Sick Leave Abuse 1

Running head: SICK LEAVE ABUSE IN THE MOBILE FIRE-RESCUE

Sick Leave Abuse in The Mobile Fire-Rescue Department; is there a problem?

James F. Byrd

Mobile Fire-Rescue Department, Mobile, Alabama

Sick Leave Abuse 2

Certification Statement

I hereby certify that this paper constitutes my own product, that where the

language of others is set forth, quotation marks so indicate, and that appropriate credit is

given where I have used the language, ideas, expressions, or writings of another.

Signed: _________________________________________

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Abstract

The problem identified was the MFRD employees fail to realize the value of leave

benefits and have overused sick leave creating issues with maintaining service levels. The

purpose of the research was to analysis employee understanding of sick leave policies and the

adverse affects created by sick leave abuse, reveal employee understanding of sick leave abuse

versus that of management, and look for creative ways to deal with sick leave abuses.

Dual research methodology was utilized, using historical research to gather data to

identify trends and patterns of sick leave use. Descriptive research was used to analysis sick

leave usage within the MFRD and other departments and local businesses. The research sought

to answer; what was considered sick leave abuse by the department and the employee? How

other businesses and departments deal with sick leave issues? How excessive sick leave has

affected the MFRD and steps or policy changes that could slow abuse.

Procedures consisted of a literature review to develop an external and internal survey

instrument and interviews with key personnel regarding sick leave use and policies. The results

showed a gap between management and personnel regarding abuse, 43% of management labeled

abuse beyond 48 hours while only 18% of labor felt that way. Conversely, 42% of labor felt that

more than the total earned (112 hours) was abusive versus 7% of management noting the same.

Other departments and businesses have resorted to different forms of leave to deal with the

issues such as ETO or PTO and the addition of incentives. Recommendations included

management and labor discussing the differences regarding sick leave abuses; developing and

implementing clear policies, instituting a training program; consider changing or boosting

incentives; exploring other leave options; and implementing the use of a proper software

program for tracking leave.

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Table of Contents

Abstract ……………………………………………………. 3

Table of Contents ………………………………………….. 4

Tables List …………………………………………………. 5

Introduction ………………………………………………... 6

Background and Significance ……………………………… 7

Literature Review ………………………………………….. 12

Procedures …………………………………………………. 19

Results ……………………………………………………... 22

Discussion …………………………………………………. 33

Recommendations …………………………………………. 39

Bibliography ……………………………………………….. 44

Appendix A Mobile County Personnel Board Rules …………………………48

Appendix B External Survey (Survey Monkey) and results …………………50

Appendix C Internal Survey and results ……………………………………..52

Appendix D Mobile Fire-Rescue Department Reduced Staffing Policy …….54

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List of Tables

Tables

Table 1 External survey results; Pie graph pg. 24

Table 2 Internal survey results; Pie graph pg. 24

Table 3 Sick leave use in the Mobile Fire-Rescue pg. 28

Table 4 Benefits Comparison pg. 31

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Sick Leave Abuse in The Mobile Fire-Rescue Department; is there a problem?

Introduction

In any business, the employee is generally the heart and soul of that organization.

This holds true in both private and public sector. The employees do the jobs and in many cases

have the most interaction with customers. They are the backbone of any business organization.

This holds true for the Mobile Fire-Rescue Department, (MFRD). The firefighters of the MFRD

are the most crucial elements of the organization. They make the calls and have the most

interaction with the organizations customers, the public who utilize emergency services. The

MFRD is not unlike many other medium sized paid fire departments across the country, it has

quality personnel who provide quality services. The department offers salaries and benefits to

attract and maintain those quality employees, one such benefit is sick leave. The MFRD provides

sick leave hours to employees on an annual basis and those hours are allowed to accumulate

indefinitely.

The problem is that many personnel fail to realize the importance of this sick leave

benefit. There are many members of the department who over use sick leave to the point that

when a true emergency in their life arises, they do not have enough accumulated time to cover

time off and have to ask for aide. They also fail to realize the potential financial pay out at the

end of their career. Their over use of the sick leave benefit adds to the departments personnel

shortage and creates situations where apparatus are being removed from service to make up the

shortage.

The purpose of the research is to discover if employees truly understand the sick leave

policies and the adverse affects that sick leave abuse creates. The research will reveal employee

opinions on sick leave uses and if they believe it to be a benefit that could be stripped or an

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earned right. Further research will look for improved methods for dealing with sick leave over

usage and methods that may be applicable to the MFRD.

A combination of historical and descriptive research methodologies will be utilized to

determine; what is considered sick leave abuse by a) the department and b) the employee?; how

have other businesses and departments handled over use of sick leave issues?; how has over use

of sick leave affected the MFRD?; and finally what steps or policy changes can be implemented

to stem the over use of sick leave? Historical data will be gathered to identify trends of past sick

leave usage and compared to current usage to determine if the problem has been persistent over

time. Descriptive research studied current sick leave usage and policies within the MFRD as well

as how other businesses and departments may be dealing with similar issues. Surveys were used

both internally and externally to solicit opinions and information regarding sick leave usage

issues. It was the intent of this research to determine the opinions and attitudes of personnel and

management regarding the use of sick leave in order to discover if there was a better way to

manage sick leave that is satisfactory to all parties.

Background and Significance

The Mobile Fire-Rescue Department (MFRD) is a progressive fire service providing a

wide range of services to the city, jurisdiction and the almost one quarter million citizens it

serves. Those services included fire response, advanced life support and ambulance transport,

hazardous materials response, heavy rescue, high angle rope rescue, trench and confined space

rescue, swift water rescue, public education, plans review, and fire code enforcement. The

department operates nineteen (19) engine companies, six (6) ladder companies, nine (9) ALS

transport ambulances, one fire boat, a heavy rescue unit, a hazardous response unit, one tanker

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truck, and four ARFF units out of eighteen (18) fire stations and two airport facilities. The

department also boasts the only Type I Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team in the state.

The City of Mobile was formed in 1701 and the MFRD came into existence in 1888,

when the city organized the volunteer services into a paid department. The initiative was untaken

to provide the citizens of Mobile a better fire service. Currently the MFRD provides its services

to a city and three mile jurisdiction that comprises some 210 square miles. The department has

an authorized roster of 520, including non-sworn personnel and operates on a three shift

schedule. All line personnel are assigned to A, B, or C shift and work a 24 hours on 48 hours off

regiment. In 2010 the department responded to 46,328 calls for service. (The City of Mobile Fire

Rescue Department, 2011)

The State of Alabama is a Right to Work State, and while the members of the MFRD are

represented by Local 1349, Mobile Firefighters Association, they do not have the right to

collective bargaining. Members actually have a defined plan of benefits that are not negotiated

and are overseen by a personnel board. The personnel work under the umbrella of the Mobile

County Personnel Board (MCPB), which does all the hiring for all the organized communities

within Mobile County. The MCPB was created in 1939 by an act of the Alabama State

Legislature, to “govern and control, by Civil Service rules, regulations and practices for …all

individuals in the Classified Service”. (Mobile County Personnel Board, 2010, p. 1) It has

remained in force since that time and is suppose to be the watchdog group for all the civil

services employees in the county. The City of Mobile, being the largest city in the county,

accounts for most of the MCPB’s activities.

Line personnel of the MFRD work a 24/48 work schedule or a 56 hour week and a 112

hour pay period. The defined benefits as per the MCPB define what leave benefits can be

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accumulated, at what rate and how much can be accumulated. The departments personnel

assigned to staff positions work the routine 40 hour week, straight days with weekends off. They

also earn accumulated times based on that schedule. For the purpose of this research the focus

was on the line personnel and the 112 hour pay period. These personnel earn what is commonly

referred to as two weeks sick leave per year or 112 hours. Vacation time is also accumulated two

weeks per year for the first five years and then it grows with years of service. This research will

focus solely on the sick leave aspect of employees accumulated time and the use there of. When

said employees reach retirement, he/she is rewarded for not using accumulated sick leave. The

employee is paid 75% of that accumulated time. The 112 hour pay period employee is paid the

sick leave based on a 40 hour pay period rate, which can almost be like getting 100% of the

accumulated leave. Employees hired after 1996 are still allowed unlimited accumulation,

however the way it is paid back is different. The 75% stipulation is still in effect but they are

paid the sick leave at the rate or hourly wage that it was earned at. See Appendix A at the end of

this report for more detailed information on the accumulation and distribution of leave as it is

written in the MCPB rules and regulations.

