Board approves two hiring procedures

SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Rural Fire Chief Dave Lane provided several updates at the District’s March 16 board meeting. The Board also unanimously approved two standard operating procedures (SOP) related to wage increases and Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Compliance.

In the Chief’s update, Lane said this spring they have three volunteers that will be attending an EMT class and four members that will be attending the Basic Wildland Firefighting course in Lincoln, Montana.

“That is pretty exciting,” Lane said. “Not only are we getting people into the Basic Wildland class but we are networking with other departments.”

Lane said several of the volunteers have helped with the COVID Vaccination Clinics hosted by the Missoula County Vaccination Coordination Team and Partnership Health Center at Seeley-Swan High School. Missoula Rural Fire Department spearheaded the logistics. Seeley Lake volunteers helped monitor a total of 600 people who have received the two-shot vaccination. They will return again when the second shot is given April 10.

Lane said all the responders have been offered the vaccinations and the majority have taken the opportunity.

Lane said the Department is possibly getting to a “tipping point” where they need help. One solution would be to hire responders to cover the calls. He has been talking with a few other departments about how they do it. More information will be provided to the board if the discussion continues.

The Board discussed the FLSA Compliance and wage increase SOPs, both of which only apply to non-exempt District staff. Updating the District Policies/SOPs is an ongoing process. The board typically approves a few policies a month.

Lane explained he added the FLSA Compliance SOP because of the discussion of hiring people.

“I’m trying to plan ahead so that we can hire people and put them to work instead of hiring them and having them sit and wait for us to put things together so they can come to work,” he said.

Lane explained that on a two-week pay cycle, either hours worked beyond eight hours a day or 40 hours a week become overtime. Firefighting scheduling per 29 CFR 553.230 allows a District to lengthen the time worked before overtime is paid.

While it was stated in the meeting that firefighters can work up to 56 hours per week or 112 hours per pay period before they would be paid overtime, the SOP states 106 hours per 14-day pay period which is in compliance with the FLSA for firefighters.

According to the SOP, employees that engage in firefighting duties who are assigned to work the 40-hour work week, are exempt from the FLSA work period and will receive overtime after 10 hours per day or 40 hours in a week. Those employees not engaging in firefighting duties are also exempt from the FLSA work period and would be paid overtime after eight hours per day or 40 hours in a week.

Lane said if he hires people, he wants to hire employees that are dual rated as firefighters and paramedic or EMT. If the District only hired paramedics or EMTs, they would not qualify for the FLSA exemption. While it does not prohibit the District from only working employees 40 hours, he feels it would be an unreasonable and expensive cost to stay with the 40-hour work week since the FLSA allows them to go beyond the 40 hours.

“This does not change the pay management for Lynn [Richards, District Administrator] or Nathan [Bailey, maintenance]. If you don’t fall under those guidelines, which they do not, they don’t qualify for those exceptions we pay them as we have been,” Lane said. “This is for the future. If it never happens that is okay.”

The board unanimously approved the SOP.

The second SOP the board discussed was for wage increases. Lane presented the board with a standard, planned merit-based wage increase for all non-exempt District staff. It included a wage scale based on step and grade for a regular employee based on a 2.5% step increase.

Vice Chair Gary Lewis asked why an SOP was needed for wage increases when the board has always approved wage increases.

Lane explained that the SOP makes wage increases black and white up to 5% per year based on an employee’s annual evaluation. The employee’s supervisor would conduct the evaluation in June and recommend the percent wage increase, or not, based on merit. It raise would be given based on the Chief’s determination within the budget set by the board.

“We are looking ahead to growth. To go through the 45 minutes to an hour talking about raises in a board meeting when really it is my job to manage the people. I’m asking your permission to manage their wages under the budget which is why I put the scale together,” Lane said. “The only question in the evaluation is how much of a raise do they get, 2.5% or 5%. If they do something phenomenal and I want to go outside those guidelines, I have to come to the board.”

The board would still be responsible to approve for the chief.

The SOP included the District Wage Scale for the Administrative Assistant, FF1-EMT, FF2-EMT, FF1-Paramedic, FF2-Paramedic, FF-Captain and Maintenance. All employees would start at step one within their grade and could top out at 10 years. The employee would be hired at step one regardless of previous experience.

“It is not fair to those who have been here longer to bring in someone at a higher pay,” Lane said. “You could get through the steps quicker if you get a five percent, you could be topped out in five years.”

Lane recognized that the starting wage for some of the positions were a little lower because the District currently doesn’t have the budget. He also said there is a chance if they hire firefighters, they could be unionized. At that point, this pay scale would not apply to the people in the union and the District would need to negotiate a contract for wages and benefits.

The board unanimously approved the pay scale SOP.

To review the policies visit https://www.seeleylake.com/home/customer_files/article_documents/flsa_and_wage_policies.pdf.

The next board meeting is April 20 at 6 p.m. at the Seeley Lake Fire Hall. For more information and the agenda visit seeleyfire.org.