Jan. 11—FAIRMONT — The City of Fairmont and its police union agreed to overhauled overtime rules in their new contract, which is due to be approved by City Council on Tuesday.
In a collective statement approved by both the City and Lodge 69 of the Fraternal Order of Police, both groups explained the goal of the changes is to encourage officers to pick up overtime shifts and make the process more fair all around.
“Currently, if an officer signs up to take an overtime shift of his or her own volition, that officer will not receive the Short Turn Around Overtime pay,” the statement reads. “Officers only receive this pay if they are mandated to take an understaffed shift. This change allows for this short turn around pay to be given to officers who sign up with a supervisor to take a shift that falls within the parameters listed in the agreement.”
City of Fairmont Communications Manager David Kirk said the City and Union’s negotiation policy limits public statements regarding the contract to joint statements signed off by both parties. Both groups were willing to receive written questions and then jointly approve draft responses.
The new contract is set to run through 2029. A primary focus of the contract change has to do with rules that govern how short turn around overtime is paid out.
The new rules allow officers a rest period of 10 hours between one day’s shift — including overtime hours — and their return to work for the next scheduled shift. If the rest period is less than 10 hours, the officer will be paid at time and a half. The contract also covers various scheduling situations that may arise from short turn around times, and provides clarification on how those periods will be compensated.
The contract also places a hard limit on how much short turn around time the Police Department can accrue in a year. It’s capped to no more than $25,000. If the department collects more than that, the contract calls the modifications to the contract null and void and the language reverts to its 2020 version. While neither the City nor Union provided an exact number for how many hours of overtime officers typically work, they did provide the following.
“Most officers end a pay period with some amount of overtime,” the statement reads. “[Overtime] varies from officer to officer, with some working a few extra hours and others taking multiple extra shifts.”
The hard cap also takes inflation into account. The contract stipulates the threshold will be adjusted to reflect any changes to base pay increases for and after 2025.
The statement from the City and Union says the rule changes don’t affect traditional overtime and officers still collect overtime as usual if they work above their 40 hours a week.
The City has 33 out of 36 budgeted positions filled, according to the statement.
In March, Fairmont Police Chief Steve Shine agreed to reduce the number of budgeted positions from 39 to 36, in order to secure a raise for his officers. Shine also commented at the time on the difficulty of maintaining the City’s officers at 39. Shine has also commented in the past how a national police officer shortage has affected Fairmont as well, at times stretching the department thin. In 2022, Shine told another news outlet dividing 23,000 calls between 30 officers was tough. Fairmont’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget included raises for the department, in an attempt to make pay more competitive and improve recruitment and retention.
The new contract also increases a lunch allowance from $15 to $20, reflecting the increased cost of food due to inflation. The City will also endeavor to keep its staffing at three officers per shift.
“Three officers is the number that we’ve observed offers the minimum coverage without stretching our force too thin,” the statement reads. “Currently, this is a policy that is implemented by the department leadership, but it was in the best interest of all parties to enshrine this policy in this agreement.”
The contract also increases the number of Police Lieutenants from two to seven. The statement said the department is in the midst of an internal rank restructure. The purpose of the restructure is to allow for promotion in order to improve retention and positive career outcomes. The current rank structure doesn’t make that easy.
The contract also allows officers to carry over three personal days to the next year. Currently, no personal days are allowed to carry over. Another new thing is collective incentive to pass physical exams. The contract offers an additional $20 per month to department employees who pass a physical fitness test with standards set by the West Virginia Police Academy. If half the department passes the test the previous fiscal year, the allowance increases to $40 per month.
The contract also changes the uniform policy. The City will stop replacing worn or damaged outer uniform clothing and instead give employees in uniform an allowance of $1,000 a year for uniforms. Non-uniformed employees will receive up to $1,200 per year. The City is also throwing in an additional $30 allowance for cleaning every two weeks.
The City doesn’t expect the contract to negatively impact the City’s budget.
“From our internal calculations, these changes mentioned above will prove negligible in cost and fall well within our current budgets,” the joint statement said. “Many of the larger costs associated with this agreement will take time to implement and will fall under the new City budget that is currently being worked on and — pending Council approval — will take effect July 1, 2025.”
Reach Esteban at efernandez@timeswv.com