In 2007, the author had a change of venue within the department and due to the

retirement of colleague was transferred to a position that handled the departments daily staffing.

It was also at that time the department started to take a harder look at sick leave use and over use.

Over the past few years while handling the daily staffing of the department it has become clear

that there are trends that need to be investigated and research conducted to determine if there are

proven methods to intervene and/or correct any suspected irregularities. In 2006 the department,

in the wake of economic constraints and concerns began the process of identifying those

employees who used too much sick leave in a given time frame or demonstrated patterns of use,

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such as reporting off on sick leave in conjunction with a scheduled leave. It was at this time the

department began requiring those identified employees to present a doctors certificate whenever

they used sick leave. Department management developed what is known as the “sick pay” list,

which is a list of those personnel and their supervisors are required to collect those doctor

certificates and forwarded them to upper department management after said employee uses a sick

day. To be removed from that list the employee must, over a given time frame, generally one

year, demonstrate restraint in the use of sick leave.

The department, over the years has developed a culture that has fed the use of sick leave.

The MFRD has always made vigorous attempts to maintain four personnel on apparatus with an

occasional weekend or holiday where apparatus would have to ride with three personnel. This

was done with overtime pay. Shortages on apparatus due to scheduled leave and unscheduled

leave in the form of sick leave was traditionally back filled with overtime personnel. The

department was, on a daily basis, using overtime to cover shortages to the point that monies

budgeted for overtime, often in the six to seven million dollar range, was being consumed well

before the end of the fiscal year. The use of this overtime became a second income for many on

the department. The idea of using a sick leave day was also considered no big deal because

personnel knew that someone would work some overtime and the position would not go vacant,

that all changed April 15, 2010.

The City of Mobile, like many other cities across the country, has been dealing with the

recent economic down turn and decreased revenues. The Mayor of Mobile, Sam Jones, had cut

department budgets in 2009, 2010, and again in 2011. In April the Mayor advised that unless

drastic changes were made city employees would start to be laid off. He again demanded

department heads find more money. The Fire Chief, Steven Dean, immediately cut off all

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overtime and travel monies. In response to the Mayor’s orders the Fire Chief and upper

department management developed the, Reduced Staffing policy. Since the department would no

longer pay overtime for shortages, the Chief’s answer was to take units out of service and ride

units short. The personnel from those units taken out of service are then farmed out into the

department to cover shortages. Now, with this policy the department is forced to cover the same

volume of calls with fewer units on duty and less personnel on some of those units. Such a policy

can prove to be dangerous for the community as a whole and to the personnel manning the

remaining units. Delayed response times and fewer personnel on scenes are the critical issues.

This research was conducted to determine how, if possible, the overuse of sick leave can

be curtailed. The advent of the sick pay list and the requirement of a doctor’s certificate have not

slowed the use of sick leave. The ninety six personnel on the list still use sick leave as does other

department members. The idea that trucks may ride short or go out of service and the need for a

doctor’s certificate does not seem to slow the use of sick leave, even though a doctor’s certificate

usually requires a physician visit and insurance co-pay. The atmosphere within the department

seems to be one of defiance or lack of concern for the department and co-workers. There is

almost an “I don’t care attitude”, among members of the department.

The research can be linked to United States Fire Administrations (USFA) strategic goals

on several levels. Strategic Goal 3, “Improve the fire and Emergency Services’ Capability for

Response to and Recovery from all Hazards”, second objective, “Advocate a culture of health,

fitness, and behavior that enhances emergency responder safety and survival.” (United States

Fire Administration [USFA], 2010, p. 20) Abuse and over use of sick leave can have a direct

affect on the morale of a department. It can also create shortages within a service, which has a

direct effect on the safety and welfare of personnel. Promoting the right behaviors, health and

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fitness can have a positive effect on sick leave usage. USFA Goal 5 is to lead the nation’s fire

and emergency services by establishing and sustaining itself as a dynamic organization. The first

objective is to “maintain a positive work environment to ensure the organization’s well-being

and productivity.” (USFA, p. 22)This same ideal holds true all the way down to the local

community fire departments. To develop positive work environments and productivity,

departments will have to control unscheduled leave abuses, such abuses can be the cause of

lowered morale, conflict, and decreased productivity in the work force.

The linkage of the research to the fourth year Executive Fire Officer Program (EFOP),

Executive Leadership (EL), involves the skill sets that were fertilized during the course. In the

EL course participants are challenged with a “self assessment and development plan”, as well as

other topics revolving around leadership, decision making, negotiating, persuasion, and

evaluating. (United States Fire Administration [USFA], 2005) The skill sets introduced and re-

enforced during the EL class will be instrumental in developing and introducing the policy and

cultural changes needed to effectively reduce and control unscheduled leave abuses.

Literature Review

This literature review began at the Learning Resource Center (LRC) March of

2011 at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland. The topic for this Applied

Research Project (ARP) was sick leave and associated abuse of said leave. At the LRC a search

of related materials was initiated using such terms as “sick leave”, “sick pay”, “paid time off”,

and the word “abuse” was introduced to those searches as well. It was soon discovered that the

topic was more prevalent than the author had realized. There have been many ARP’s completed

by Executive Fire Officer Candidates since the LRC has been cataloging the research papers.

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The topic is not new to fire service either as literature and ARP’s dated back into the eighties and

nineties. In fact the EFOP’s own Charles Burkell wrote an article for Fire Chiefs in 1985. So the

idea of sick leave abuse analysis is not a unique issue for the Mobile Fire-Rescue Department

(MFRD). The literature reviews and other processes of the research showed that it appears to be

a universal issue. The issue even stretches across oceans and is a recurring problem in European

countries as well. (Olson, 2009, p. 13)

Burkell’s 1985 article in Fire Chiefs magazine, “Sick leave abuse-is there an answer?”

looks at sick leave abuse as a “chronic problem” within most fire departments across the country.

Mr. Burkell puts forth the idea that “it is an accepted idea that 10% of the workforce is

responsible for 90% of the absenteeism.” (Burkell, 1985, p. 29) This notion was reinforced by

Christopher Haas of the Manteca Fire Department, in his 1996 research. His observations of that

department revealed that 90% of the sick leave abuse was caused by 10% of the members. He

concluded that it was not a large number of employees using sick leave, but rather a fairly small

number of employees using a large amount sick leave. (Dozier, 2002, p. 9) Burkell also pointed

out some of the detrimental effects of sick leave abuse such as: decreased company manning and

strength; additional dollars for covering the absenteeism; reduced effectiveness of training and

company harmony; poor morale; and feelings of entitlement. (Burkell, p. 29)

Most all employers have some form of leave for their employers during times of illness

or family crisis. Approximately 90% of state and local government workers have paid sick leave

and the private sector provides approximately 60% of its workforce with this same benefit.

(United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics [U.S. Dept. of Labor], 2009, p.

1) The intent is to help the employee maintain an income flow during times illness or family

hardship and prevent them from having financial problems. Many companies and fire services

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allow employees to accumulate this time off and to bank for a rainy day sort-of-speak, herein is

where a problem could develop. Hagstrom noted that research has indicated that the more sick

leave that is allowed to accrue yearly, the more the employee seems to use. (Hagstorm, 2000)

However, most employees across the country allow employees to accumulate their unused sick

leave from year to year. Some place a cap on this accumulation and others allow for

compensation of the unused time at the end of one’s career. (Employee Benefit Research

Institute [EBRI], 2005) The allowing of this accumulation as note by Hagstrom can be

problematic, while its intent is to attracted quality employees by providing quality benefits.

