when does your day start?

I am curious about something. How do you count your 8 hour day? Does the 8 hours start when you get in the car? What if you drive from home to the office? Is that part of your 8?

When I go 10-8 from the driveway, if I am suppose to render aid along the way to the office or to the first insepction, then you can bet your ass I am on the clock.

Officially, the department doesn't count your time until you get to the office, unless you actually do some work along the way, then you can count the whole transit time from home to work. It's about the stupidest policy I've ever seen, but basically you are required to render aid if you see something while driving the state car. However, unless you actually stop to render aid, your drive time doesn't count. Some agents get around this by doing an inspection on the way to and from work every day. Most just lie on their timecards and pretend they do inspections on the way to or from work. The rest work for supervisors with sticks stuck up their butt who feel the need to micromanage their employees and actually double check things like that, so those guys are just screwed and don't count their time until they get to work.

Of course there is the whole question of lunch breaks, too, and whether or not they count. That's a whole 'nother topic, but I will let one of the Jax agents tackle that one

12:01 AM

Don't forget your time counts when going to or from training.

Last time I read the policy, it said you were 10-8 when in the state vehicle. I tell ya what, next time you go 10-8 just think about a case you are working. Now you are actually doing some work!!!!

You are 10-8 when in a state vehicle. However, you aren't "on the clock". Its a contradictory policy. Its asinine, but thats how the state does things. You have to call 10-8 on the radio in case anything happens when driving to the office. However, if nothing actually happens and you make it into the office without event, then you don't get paid for the trip. According to the chief anyway. The reality is half the supervisors in the state have their own opinions on how this works and there's a wide variety of ways different offices handle it (no pay till you get to the office, pay from when you leave the house, pay when you leave the house but you have to do an inspection on the way in, etc). That's the biggest overall problem with this agency: the non-uniform way that different offices across the state deal with the same issue.

I thought the huge investment of money, time and training under the guise of accredidation was supposed to correct these little policy issues.

I can't speak for anyone but myself and I wouldn't presume to do so. With that said, I assure you that I whole heartedly without fail everyday, evening and night when I am 10-8, I am always looking for an underage smoker, underage drinker or a AB beverage delivery truck without a permit. Granted, it is unlikely this is occurring in my neighborhood when I call 10-8, but as soon as I travel the 300 ft to the stop sign, my day begins. Others may do it different, but this is what I do and i don't see a problem with it because I am actively searching for violations therefore I am 10-8.

Besides, who the hell goes to the office everyday?

I can't speak for anyone but myself and I wouldn't presume to do so. With that said, I assure you that I whole heartedly without fail everyday, evening and night when I am 10-8, I am always looking for an underage smoker, underage drinker or a AB beverage delivery truck without a permit. Granted, it is unlikely this is occurring in my neighborhood when I call 10-8, but as soon as I travel the 300 ft to the stop sign, my day begins. Others may do it different, but this is what I do and i don't see a problem with it because I am actively searching for violations therefore I am 10-8.

Besides, who the hell goes to the office everyday?

NObody in my office including the lt.