The Communications Catastrophe

[Unregistered]

Originally Posted by Unregistered View Post
Except finance kept telling them they had money and then suddenly they didn't have money. So, who in finance screwed up?
AND THAT WAS DETERMINED TO BE A LIE!

Financial Oversight is the responsibility of every Departmental Head... you moron ... No one takes the work of someone when dealing with a multi-million dollar budget. You physically check and re-check, request spreadsheets and follow your own pre-established budget goals and objectives. But when you have an incompetent leader with NO Fiscal skills except sitting in a room to negotiate a contract...OH WELL..
At least we knew that Cindy Adamsky was smart and bright.. Kim Rubio knew her Shit and everyone knew that including Angie and Lisa!!! Even Kyle Berwick would have never allowed this to happen. But now that Communications have a Jack In The Box Administration, all of the holes are leaking and No Plugs can be found. Yes, I was One of the Ones Forced Out by these two incompetent assz wipes! But my friends still have to endure the strife of incompetence. I for one never posts but I do read and the horror stories I'm hearing are pathetic and shameful.

Signed

AH

[Unregistered]

Haven't seen it lately.

I think she's sick.

[Unregistered]

Neither Pusin nor Goldberg could right this problem... Pusin FAILED as Executive Director over his entire department causing him to be stripped of everything except Communications which as we all know is a major **** up. Goldberg, was promoted from the Jail up the Golden Staircase which has caused major issues in Detention, AND each Departmental move that he has been in since Israel Became Sheriff, as to why (Goldberg) was so rapidly propelled to his current position with no Job Skills -- same as Zarazinski. It's just that Goldberg was the Money Bag during the election campaigns. He has NO qualification to even get the Circus Clowns and Zoo Animals in formation for the Big Tent or Zoo Parade.

Candidate Willie Jones your input for the future is great. The NEEDS OF THIS DIVISION are Immediate and Now the citizens and employees are in DIRE STRAIGHTS FOR Action and Change. As the Broward County Committee meets this week regarding communications, some strange stares will occur at the table. Maybe the answer lies with Lisa Castillo at least we know that when she's given a task, It's Fully Implemented and Followed Through!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Big Tent Is In Town and The Circus Band Plays On!!!!!!!

They are circling the wagon. True, but who will be at the top?

[Unregistered]

The work of Broward County's 911 operators is as serious as a heart attack, a missing child or gunfire at a school. They hold lives in their hands. But by county officials' measurements, their performance isn't good enough.

The failures of Broward's 29-city system, one of the largest 911 emergency networks in America, have been laid on operators' shoulders. They've been blamed for dangerous errors, castigated for being ignorant of local geography, and told they failed to meet call-answering standards every single month since the county took over the 911 system last October.

After months in the spotlight, operators are stung by what they term unfair criticism and unreasonable expectations. They complain they don't have the training, staffing and equipment they need. Because of budget woes, they've been required under a deal approved by their union to accept comp time instead of cash for some of their mandatory overtime, as well.

"And then to be told we're not making stats,'' said longtime dispatcher Jody Hagar, "it's like being beaten every day when you come to work.''

Administrators at the call center and at the county said they acknowledge the call takers, who have handled 1.6 million calls already this year, are under even more pressure than a typical dispatcher. Call-takers had to learn new software, the layout of cities they'd never worked in, and take on more calls than ever before.

But Rick Carpani, who heads the county's dispatch system, said the higher scrutiny and standards are yielding results.

"I believe any time you go into a new situation or different situation,'' Carpani said, "you're going to have a higher level of stress.''

The transition from eight city-operated call centers to three — in Sunrise, Pembroke Pines and Coconut Creek — has been a rocky one, and troubles abide. Only Coral Springs and Plantation refused to join.
The system's No. 1 goal was to field all 911 calls without having to transfer callers to a different dispatch center. The problem was prevalent because cellular phone signals can bounce off a nearby tower and send the call into another city's dispatch center.

Though the system is meeting that goal, and call transfers have been dramatically reduced, the county has focused intensely on its failures.

Calls aren't always being answered quickly enough during the busiest hours, the budget is bursting, and management is lacking, according to the county's head of the system, Rick Carpani. A consultant is expected to be hired soon to sleuth out what's wrong.