In her article Hagstrom points out that some company’s policies enable the employee to

be a sick leave abuser. “Policies that enable frequent unscheduled absences reward the wrong

people.” She further states that those employees who practice a good work ethic get an empty

benefit. (Hagstorm, 2000, p. 52) These are the employees who come to work day in and day out,

who do not abuse unscheduled leave, who perform well on the job, and do not create issues for

management during their careers. When considering sick leave policies, Hagstrom points out a

mostly unwritten one in the following statement:

“Some employees don’t recognize the sick-leave benefit comes with an implied “if and

only if” clause – they are entitled to it if and only if they have a medical problem that

compels them to miss work. Instead, they believe they are entitled to use the leave,

whether they are sick or not.” (Hagstorm, 2000, p. 53)

Burkell makes the same reference in his article fifteen years earlier. As one of a list of

outcomes when over use of sick leave is encountered the last was concerning entitlements.

Personnel can develop the feelings of “I am entitled to a day off too” when they see others

continually abusing sick leave. Many may start to look at it as “I earned it and I’ll use it

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whenever I want to.” Some employees begin to consider the accumulated sick leave as a

redeemable right rather than a benefit. (Burkell, 1985, p. 29) In the more than one dozen EFO

papers reviewed this seems to be a recurring problem with the sick leave abuse issue, personnel

using the time as they wished rather than for true medical problems. Rather than safeguard

against job loss from injury or illness, sick leave is seen by some as a benefit to be used for paid

time off in lieu of or in conjunction with vacation. (Heitman, 2009, p. 13) More and more

employees in all areas of employment are changing their attitude about sick leave, seeing it as an

entitlement to be used whenever they see an opportunity to do so. (Journigan Sr., 2007, p. 14)

Many researchers/EFO’s noted patterns in sick leave use that centered around certain

days of the week and holidays. Dozier found that in the Abilene Fire Department, sick leave was

used less on holidays and weekends than it was during the week. (Dozier, 2002) In Tulsa, Hayes

found that sick leave was most often used on Fridays and Saturdays. (Hayes, 2003) Likewise,

Clack of the Minneapolis Fire Department also saw increases of sick leave usage on Saturdays,

Sundays, and holidays. (Clack, 2001) Dwertman of St. Bernard Ohio saw a decrease of

personnel using sick leave on Sundays. It was in fact the lowest day for sick leave use in his

department. (Dwertman, 1998) Looking at these few noted observations and without quoting

every EFO research paper that was reviewed it is very visible to see that sick leave abuse is

universal, it has patterns and trends that can be seen and it has an adverse effect on all employers

and not just the fire service.

In an article written for Emergency Medical Services magazine, Gary Ludwig pointed out

that employers in the United States spend more than $160 billion each year on costs due to

employee absenteeism. (Ludwig, 2004, p. 30) Again, cost is a repeated aspect that shows up in

much of the literature that was reviewed during the writing of this ARP. Fire departments must

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use different levels of staffing in order to “balance cost with the need for an adequate number of

fire units and firefighters for structure fires and other emergencies.” (Freeman, 2002, p. 126)

Haas’ study of the Manteca Fire Department points out a significant increase in sick leave usage

and associated costs of the sick leave abuse had placed a major financial burden on the city.

(Haas, 1996) “In the public sector, the cost of employee absenteeism is generally pasted to the

tax payers.” (Sapp & Carter, 1991, p. 1) According to Peacock, the impact of such absenteeism

could be easily tracked in 1997, when the Fort Worth Fire Department overspent its overtime

budget by 56% due largely to excessive absenteeism. (Peacock, 1998) Since the down turn of the

U.S. economy in recent years, the financial impacts of excessive unscheduled leave has in many

departments been transferred to decreased staffing levels and units available for service.

Training employees as it concerns sick pay and usage thereof was actually a concept that

could be considered new to the author. The idea of regularly conducted training in regard to sick

leave use, proper usages, what is expected of the employee, and are considered abuses of said

leave was not something the author was familiar with. Simply stated it is not a process carried

out in the authors department. Ludwig states that it is a task of managers and supervisors “to

train employees about the aspects of the (sick leave) policy and what is expected of them.”

(Ludwig, 2004, p. 30) The title of Ludwig’s article in Emergency Medical Services was Absence

Management, and he promotes the interesting idea of absence-management programs in an effort

to create ownership for the employees. In doing so the end goal is to reduce unscheduled

absences within a service. He goes on to state that for every dollar invested in an absence-

management program, there is an estimated three to ten dollar return. (Ludwig, p. 30) This seems

to be a good deal when a service is ultimately trying to save money by decreasing those costly

unscheduled absences. On the flip side another author pointed out that due to sick leave cost’s

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being under perceived, many services see associated cost of such programs to reduce

unscheduled leave are “too much trouble” or “not worth it.” (Hagstorm, 2000, p. 52)

Many employers provide some sort of leave as a method to attain and hold good

employees. In a survey conducted by the University of Auburn for local governments in the state

of Alabama, it was noted that 98.5% of those municipalities provide their employees with some

type of sick leave benefit. The mean average of annual sick leave used by a municipal employee

in Alabama was calculated to be 6.23 days per year. (Tomblin & Salter, 2005) CCH Incorporated

conducted a survey and found that 34% of unscheduled absences were for actual personal

illnesses. On the other hand their survey found that 66% of the unscheduled leave was for other

personal use, not necessarily illness. That 66% was further broken down to the following: 18%

personal needs; 22% family needs; 13% stress; and 13% entitlement. (CCH Incorporated [CCH],

2007) In yet another survey looking into the issues of unscheduled leave, it was discovered that

unscheduled absenteeism accounts for 2.3 % of the daily workforce in the United States. To add

insult to injury, full time government employees when separated from the civilian workforce

produce an even larger number. Full time government employees rack up an astounding 3.6%

daily unscheduled absence. (Henson & Waltermath, 2007, p. 664)

The literature review provided many avenues to venture into when attempting to resolve

departmental sick leave issues. Much of the information produced in the ARP’s by the various

EFOP candidates was bounced off each one and given the slant that each individual needed to

influence his/her paper. Many topics and strategies were introduced to assist and guide a reader

in search of answers for similar issues. It was found that leave in all its forms, other than that

guaranteed by Family and Medical Leave, is a benefit and not required by the FLSA. (Harroch,

2006) The literature pointed out that problems with overuse of unscheduled leave is not an issue

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that is isolated to the authors department nor is it a new idea. This was evident with the discovery

of the Burkell article over twenty five years ago concerning sick leave abuses.

Many of the topics reviewed were of great interest and provided many lines of thought

for this research. Topics involving positive reinforcement for what is deem frugal and good use

of sick leave and incentives for holding to said time, such as: “cash out”, “buying service time

with it”, and bonuses for being a good steward for that benefit. Negative reinforcement was

another topic discussed in much of the literature; it was generally reserved for those employees

who by choice seem to refuse to conform to policies and regulations. It is an unfortunate method

for a manager or supervisor to have to resort too. Many different types of alternative leave were

discovered in the literature and as many different programs had been initiated in different

departments across the country, some with success and others with not so good a response. Fire

departments all across the U.S. generally provide employees with some sort of leave benefit. It is

a realization that good benefits are important for recruitment, employee retention and

satisfaction. (Beam & McFadden, 2001)(Harroch, 2006)(Freyss, 2004)

For this research the literature assisted in the development of two survey instruments, one

for internal use and a second to be sent to other departments. The literature further revealed ideas

and programs that could be modified and utilized for internal use as well as assisting with

completing this research. The literature pointed out that staffing needs will place untold demands

on a fire department. It will also create a strain on the relationships between personnel and

management. The employees desire to have more time away from work and the departments

need to cut cost will produce cause and effect that will culminate in increased use of unscheduled

leave.

