For those that have not seen the recent post from Secretary Ed Wall on DOC Net: Rotation of Forced Overtime One of the harsh realities of the DOC’s mission of public safety is that we must staff many positions, without fail, all of the time. Safety and security demands that we be prepared to handle our diverse populations in all of our institutions. As we all know, there is a need to mandate staff to work additional hours to cover critical posts. Forced overtime, often referred to as “jamming”, has been needed at the DOC for decades. Historically, jamming was done on a reverse seniority basis with the least senior people being forced to work the overtime. At particular times of the year, like summer vacations, hunting season, holidays, Packer playoffs, etc., the forced overtime escalates dramatically. If you are the junior officers, youth counselors or other affected staff members, then you often find yourself being forced continuously. In some cases, this has led to new officers, youth counselors or other staff simply leaving the DOC, which has compounded the problem. At several town hall meetings and in conversations I have had with staff over the last two years, they have raised the idea of rotating forced overtime rather than continuously jamming our newest officers, youth counselors and others subject to this provision. In many cases, this idea was raised by senior staff members who have watched the impact it is having on those working around them. As I mentioned in the Town Hall FAQ’s posted on MyDOC many months ago, the question asked at one town hall meeting by a 16 year veteran officer was “If you’re trying to be fair, then why aren’t you rotating jams?”, and that is a very fair question and observation. The concept of rotating forced overtime has been discussed many times over the years by line staff and management alike, but it was never pushed forward. The answer was always to keep seniority as the prominent issue and then create “protections” to try and lessen the pain. But protections are often subjective and leave people arguing over whose protection is more important. The time has come to revisit this issue and for each division to determine which positions will be affected (officers, youth counselors, nurses, etc.). Additionally, at the recommendation of many staff members, we will review the past practice of “pre-ordering” staff to help alleviate last minute forced overtime which will give staff more time to plan around work schedules or give away their pre-ordered shift. This subject is similar to the issue of rotating scheduled and unscheduled overtime on a fair basis rather than simple seniority. As I have said before, seniority has its place in post selections, shift choices and vacation picks. But in the case of repeated forced overtime, it does have the effect of a disproportionate burden being put on others. A burden that can destroy marriages, cause unreasonable fatigue and lead to undesirable outcomes. Some people may say “Too bad, I did my time and they should have to also”. But if forced overtime was rotated fairly in the past, wouldn’t those first several years have been a lot more enjoyable and less stressful for staff and their families? That is an important question to ask, because a few years from now people will look back and appreciate the thoughtful changes we made to improve working conditions in our agency. We invest a lot of time and money into training our staff and there is no benefit in forcing overtime on people to the point that they walk away from their careers. Ultimately, when we force overtime to the point that people quit, then the forced overtime just reaches deeper into the seniority pool because we have to deliver on our mission. “Because we’ve always done it that way”, “I did my time” or “that’s their problem, not mine” aren’t acceptable answers when we look at the effects that multiple days of double shifts can have on staff and their families. As a Department, we need to always consider ways to reduce stress through innovative or common sense ideas and not be afraid of making changes where needed. We’ve all heard the saying, “many hands make light work” and that really is at the center of this issue. In discussing the issue of rotating forced overtime with the wardens and DAI administration, we agreed that it was the right thing to do. And most of those wardens and administrators came through the ranks of this department having been jammed themselves, understanding the history and scope of this problem. Our Department will move forward with implementing forced overtime rotation for uniformed staff, youth counselors and other staff designated by each division in the coming months. People will be able to see the rotation and have a reasonably good idea when their chances of being forced are near and plan appropriately. Additionally, people will continue to be able to give away their forced OT shift if someone is willing to work it for them and their name will still rotate. These changes will help ease the practice of staff being forced more than one day in a row and reduce the stress on our staff and their families. Over the next several weeks the DOC Division Administrators will determine what protections will be maintained or modified and how the rotation of forced overtime will be implemented. We anticipate using some sort of alphabetical list to create the original rotation, which will naturally change quickly as we begin using it. It is anticipated that the change in the OTS system to rotate forced overtime will become effective in March or April of this year when the software is ready . In addition to the changes in the OTS, we are preparing to upgrade our scheduling software, which will be implemented at three pilot sites (DCI, FLCI and TCI) by April of this year, with full implementation by October. The upgrades we are currently testing will be a dramatic improvement to the way we handle our daily scheduling process, including vacation picks. The new software includes many new features that will give employees great new tools (mobile apps, remote access, preference selections, etc.) to manage their schedules. These changes will also help staff and supervisors by addressing concerns over perceived favoritism, such as the process of giving time off inside the present 14 day time period. Ultimately, decisions like this are not easy to make and won’t be popular with some. However, we must consider the long term effects it will have on our staff and their families. Our staff have hard enough jobs without particular groups continuously getting forced into overtime slots with limited notice. We have to take the emotion out of the decision and take steps that will create positive change in the years ahead for those here now and in the future.
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 21:10:40 +0000
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