Records show call takers for the Broward Sheriff's Office's 911 system have failed to meet the call-answering- time standards nearly every month since all cities came on board on October.

The county owns and pays for the system but hired the Broward Sheriff's Office to operate it. As troubles continue, a schism between the county and the sheriff's office is widening. Sheriff's dispatch system managers worry the county will terminate the contract and hire someone else.

"They don't want to see us succeed,'' said Lisa Zarazinski, the sheriff's director of regional communications. "No success has been documented by the county."

Zarazinski said the call-takers aren't used to the higher accountability, the tracking of every minute they spend off their phones, the detailed reports about their performance and productivity.

A call-taker in a small city like Margate or Coconut Creek may have processed five calls an hour, she said. At the new call center, they might handle 20 to 25 in an hour. "The workload itself they have a hard time managing,'' she said. "We noticed that when we brought them in.''

Call-takers described feeling depressed, anxious, stressed out, overwhelmed.

"We're all going to crash and burn," one operator said of grueling, 60-hour work weeks for many.
Probably the real shocker is....no one ever retires out of that position after 30 yr's or age 60, they get a foot in the door, dispatch then find out that there are other positions, clerk, secrEtary, technician jobs of all sorts that pay the same or more and less stress.

"Sometimes you get off this radio,'' Hagar said, "and you feel like you got hit by a bus.''

At the busy central dispatch center in Sunrise on a typical Thursday this month, the room hums with the sound of operators soothing frantic callers and dispatchers guiding help to them.
Hagar directs fire and police units to emergencies. She watches three screens and manages two mouse devices.

Hagar, who was pulled from a quality assurance team to work the phones because of staffing shortages, was simultaneously monitoring nine situations.

[Unregistered]

May an employee receive compensatory time off in lieu of overtime pay for attending an extended training session or course?

No. By law, compensatory time off may be approved instead of overtime pay for irregular or occasional (unscheduled) overtime hours of work. See 5 U.S.C. 5543(a). If an employee is scheduled in advance of his or her administrative workweek (i.e., regularly scheduled) to attend an extended training course, such training would not be irregular or occasional (unscheduled) overtime hours. Therefore, the employee may not receive compensatory time off instead of overtime pay for the extended training hours.

[Unregistered]

Some employers adopt a policy of giving their employees compensatory, or "comp," time -- an hour off at some later date for every extra hour worked -- instead of paying them overtime. But these policies are generally illegal under federal law, at least for private employers (state and local governments can offer comp time, in certain circumstances). The reason? They preclude employees from collecting an overtime premium -- the extra pay to which they are entitled for working more than a set number of hours. (For more information on overtime, see Nolo's article When Must Employers Pay Overtime?)

This means that if you wish to give your employees time off instead of money for extra hours worked, you cannot simply establish an hour-for-hour policy (that is, letting the employee take an hour off for every hour of overtime worked).
Alternatives to Overtime

So what are the alternatives to simply paying the employee overtime? You may be able to rearrange an employee's schedule during a workweek to ensure that the employee does not work overtime. Under federal law, an employee who works no more than 40 hours in a week has not worked overtime and is not entitled to overtime pay. So, for example, an employee who works four 10-hour days and then has three days off need not be paid overtime.

If your state has a daily overtime standard, this may not be possible unless the law explicitly allows you and your employees to agree on an alternative workweek. A daily overtime standard means that workers are entitled to overtime if they work more than a set number of hours in a day, even if they ultimately work fewer than 40 hours in a week. California and Colorado are among the states that have a daily overtime standard. To find out the rules in your state, contact your state labor department; you can find links at the federal Department of Labor's website, here.

You can also adjust an employee's hours during a pay period so that the amount of the employee's paycheck remains constant. To make this work, the employee must take an hour-and-a-half off for every extra hour worked. For example, if an employee who usually earns $1,600 every two weeks (or $20 an hour) works an extra 10 hours during the first week of the pay period, the employee is entitled to $300 in overtime pay -- 10 hours multiplied by one-and-a-half times the employee's hourly rate, or $30. If the employee took 15 hours off in the second week of the pay period, however, his or her paycheck would remain the same -- the employee would receive $300 in overtime pay, but would be docked $300 (15 hours multiplied by $20 an hour) for the time not worked. While you'll have less of the employee's time, it will help keep costs down.