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Procedures

The research utilized both historical and descriptive research methodologies to analyze

the sick leave usage within the MFRD. In order to fulfill the purpose of this ARP and to fully

expound on the research questions several task where embarked upon. A comprehensive and

exhaustive literature review was conducted. Two survey instruments were developed and

distributed externally and internally. Interviews were conducted with key personnel within the

MFRD as well as representatives of the public sector. Also historical data of MFRD personnel

sick leave usage was gathered and analyzed. The binding purpose of the research was to reveal

how MFRD personnel feel about sick leave usage, do they also truly understand the adverse

effects of sick leave abuse, and where can the current MFRD policies and procedures be

modified to improve negative issues.

The research began in April of 2011 at the National Fire Academy’s (NFA), Learning

Resource Center (LRC). The focus at the LRC was information concerning sick leave and over

usage of that leave in both the public and private sector. Abundant literature was obtained in the

form of periodical articles and a multitude of past EFO research. With aspect to the literature,

information was also gathered from searches on the World Wide Web. Also the use of past EFO

ARP bibliographies proved useful with even more material for reviewing.

In June of 2011, using information gathered during the literature review, an external

survey instrument was developed using the web based Survey Monkey program. (Appendix B)

This survey consisted of questions regarding sick leave usage, policies for managing leave

abuses, incentives for what is considered proper usage, policies for accumulations, and long term

benefits of saved leave. The survey was sent to one hundred colleagues associated with various

fire services, all are EFO graduates, students, or upper level management in their respected

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services. A second survey (Appendix C) was developed for internal use which consisted of

questions regarding length of service, understanding of MFRD and MCPB sick leave policies,

use of sick leave, and applicable incentives. The internal survey also asked the line personnel

how much sick leave usage they would consider abusive. The survey was delivered solely to

lines personnel as they were the target audience for this research and the largest group of

benefactors of the sick leave benefits. The MFRD on a 24/7 and 365 day-a-year basis, routinely

has 120 to 124 line personnel on duty. Using the higher number and multiplying by three shifts,

there are 372 frontline personnel. The department has an authorized roster of 520 personnel;

however that includes staff and clerical positions as well. Three hundred and seventy two does

not represent all line personnel, it does not account for those on scheduled and unscheduled

leave, strictly the number of on duty line personnel. The internal survey was distributed to 108

MFRD line personnel which was close to 30% of the frontline population. That population was

further broken down to 55 firefighters, 31 drivers, 20 captains, 2 district chiefs. The internal

survey was distributed in person by the author, to several MFRD stations, over the three day

period of June 16-18, 2011. This allowed participation from personnel on each of the three shifts.

Several interviews were conducted in the months of May and July of 2011. The first was

conducted with Ms. Jessica Black of Infirmary Health System. The Infirmary Health System was

chosen for inquiry because it is one of the largest private employers in the area. Ms. Black is an

employee of that system and was able to give firsthand knowledge of the systems employee

benefits as it pertains to scheduled and unscheduled leave. Her interview was conducted in

person on May 16, 2011 and lasted approximately one half hour. The discussion involved

questions pertaining to the health systems policies on leave regarding the kind of leave provided,

the amount of leave that is given, and any incentives for unused leave. Also discussed were any

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benefits the system may offer for frugal use of required leave. On May 18, 2011, an interview

with Mrs. Ginny Byrd was conducted, in regard to her companies’ policies on scheduled and

unscheduled leave. Mrs. Byrd is the General Manger of Transport Commercial Leasing, a very

small privately owned truck leasing company in the area. The leasing company is part of a parent

company, Gulf Coast Truck and Equipment, and they are both part of the Mack Truck industry.

Mrs. Byrd and her company were selected to look into a small company and how it deals with

leave issues. Again the interview/discussion with Mrs. Byrd focused on scheduled and

unscheduled leave, amount of time/benefit employees were allotted, how it could be used and

any incentives or payouts.

Deputy Chief Mark Hansberry was interviewed in his office on July 13, 2011 and was

also asked questions concerning the sick leave usage in the MFRD. Chief Hansberry is the

Deputy Chief of Operations and has also been assigned the task of tracking sick leave usage and

handing out the disciplinary actions based on policy. During the half hour discussion he was

asked what the department considered abuse, if he thought the current disciplinary plan was

working, and how an employee on the sick pay list could get him or herself off the list.

In combination, the listed procedures constructed a process by which the research

questions could be effectively answered and produced data that was relevant to the completion of

the research. Limitations in this process include the facts that there are hundreds more fire

departments and private sector business that may have better policies and programs as it relates

to use of unscheduled leave. Due to time and complexity the mass total of these entities cannot

be examined. All of the internal data gathered for analysis regarding use of sick leave was done

completely manual. The MFRD does not have an electronics based program by which personnel

scheduling and leave can be systematically tracked. Due to the lack of an electronic program

Sick Leave Abuse 22

there is room for human calculating errors. Also in counting time used by personnel, no

consideration was given for personnel who did not use an entire twenty for hours of sick leave,

nor is there any allowance for personnel who may have been listed as sick but were actually out

due to line of duty injuries. Sick leave was strictly looked at from the point of view that an

employee was sick at 07:00, the time of shift change.

The external survey was limited to one hundred colleagues on an email list and did not go

to specific, equally sized departments across the region. Also there was only a 50% return on that

survey. The survey was brief and asked mostly yes or no questions with only a few areas where

the respondent was allowed to make comments. This lends to limiting the amount of fresh or

innovative policies or processes that could have had relevance on the research. With the internal

survey the author as to assume that all personnel approached the questions with a serious attitude

and answered truthfully. The survey was totally anonymous; the fact that it was delivered and

collected by a chief officer from within the department could have influenced some personnel’s

answers.

Lastly, the authors’ ability or lack of knowledge in data analysis has to be considered a

large limitation to the research. The review of literature and the gathering of information from

surveys and records, while time consuming are relatively simple, the art of assimilating and

correlating all that information into a useful and understandable document is the challenging

task.

Results

The results of this research are based on the cumulative ideas and statistics gathered

during the literature review, MFRD records review, an internal and an external survey, as well as

personal interviews. The end goal of the research was to determine employee understanding of

Sick Leave Abuse 23

the MFRD sick leave policies and to gain insight on how those employees feel about sick leave

usage and the effects it has on the department. To accomplish this, the research asked employees

and department heads what they considered excessive? Looked into how private industry

handled sick leave and over usage of leave? How over use of unscheduled leave has affected the

MFRD overall, and what steps could be taken to curtail excessive use?

The first research question was two parts, it sought to discover what the employer or the

MFRD management considered as sick leave abuse and what the employees actually considered

as sick leave abuse. This question was explored in three different areas, a survey was sent out to

other departments to get their opinions on sick leave, an internal survey was distributed within

the department that asked the question straight out, and interviews were conducted with key

personnel regarding the subject.

Both the internal and external surveys asked what was considered sick leave abuse. The

external survey would be considered abuse as seen from the departments stand point and the

internal would be that opinion of the employees of the MFRD. Tables 1 and 2 show a side by

side comparison of the two.

Sick Leave Abuse 24

7%

43%29%

14%

7%

0%

Sick Pay Abuse Surveyed

> 24 hrs./yr.

> 48 hrs./yr.

> 72 hrs./yr.

> 96 hrs./yr.

> 112 hrs./yr.

0% 1%

6%

12%

42%

39%

Sick Pay Abuse MFRD Survey

> 24 hrs./yr.

24 to 48 hrs./yr

48 to 72 hrs./yr.

> 72 hrs./yr

Table 1 Table 2

It’s clearly visible the imbalance between management and labor. The majority of those

departments surveyed feel that more than 48 hours should be considered abusive. On the other

hand, employees of the MFRD seem to believe that if you have accumulated 112 hours (the

actual yearly accumulation) or more, you should be allowed to take the time.

