BOSTON — Boston Fire Commissioner Joseph Finn is working to tighten firefighters’ work schedules to eliminate misuse of sick time and swapping and selling shifts.
Boston Globe reported that firefighters will now have a new work week that includes two full 24-hour shifts. They must submit requests for time off and are forbidden from swapping or selling shifts.
The new plan follows through on Commissioner Finn’s pledge to restructure management and bring greater accountability, according to the report.
“I’m bringing consistency and continuity back to the fire corps, which will make us more efficient on the firegrounds,’’ Finn said.
In some cases, firefighters have been absent from work for more than a month while someone else covered their shifts, officials said. Some firefighters have missed critical training days as a result.
“Our fundamentals were suffering because of the uncontrolled shift swapping,’’ Finn said. “If a captain doesn’t know who was working on a particular day, it’s hard for him to regulate who got training and who didn’t. We had to fix that.”
Finn’s scheduling overhaul is a one-year test that will be revisited.
“It’s a one-year test, and the members are looking forward to it,” Union president Richard Paris said. “It will control the swaps.”
One firefighter said he preferred the flexibility firefighters enjoyed under the old system. But he voted to support the plan during the union vote, according to the report.
“I decided that people have been trying to improve this department and change it all these years that I might as well go along with it because it was going to be voted on anyway,’’ he said.
The 24-hour shifts will bring the department in line with scheduling practices seen at most fire departments across the country.
In a given week, firefighters will work one 24-hour shift, and get the following 48 hours off. They will also work another 24-hour shift, and then get 96 hours off, said Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald.