front. The
fee will include all costs, even travel and hotels. There will be no surprises. We offer options with no up front
payment. You can make equal monthly
payments. If your contract is 36
months, you will make 36 monthly payments. During the term of the
contract, we will:
If we are not able to
reach an agreement with your city, we will provide arbitration services at no
additional cost. We intend to get an
agreement. Our approach to contract
negotiations is different than what you are probably used to. We engage in non-confrontational
negotiations that rely on developing relationships. However, we do not use so called “win-win”
negotiation. It’s a loser for
you. There will be no unfair labor
practice complaints filed by us or lawsuits and grievances. If that is what you are wanting you need to
call the usual knucklehead lawyers that have been screwing up police
negotiations for years. Intimidation
and blustering are not in our arsenal. If you prefer to
negotiate yourself we can provide any of the services listed above, with the
same payment plans, only at lower rate.
If this is the way you want to go, you need to attend one of our
negotiation seminars. The upcoming
seminars are listed on our website. For more information,
give us a call at (405) 234-2235, or contact POLICEPAY.NET Your Ultimate
Solution For Contract Negotiations |
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