According to the Mobile County Personnel Board, when looking strictly at line

personnel, some form of medical or doctor’s excuse must be presented when an employee has

been off for two consecutive shifts or more than 48 hours. (MCPB, 1939) The MFRD has

likewise adopted in its general rules the same policy regarding sick leave by simply applying the

MCPB rules. (MFRD, 2006) The MFRD takes it a step farther by noting what it calls, “Signs of

sick leave abuse…”

• Using more sick leave than is accumulated in a given time period, employee earns 14

days a year and takes 14 or more days. (Based on 8 hours days)

• Drawing from vacation accumulation to cover sick leave.

• Using sick leave primarily on weekends.

Sick Leave Abuse 25

• Using sick leave in conjunction with other leave such as vacation, holiday, or military

time.

• Using sick leave in conjunction with local, state, or national holidays.

• Using sick leave in any other observable pattern. (ex: always SP on same day of the

week) (MFRD, 2006)

In a personal interview with the Deputy Chief of Operations, Mark Hansberry, he stated that

there are 96 personnel on the sick pay abuse list, which is a list of MFRD employees who are

required to submit a Doctors excuse anytime they report off on sick leave. He pointed out that

personnel on this list got there because they have used more sick leave in a calendar year than

they have earned and that at least one employee has used over 250 hours since January 1, 2011.

He went on to say that it is the Fire Chief’s goal to see employees use less sick leave and

together they have set the bar at 48 hours. They would like to see employees use less than 48

hours in any given year and for those employees on the sick pay list they have to demonstrate

frugal use of their leave by not using anymore than 48 hours in a year, in order to be removed

from the list. (M. Hansberry, personal communication, July 13, 2011) Please note here that it was

also seen in the external survey that management was in agreement with the 48 hour limitation.

See Table 1 above.

The second question in the research looked into how other departments and private sector

businesses deal with sick leave abuses. Again the external survey was looked to and interviews

were conducted with employers in the private sector. In the external departmental survey, several

questions were asked pertaining to this research question. Departments were asked if they have

specific policies to control excessive sick leave usage, if their sick leave benefits were in the

form of a defined plan or negotiated in contracts?

Sick Leave Abuse 26

Only 30% of the respondents selected sick leave coming from defined benefits. The

overwhelming majority of the departments surveyed are contract departments and negotiate their

benefits. The MFRD does not have collective bargaining rights and all employee benefits stem

from the defined plans of the City of Mobile and the MCPB. When asked about policies to

control excessive sick leave abuse, 96% of the respondents do have such policies in place while

4% of them do not. Thirty four of those surveyed answered the question regarding how they

handled personnel identified as sick leave abuser, 35.3% use discipline, 14.7% use rewards, and

50% use a combination of both in an attempt to change employee behavior. Also in their

descriptions of sick leave abuse, many of those surveyed pointed out issues such as trends and

demonstrated patterns involving the use of sick leave. Many of them were similar in nature as

those listed in the MFRD rules mentioned above.

Mrs. Ginny Byrd of Transport Commercial Leasing was the agent spoken with as

representative of small private enterprise. She stated that the benefits received by those working

in the public sector appear far better than those in the private sector. According to her all

employees that work for her company and the larger parent company, Gulf Coast Truck and

Equipment, receive paid time off or PTO in the amount of ten (10) days. That’s two weeks of

leave total, be it for illness or vacation. There is no carry over, if it does not get used it is gone.

There is no pay out due to the fact that there is no accumulation towards the end of one’s career.

She state that because they are small companies (less than 100 employees total), often when an

employee has a crisis the company can and has made efforts to help that employee through their

rough patch, a family helping family members atmosphere. (G. Byrd, personal communication,

May 18, 2011)

Sick Leave Abuse 27

While in the larger private business sector the situation is a bit different. According to

Ms. Jessica Black with Infirmary Health Systems, which is one of the largest private employers

in the city. Ms. Black informed the author that Infirmary Health uses an ETO or earned time off

program. (J. Black, personal communication, May 16, 2011) Employees earn this time based on

years of service up to fifteen years. They are allowed to accrue up to 256 hours. Once this

maximum is reached accrual stops until that amount falls. This ETO is used for personnel

illnesses, time off for rest and recreation, as well getting paid when departments are closed for

recognized holidays. Employees are allowed to cash out up to 120 hours per calendar year at

75% of pay, plus they are paid 100% of all accrued time at retirement. Also, another benefit

given by the health system is bereavement pay. Employees are allowed sixteen hours

bereavement pay in association for time off due to the death of an immediate family member and

the hours have no bearing on their ETO. (J. Black, 2011) The MFRD does not have designated

bereavement pay or hours, but it is stated in the rules that an employee may use sick leave for

such matters. (MFRD, 2006) (MCPB, 1939) It was noted by Ms. Black and Mrs. Byrd, that the

likely outcome for an employee who uses excessive unscheduled leave and demonstrates a habit

of not being at work, the outcome is usually termination in the private sector. (G. Byrd, 2011) (J.

Black, 2011)

Research question three looked into how sick leave has and currently affects the MFRD.

While exploring this question the staffing needs of the department on a daily basis were looked

at for 2001, 2006, 2010 and the first six months of 2011. This had to be done by physically

looking at each daily report from those time periods and establishing a count of personnel using

sick pay. The count was also established by days of the week and Table 3 below clearly shows a

pattern of sick leave usage.

Sick Leave Abuse 28

Table 3 Sick Leave Use in the MFRD

Vertical column represents the number of personnel on sick leave for the days of

the week in each year.

It is clearly visible that more sick leave is used on the weekends than during the middle

of the week, so much so that this graph appears to have a smile. The 2001 line shows that sick

leave usage appeared out of control with a high of 541 personnel off on sick leave on all the

combined Saturdays of that year. The low point being 287 personnel on sick leave on

Wednesdays. The number of personnel using sick leave decreased somewhat in 2006 and 2010,

however the 2010 Saturday mark almost reached the 2001 level. It was only 43 personnel short

reaching 498 personnel using Sick leave on Saturdays. The purple line represents the first six

months of 2011 and the same pattern can be seen as far as the number of personnel using sick

Sick Leave Abuse 29

leave on the given days of the week. In fact the numbers for 2011 are on track to meet or exceed

the sick leave days posted in 2010.

The simple fact that there is more use of sick leave on the weekends, makes it clear that

less personnel coming to work means more personnel are needed to replace them. In the MFRD

this was accomplished with overtime. While this paper was not focused on the financial impacts

of sick leave abuse it has to be mentioned as an effect on the department. Up until April 15, 2010

the MFRD covered sick leave with backfill personnel who were paid overtime. This was the

norm and it was a daily occurrence. According to Assistance Chief William Pappas the

department currently has an annual budget hovering around the 37 million dollar range. (W.

Pappas, personal communication, August 17, 2011) Like all businesses, public and private, the

bulk of a budget is used for personnel cost and benefits. In years past the MFRD was paying

overtime at six to seven million dollars a year and this was often used up before the end of the

fiscal year. (W. Pappas) On April 15, 2010, all overtime was stopped and there was a change in

the way personnel were allowed to take vacations. They vacation change, while not part of this

research, was in short, hour for hour. Personnel no longer are allowed a 56 hour vacation. The

abrupt stopping of the overtime created the issue of dealing with leave, both scheduled and

unscheduled. The answer from the Fire Chief has been a ride short policy. MFRD Policy 1016,

Reduced Staffing Assignments, (Appendix D) directs line supervisors (District Chiefs) to take

selected companies out of service or ride them shorthanded and disperse their personnel to other

units in the city to keep them in service. This policy change coupled with the change in vacation

scheduling has had an effect on the morale of the department. The correlation between these

policy changes and the abuse of unscheduled leave has created unsafe conditions within the

department. The more personnel using unscheduled leave produces the need to ride more

Sick Leave Abuse 30

companies short or take them out of service. This in turn places personnel in emergency

situations with fewer people, longer wait times for fill in units to arrive on scenes to lend

assistances, and slower response times to emergency calls, all of which have been proven

detrimental.