[Unregistered]

Fact Sheet #27:
This fact sheet is directed to new businesses covered by the provisions of the FLSA.

Coverage

Enterprise coverage refers to those businesses with a gross annual dollar volume of sales made or business done of $500,000 or more.

Even if a business is not a covered enterprise, many employees will be covered by the FLSA on an individual basis. Individual coverage applies to all employees who are engaged in interstate commerce or the production of goods for such commerce. Covered employees include persons who produce, receive, ship, transport or load goods that are moving in interstate commerce, as well as those who prepare, handle or transmit information or documents in interstate commerce, such as credit card transactions. Other persons such as guards, janitors and maintenance employees who perform duties which are closely related and directly essential to such interstate activities are also covered by the FLSA.

Requirements

Employees who are covered by the FLSA are entitled to be paid at least the Federal minimum wage as well as time and one-half their regular rates of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek. There are also youth employment provisions regulating the employment of anyone under the age of 18 in covered work, as well as recordkeeping requirements.

Youth Minimum Wage: The 1996 Amendments to the FLSA allow employers to pay a youth minimum wage of not less than $4.25 an hour to employees who are under 20 years of age during the first 90 consecutive calendar days after initial employment by their employer. The law contains certain protections for employees that prohibit employers from displacing any employee in order to hire someone at the youth minimum wage.

Covered employees must be paid for all hours worked in a workweek. In general, compensable hours worked include all time an employee is on duty or at a prescribed place of work and any time an employee is suffered or permitted to work. This would generally include work performed at home, travel time, waiting time, training and probationary periods.

There may be employees of a covered business who are exempt from the minimum wage and/or overtime provisions of the FLSA. Bona fide executive, administrative, professional (including certain computer professionals), and outside sales employees are exempt from both the minimum wage and overtime provisions, if all tests for the exemption are met. Additional employees may be excluded from minimum wage or overtime pay provisions as defined by other specific exemptions.

Typical Problems

There are common problems and misconceptions which Wage and Hour investigations frequently disclose. These include:

The misapplication of the executive or administrative exemption to non-exempt "salaried" persons such as clerical workers, working foremen, dispatchers, and inside salespersons.
Employment of underage minors in prohibited duties and/or beyond permitted hours.
Failure to pay overtime to non-exempt salaried employees.
Failure to pay employees for all hours suffered or permitted to work, including time spent taking inventory, cleaning up, completing paperwork, etc., beyond the normal work schedule.
Failure to maintain records on non-exempt salaried or piece rate employees.
Granting compensatory time off in lieu of overtime pay.
Considering certain employees to be "contract labor" or independent contractors and thus treating them as not covered by the FLSA's provisions.
Illegal deductions or kickbacks for shortages, uniforms, errors, bad checks, etc., which reduce an employee's pay below the applicable minimum wage or required overtime pay.
Failure to pay minimum wage and overtime to part time employees.

[Unregistered]

Good Afternoon,

I would like to take this opportunity to explain some of the events that
have taken place in the last two weeks. Most of you have received, or
should have received, a previous email from me outlining the issues that BSO
is experiencing with the ORCAT and the repercussions that could result of
our not meeting or coming close to meeting our budget for this fiscal year.


During Open House discussions, we were given a long and detailed overview
of what has gone on during the last year of transition and what will be
happening in the future as we continue to improve and move closer to making
regionalization what it was outlined to be. EVERYONE has done an incredible
job during this whole process. Because ORCAT does not chose to recognize
that does not mean that everyone who has worked so hard to make this a
success in the most trying conditions does not recognize the sacrifice that
ALL of you have made for this cause. Thank you is not enough I know, but
please know that every day I am trying to move this forward and get you the
recognition you so deserve. I have personally met with four of the nine
commissioners and have appointments for the remaining commissioners in the
next two weeks. They are hearing your voice. The feedback has been very
positive. I also met with the FLPD FOP on Thursday, and they too have
offered their support. Please know that we are turning a corner in this
endeavor and though it might be a small one now it is a big step in moving
forward.

After Open House concluded we spoke to the members that remained and
discussed what their opinion would be, based on the information that they
were given about helping BSO with meeting the budget. It was informal. Out
of the 40 or so employees that were left, barring a few, all raised their
hands to say they would support the effort. The terms that were conveyed at
the time were overtime would be paid at 50 pay and 50 comp time.

Let me explain the time frames involved. If you would have voted no or I
would have told BSO that we do not support this change to the contract, BSO
could have went ahead and implemented the change because of the
Communications Budget. In turn, I would have filed a grievance based on a
violation of the CBA. Article 3 says that we have 15 days to file and they
have 15 days to respond. There is a month. If there is no resolution, there
is another 15 day period that it would be sent to the Sheriff. He has
another 15 days to respond. Two months. If there is still no resolution 15
days to file for arbitration. Then you have to agree on an arbitrator.
Then all parties need to find a common date that it can be held. When you
finally agree on a date, you have the arbitration, then the arbitrator gets
60 days to respond. Some will take the entire time. So, lets recap, two and
a half months just to get to pick an arbitrator. However long that might
take back and forth and then an agreeable date, so for arguments sake
another month. That's three and a half months. Then you go to arbitration
and she takes another two months. So basically we would be looking at
around SIX months that this practice could have been going on. And here is
the best part, the remedy would more than likely be ...pay them for the time
they banked.

As you can see by the attached Memo of Understanding, there is a specific
time frame. August 8, 2015 through October 2, 2015. 4.8 pay periods.
There is a resolution. Any time that you banked during this time frame YOU
WILL BE ENTITLED TO GET PAID FOR up until December 31, 2015. Two months, as
opposed to, best case scenario six months.

That is why I made the decision to allow the practice. In the end the
result would have been the same, the County cannot give us another negative
rating, and it was in writing that you would receive compensation, if you
choose, for the comp time in writing so there would not have to be any type
question in your mind as to whether you would or not.

I made the best decision with what I knew to be true at the time. BSO was
very eager to come to the best terms for the employees involved. They were
more than willing to sit down and discuss this and come to a resolution.
Something that might not have been so easy to do in the past. It was an
unfortunate situation. This is not the first time that BSO has asked
employees and unions to work together during an end of the year budget
crisis. Department of detention has shut down posts. Communications was
asked not to take time off for two months.

I hope this MOU gives you some peace in knowing that you will receive your
money. I hope that you have a better understanding of the situation as it
has unfolded.

I will continue to work to move us forward. I will continue to fight for
you on every level that I can.

If you have any questions or issues that you would like to speak to me
about...please email or call me anytime.

THE MOU WILL HAVE ALL SIGNATURES TODAY.....THIS IS THE AGREED UPON LANGUAGE
BY BOTH BSO AND UNION ATTORNEYS....

In Solidarity,

This MOU is illegal. Here is the complaint hotline to the U.S. Department of Labor:

Wage and Hour Division
http://www.wagehour.dol.gov

Call the information and hotline: 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243).

[Unregistered]

To mention training is a joke especially training admin. Meagan and her staff are a joke, how can you train me when you say you don't know geography nor can you keep Information updated. Ha ha heels and hoes along with QI Tims team dumb as hell along with Deidres team THEY ALL NEED TO TAKE AN IQ TEST.... I say again heels and hoes.....but I forgot don't touch the peeps in admin they are the golden children given positions of promise and then get on Facebook show pics of them having good a good time drinking at happy hour when we are at work working overtime they refuse to. Thanks Angie

It has always been not what you know but who you blow. This goes on from HR on. They don't want people with high IQs due to the fact they will figure out what is going on and try to make changes. If you score very high on the IQ test part of the psych test and you can forget getting hired. You are deemed a threat to them. That is why you see many not so bright people especially females be it in communications or elsewhere at BSO.

[Unregistered]

I don't know what is going on in communications personnel but the radio reception is the worst I've seen it in 18 years!! Most of my coworkers can't hear dispatch through all that static and we can't even transmit 10% of the time. What happened to all these new radios we bought and are buying?? I see all the command staff with them but road patrol gets nothing.