The final research question looks into what steps or policy changes that could be

implemented to slow the over use of sick leave? Again both surveys proved useful developing

conclusions in this area. The internal survey asked employees for suggestions for change and the

external survey inquired about programs used by other departments that may have had positive

outcomes. The survey asked if their departments have buyback programs, carry over or

accumulation programs, and payout programs at retirement. The majority response was yes to

some type of program, 85.7% and 14.3% have no such programs. As a comparison, a table was

constructed to show the benefits provide to MFRD personnel and the low, average, and high

benefits provided to personnel of the surveyed departments.

Sick Leave Abuse 31

Table 4 Benefits Comparison

The vertical column represents days of sick leave.

It can be seen in Table 4 that the MFRD provides comparable benefits, when compared to

other departments. MFRD personnel earn 4.6 days of sick leave per year (based on 24 hour

shifts, converting to 8 hour shifts it equals 14 days or 112 hours) and are allowed unlimited

accumulation of sick pay hours/days. Compared to the surveyed departments some of which

posted no sick days and no accumulation allowed. The average among the surveyed departments

was 7.2 days earned each year and 44 days allowed to accumulate, while they boasted an unusual

high of unlimited sick days allowed per year and 120 day limit to accruals. They were also asked

if their programs, both disciplinary and incentive, have been successful. The results were a

mixed bag with 47 of the 49 respondents answering the question. Those stating yes their

programs had been successful numbered 16 or 34%. Those responding no their programs were

not successful were 12 or 25%. The largest group stating that their programs had been

“somewhat” successful was 19 or 41%.

Sick Leave Abuse 32

In the internal survey the employees were asked a group of questions regarding research

question four. Did they think the current incentive plan was good enough? Would they consider

some type of schedule change to allow more days off? How they felt about minimum staffing

and shutting companies down to cover staffing shortages? To the survey question regarding the

departments current incentive plan, 66% of the 108 surveyed believe that it is an adequate plan

and 34% feel that it could be better. Some of the responses to make the incentive better included

payout in full at retirement, payout on a yearly basis, and at least one vote for no incentive. This

employee wishes to be allowed to use sick leave as he/she chooses up to the point of exhausting

his/her accumulation. This employee also introduced the idea of making vacation and sick leave

all the same, in essences an EOT (earned time off program), for the employee to use such time as

they wished. To the survey question regarding a change in scheduling to allow more days off,

such as a modified Detroit schedule, something different from 24/48, the response was 61%

against and 39% would be interested in a change. As for the survey questions regarding the

allowance of more three man companies to let more personnel off, 88% of those surveyed were

against more ride short companies and 100% of those surveyed were against taking companies

off duty.

Other suggestion from the employee survey in regards to improving the excessive sick

leave issues included: bringing overtime back, allowing one day vacations and not requiring

personnel to schedule leave up to a year in advance, do away with the SP list and Doctors excuse

program, and raises. One notable remark from an employee survey stated that the abuse policy

should be changed to a percentage system. Whereby the total time an employee could have

earned since being hired is compared to current/remaining sick time and this would be the basis

for determining abuse. Also an interesting discovery from the external survey was one of the

Sick Leave Abuse 33

respondents’ incentive plans. The plan calls for use of the accumulated sick leave time to be used

to pay down post employment health insurance. With the rising cost of health insurance in the

United States, such a program could prove beneficial to both the retiring employee and the

service he is retiring from. Currently the City of Mobile continues to carry retirees on a health

plan at a minimal cost.

Discussion

As the research began in the LRC at the National Fire Academy, it was quickly realized

that the topic of sick pay/leave abuse or excessive use of unscheduled leave was not a new issue.

Based on the number of ARP’s from past and recent EFO candidates, published articles in trade

magazines, and other research materials, the issue is both a public service and private sector

dilemma. It is also not a new issue for the fire service as it was highlighted by Chuck Burkell in

an issue of Fire Chiefs Magazine over 25 years ago in 1985. Excessive use of unscheduled leave

has profound effects on public service and private sector employers’ abilities to deliver the

products and services they and the customers they serve are accustom to. The research sought to

discover how the employer characterizes sick leave abuse versus the same opinion of the

employee. It also looked into how the private sector dealt with the same issue and how excessive

use of sick has affected the MFRD.

The research revealed that a definite pattern had been established over the past eleven

years within the MFRD in that there was more use of unscheduled leave on Fridays, Saturdays,

and Sundays. (See Table 1) The pattern that was discovered actually fell in line with many other

EFO’s research. Hayes (2003) noted Fridays and Saturdays as the most used days in the Tulsa,

OK fire department, while Jourigan (2007) noted Fridays and Mondays used most. The same

sick leave use patterns were noted in studies conducted by Henson and Waltermath (2007) and

Sick Leave Abuse 34

Tomblin & Salter (2005) where employees commonly called in sick before or after weekend and

on days associated with holidays such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, and The Fourth of July. One

exception discovered during the research was the research of EFO B. Kroon of the Bellevue

Washington Fire Department (2008). In his day of the week analysis of that department he found

no discernable trends with excessive unscheduled leave.

Several ARP’s broke their studies down and examined sick leave use in comparison with

time in service or rank in ones department. Olson, Hayes, Gulisano provided such an analysis

and Olson (2010) noted that employees with 6 to 10 years service used the highest amount of

sick leave, while Hayes (2003) found that those employees with 21 to 25 years used the most

sick leave in his department. Gulisano (2005) was unable to denote a noticeable trend in sick

leave usage correlating with years of service in that department. Olson (2010) further noted that

sick leave associated with other scheduled leave was 30.7% of all sick leave use in his

department. This was also noted in many other ARP’s, describing increase in sick leave use

around before and/or after scheduled leaves. (Hayes, 2003; Gulisano, 2005; Journigan, 2007;

Kroon, 2008)

While this research did not go as far as to analysis specific use of sick leave, such as

amount of sick leave used before or after scheduled leave and in association with a holiday, the

pattern of excessive use on weekends lends to developing the idea of “trends” or patterns of sick

leave abuse. The ARP’s and literature also noted some of the trends and patterns of sick leave

use abuse. Journigan (2007) noted the following trends/patterns identified in the Virginia Beach

Fire Department:

Before or after summer vacation

Before or after Holidays

Sick Leave Abuse 35

Seasonal Activities (hunting, football, racing)

To avoid job assignment (details, drills, etc.)

Sick leave used due to denial of annual leave or vacation

EFO J. Clack (2001) wrote, “A culture of “bending the rules” when using sick leave to be

away from work seems to be in place in many organizations.” This author tends to be in

agreement with such a statement and believes it holds true now ten years since it was written.

Personnel seem to report out on sick leave with little consideration for the company/business.

Within the MFRD, personnel know the policies, the internal survey conducted for the research

shows that 88% of those surveyed are fully aware of the sick leave policies. They understand that

with no overtime, companies will be taken out of service to cover shortages. Yet the pattern

clearly shows Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays as the most used days for sick leave. (Table 1)

Many departments have turned to overtime as means for dealing with excessive sick leave usage.

(Journigan, 2007) Unfortunately, in today’s economic climate, it is a luxury that many

departments can no longer afford. The Mobile Fire-Rescue Department is one of those

departments. It is imperative that management utilize the tools at their disposal to control and

manage excessive use of unscheduled leave. Shutting down fire stations due to excessive

unscheduled leave, increases the risk of injury to personnel, coupled with significantly increasing

the risk of death and further damages in that companies first due area. (Olson, 2010)

Government agencies continue to have the worst sick leave usage records and providing

more sick leave benefits will only exasperate the problems seen. (Tomblin & Salter, 2005)

(Henson & Waltermath, 2007) There has to be some type of sick leave management. A good sick

leave management and monitoring policy and procedure may even reduce risk as it directs a

consistent approach to this issue. (Business, 2006) (Olson, 2009)

Sick Leave Abuse 36

Kroon (2008) noted the results of sick leave usage within his department with and without

a monitoring system in place. Without management monitoring, his department saw a rise in sick

leave usage by 6%, with a system in place the rise was just over 4%. The MFRD has begun to

more closely monitor sick leave usage and has developed what has become known as the “Sick

Pay abuse list”. There are currently 96 members of the department on this list. There are no staff

personnel on this list, nor are there any Chief Officers on the list. During the research the author

discovered that he was only one 24 hour shift from being placed on the list yet his name does not

even appear on the “need to watch” list. Only line personnel, 24/48 shift personnel seem to be on

this list. The 96 members represent 26% of the total line personnel. This number does not fall in

line with presumptions discovered in the literature review. Burkell (1985) stated that “it is

generally accepted that 10% of the workforce is responsible for 90% of the absenteeism.” Based

on that statement the MFRD is out of line considerably and needs to increase its efforts to reel in

the identified leave abusers. Due to a lack of a tracking mechanism, the department is unable to

ascertain if the “sick pay list” has had a positive affect on sick leave usage.

The excessive use of sick leave has become an issue that no agency can avoid not to

address. Many employers include such benefits to attract and maintain quality employees.

However, Hagstrom pointed out that the more leave that is allowed to accumulate the more an

employee will use. (Hagstorm, 2000, p. 55) Several authors alluded to the entitlement

philosophy, that is the employee is of the opinion, “I earned its mine to use as I see fit and when

I so choose.” (Burkell, 1985; Hagstrom, 2000; Peacock 1998; Business, 2006; Olson, 2010) It

was also discovered in the internal survey of the MFRD that many of the personnel surveyed

share this exact feeling regarding the use of sick leave. Many see it as time they have

earned/worked for and should be able to use it at will. The employees were also asked in the

Sick Leave Abuse 37

survey had they ever used sick leave for reasons other than its’ intended purpose and if they

knew of others who have. Of those surveyed 63% admitted to using sick leave for reasons other

than its’ intended purpose by rule. The remaining 37% said they had not used sick leave

improperly. 77% stated that they knew of other employees who had used sick leave for reasons

other than being sick. Such usage can call to question, the ethics of those individuals and those

of the department overall. Olson (2010) and this author believe that public reactions to this issue

could have a drastic effect on the prestige and public trust that has been given to the fire service.

Hamed (2007) points out that “sick leave misuse cannot be dispelled and leaders must engage the

issue directly” and Graswich (2009) states, “employees who abuse sick leave misrepresent

themselves and this act diminishes their integrity and confidence by coworkers, the community,

and themselves.” This statement by Graswich seems to be most profound as this author has

witnessed those personnel on the sick leave abuse list within the MFRD tend to be on the

receiving end of ridicule. Olson (2010) noted 27.3% of his department admitted to misuse of sick

leave and 68% as suspecting it of others. Regardless of reason and sick leave abuse/watch list

aside, the fact that this is and has been a topic of research for many years, lends to the need for

management, both public and private, to develop programs for decreasing excessive use of

unscheduled time.

Firefighting is a hazardous career of choice, Elliot and Kuehl (2007) reported that chronic

sleep loss, associated with shift work, contributed to health complaints, musculoskeletal

problems, higher body weight, heightened cardiovascular disease and cancer. Simply put

firefighters are most likely to use more sick leave than any other career paths. Therefore a

common thread identified during the research was for the development and implementation of a

sick leave monitoring and reporting system. (Hayes, 2003; Gulisano, 2005, Business, 2006;

Sick Leave Abuse 38

Henson & Waltermath, 2007; Journigan, 2007; Kroon, 2008) At present there is no such program

within the MFRD. It is suppose to be up to the individuals to monitor their usage and all

employees are on an honor system when it comes to the proper use of sick leave. The software

program TeleStaff® is a reoccurring program that is mentioned often in the literature. It provides

a mechanism for tracking personnel time usage. Also the disciplinary and incentive plans are

used to control excessive use of sick leave. Discipline, while seen as a negative approach, is

however accepted as a needed means to an end. (Gregersen, 1998; Peacock, 1998; Dozier, 2002;

Tomblin & Salter, 2005) Burkell (1985) suggest that a leave management program should have

both positive and negative approaches to be successful. The MFRD has what this author

considers a fair incentive plan. The city will pay the individual for his/her accumulated sick leave

at 75% the rate at which it was earned upon retirement from service. If an individual is frugal

with his time and allows it to accumulate, it can be the source of a rather large payout at the end

of one’s career plus it is a nice medical emergency blanket in the event that it’s needed. The

internal survey revealed that 66% of those asked were content with the departments’ current

incentive plan. The other 44% would like to see it changed to some other form. Several of the

responses preferred that there be no incentive and instead reflect it in current pay, while others

would like to see a year to year payout or the ability to sell accumulated hours back for time in

service. Still another idea was to change the system to a paid time off (POT) or earned time off

(ETO) type system. Hagstrom (2000) and Burkell (1985) noted that “to stimulate a want to work

attitude, incentives normally take the form of personal day(s) or cash awards.” This still holds

true today, based on the responses of the internal survey, personnel noting an interest to change

the system to an earlier and more frequent payout plan. Personnel were also asked if scheduling

changes were an option to allow for more days off and 30% noted they would entertain that idea.

Sick Leave Abuse 39

Peacock (1998) quoted two authors in his discussion and the statements made then are so

profound to the topic of this research and other research like it, that they bear repeating.

“A community problem exists when a considerable number of people identify a condition

that must be changed.” (Peacock, 1998, p. 6) (Brody, 1982)

The fact that there are so many ARP’s in the LRC and that others outside the fire service

have conducted sick leave issue studies and written papers on the topic, makes this author

believe that the community, that is the United States fire services, has a problem with sick leave

abuse.

“The fire service industry is operating in a world that no longer tolerates tradition at the

expense of effectiveness.” (NFA, 1996, p. SM6-3)

That statement was made by the learned people who develop the courses for the National

Fire Academy fifteen years ago. On September 11, 2001, the nation’s fire services got a reprieve

at the expense of many others. In the time following that tragic event the fire service could do no

wrong, money flowed in from every direction. It has been ten years since that devastating blow

to this country. There has been a change in the white house and an economic down turn that has

the likeness of the great depression. The public is demanding accountability for their tax dollars

as it should. The U.S. fire services have a problem that has been identified by many and should

pursue efforts to lessen the impact of unscheduled leave upon the services they are required to

provide.

Recommendations

This research was conducted to determine awareness of excessive sick leave issues within

the Mobile Fire-Rescue Department. It was also to look at and compared how other departments

Sick Leave Abuse 40

and businesses deal with similar issues. It was quickly discovered that over use of unscheduled

leave has severe adverse effects on the fire service and on private enterprise. Those effects can

be in the form of financial burdens and in the current economic state for the U.S. fire services,

not only is finance a concern but now response liabilities are jeopardized. Many fire services no

longer have the luxury of paying overtime to fill in shortages created by unscheduled leave and

have had to resort to removing companies from service and dispersing the personnel to cover the

shortages.

Based on the information gathered during the literature review and the two surveys that

were distributed, the following recommendations are made to the management of the Mobile

Fire-Rescue Department:

The first and foremost recommendation, is that management and personnel representation

conduct a series of committee meeting to discuss and align each sides terminology of

sick leave abuse.

It was determined from interviews and the surveys that what is consider abuse by

management is clearly different from the opinion of personnel. How much time is earned and

allowed to accumulate is clearly defined by Personnel Board Rules as is when an employee is

required to have a Doctors excuse. Currently the department places an employee on an abusers

list when he or she uses more than the 112 hours in a year. Once on the list, according to

management the employee should not use more than 48 hours in a subsequent year to be

considered eligible for removal from that list. Personnel Board rules do not mention anything

regarding abuse and management has not made any efforts to let personnel know how they

intend to deal with the issue other than the “sick pay abusers list” and requirement of doctors

Sick Leave Abuse 41

excuses. A mutual understanding with clear lines of action may improve relations between

management and personnel as well as put all parties in alignment on the issue.

Secondly management needs to implement policies that clearly delineate abuse and how

it shall be monitored and managed.

Line personnel need to know the what, when, who, and how much as it relates to sick leave

concerns. It is the responsibility of management to distribute that information to the personnel in

the field. Failure on the part management to clearly produce information on what it considers

abuse and how they intend to monitor and manage said abuse issues only complicates the matter.

Personnel want to know where they stand in the matter and again this could improve relations

between the two groups. Currently there is no defined mechanism for getting one’s self removed

from the sick pay list. Also, when the question arises as to getting removed from the list there is

no clear answer as to the exact time frame for review of the abusers record.

Implementation of an annual training program.

Once the first two recommendations have been accomplished, it is suggested that an annual

training program be developed and instituted. The department has never provided such training

and it could prove beneficial to continually update personnel on current policy, changes, and

expectations. Providing personnel with information such as this would help to create a since of

ownership and put both management and labor on the same page regarding sick leave issues.

Consider adjustments to the current incentive plan.

The current plan allows for a pay out at retirement of all accumulated sick leave time and it

is paid at 75% of the rate at which it was earned. This is a fare and comparable plan however

there are others who would prefer earlier rewards. Yearly rewards for not using sick leave in the

previous year have been discussed, such as a free personal day or being allowed to buy days with

Sick Leave Abuse 42

accumulate time. Both are small impact incentives in relation to finance and staffing and would

have great effects on personnel morale. Both have associated cost, however the more the

department allows to be used early in an employee’s career, the less liability will be faced when

that employee is ready for retirement.

Consider changing the traditional sick leave to another form of leave such as paid time

off or earned time off.

The rules for sick leave and accumulation have been recognized as being regulated by the

Personnel Board, any change, such as this recommendation would require state legislative action

in order to create this change and it would possibly affect all employees who fall under the

authority of the Board not just MFRD employees. The recommendation is made due to the fact

that research revealed some departments and many private sector businesses use this type of

leave. It has advantages for the employer in that the payouts may be abolished or lessened. The

advantage for the employee is that a POT or EOT bank can be drawn from without regard for

sick leave excuses. The disadvantage is that when the time is used up, that’s it the employee may

go off the payroll.

The last and extremely important recommendation for the MFRD is to purchase and

implement use of a software program for personnel tracking, such as TeleStaff®.

Currently the department has no computerized system to track any form of personnel leave.

The current system is a paper staffing sheet used by line supervisors to account for staffing

needs. This is transferred to a not so user friendly computer program for processing. Line

supervisors are not able to track employee sick leave or any other type leave usage. A program

such as Telestaff will allow line supervisors, company officers and employees to track time

usage. With such a program the line supervisors would have a tool to properly assist them when

Sick Leave Abuse 43

dealing with sick leave issues. It would also be a tool for management to better track leave for

sick leave abusers and for developing prospective staffing and budget needs.

For future readers of this research, keep in mind that this research was specific for

this department as were many of the ARP’s cited in this paper. The issue of sick leave abuse or

excessive use of unscheduled leave appears to be a universal issue for both the fire service and

the private business sector. There are as many management and monitoring ideologies for

resolving the issue as there are papers written. Furthermore, there are many avenues of research

that can be spun off of the sick leave issue, such as sick leave use based on time in service, rank,

time of the year, paramedic vs. firefighter, etc., etc., and so. The author chose to focus on the

general topic of sick leave abuse within the MFRD. The gathered information and literature

reviewed was done so to establish a foundation to the purpose of this research and to assist with

resolving the research questions. The numerical information cannot be considered as without

flaw due to the possibility of human error. The MFRD does not use computer software for

personnel tracking and all information was deciphered by hand. When electing to embark on

such research, consider electronic material availability, calculating the needed information by

hand is quite time consuming. Also when developing and distributing external surveys consider

comparable departments, the use blind distribution can cause flaws in surveys due to department

sizes, lager vs. smaller.

Sick Leave Abuse 44

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Sick Leave Abuse 48

Appendix A

Sick Leave Abuse 49

Sick Leave Abuse 50

Appendix B

Survey Monkey External Survey 49 of 100 returned

1) What is the size of your department and does your department provide sick leave to employees? Less than 100 35 responses 71.4% 100 to 200 7 14.3% 201 to 300 2 4.1% 301 to 400 0 0% 401 to 500 1 2% More than 500 4 8.2% Provide sick leave 29 59.2% Another form of leave 18 36.7%

2) How many days of sick leave are earned by an employee per year? Open response.

47 of 49 answered this question and the responses ranged from zero to unlimited. The average was 7.2 days per year.

3) Howmuch leave can be accrued? Open response

48 responsed and again the range was zero to unlimited.

4) Does your department have a policy to control excessive sick leave usage? Also are your leave policies defined benfit plans or negotiated in contract? Control policies Yes 19 38.8% No 10 20.4% Defined benefits 7 14.3% Negotiated in contract 13 26.5%

Sick Leave Abuse 51

5) If yes to the previous question, is that policy disciplinarian, rewarding, or some form of both? 34 responsed to this question 15 skipped Disciplinary 12 35.3% Reward 5 14.7% Both 17 50%

6) What constitutes abuse in your department? Open question 43 reponded to this question and the range varied. More than forty eight hours was list by 43% of respondants.

7) Does your department have policies for unused time such as carry over, buy back, pay out, or use or lose it? Does have incentive policies. 42 85.7% Does not have such policies. 7 14.3%

8) Have your policies been successful in reducing leave abuse? Yes 14 30.4% No 11 23.9% Somewhat 21 45.7% Three did not respond to question.

9) Does your department use some type of personnel accounting program whereby you can easily track time usage? Example: TeleStaff. Yes 36 73.5% No 13 26.5%

10) Do you think leave abuse may exist within you own department? Yes 28 58.3% No 20 41.7% One did not respond to this question.

Sick Leave Abuse 52

Appendix C

Internal Survey Mobile Fire-Rescue Department

1) What is your current rank?

Chief 2 1% Captain 20 19% Driver 31 29% Firefighter 55 51%

2) Are you completely aware of the current MFRD and Mobile County Personnel Board

rules for the proper use of sick leave?

Yes 95 88% No 13 12%

3) Have you ever used sick leave for reasons other than its prescribed use?

Yes 69 64% No 39 36%

4) Do you know of anyone who has used sick leave for reasons other than its intended

purpose?

Yes 85 79% No 25 21%

5) Have you or others you know of come to work ill?

Yes 101 94% No 7 6%

6) Do you think the current incentive plan is agood reason to save sick leave?

Yes 71 66% No 37 34%

Sick Leave Abuse 53

7) If no to question 7, what incentives do you think could effectively help reduce sick leave abuse? Open question.

Answers like: raises, allow more time off, cash out yearly, and sick pay cannot be abused, “I earned it, it’s mine.”

8) Do you think minimum staffing should be maintained (4-man crews) or changed to allow

more people off in an effort to reduce sick leave abuse?

4-man minimum 97 90% Change 11 10%

9) Should companies be placed out of service to grant more leave request and possibly

decrease sick leave abuse?

Yes 0 0% No 108 100%

10) Would you consider a work schedule change to allow more days off?

Yes 33 30% No 75 70%

11) What would you consider sick leave abuse? Per/year

More than 24 hours. 0 0% 24 to 48 1 less than 1% 48 to 72 7 6% More than 72 hours. 14 13% More than 112 hours. 47 43% Other 44 41%

Sick Leave Abuse 54

Appendix D

Mobile Fire-Rescue Department Reduced Staffing Policy

Policy 1016

Sick Leave Abuse 55