Negotiate solutions to staffing woes

The city has embarked on a promising solution for its immediate staffing shortage in the Emergency Medical Services Division, one that should be explored for shift work in more government settings.

The idea now at the center of contract negotiations with officials of the United Public Workers — substituting 12-hour shifts for the traditional 8-hour work day — is hardly a new concept. But it’s increasingly catching on in various workforce settings, including manufacturers working on government contracts and full-time government employees accustomed to around-the-clock scheduling, such as police and hospital workers.

The hope among city officials is that a pilot project to convert most of its shifts for division employees will reduce the amount of overtime they have to work and increase job satisfaction. About 30 of the emergency-service positions are vacant, which has until now compelled a lot of double shifts with overtime. It should be easier to cover the service schedule with fewer people and less overtime if they are working 12-hour shifts.

Many of the employees who’ve transitioned to the longer shifts — scheduled over three- or four-day work weeks — like the change, which affords them more free days for rest or other pursuits.

A successful experiment with the paramedics and emergency medical technicians could serve as a model for other agencies to follow.

One of these could be the state Department of Public Safety, which has its own problems with staff shortages among its adult corrections officers (ACOs). Department staff told the Star-Advertiser that the idea of 12-hour shifts for ACOs has been contemplated in the past but never was formally broached with the union.

The concern was that there still would be employees calling in sick and the need for double shifts and overtime, officials said, but added that they are watching the emergency services pilot project with interest and could put such a proposal on the table.

That’s encouraging, because opening the contract to negotiate such a change offers an opportunity to revisit other elements of the contract that could be improved. For example: This department is one agency that needs to adopt more stringent oversight on the use of sick leave, which has in recent months worsened the staffing shortage, forcing the cancellation of services that require ACO supervision — family visits for prisoners, for example.

The administration of Gov. Neil Abercrombie has placed a priority on bringing its prison population back to Hawaii, where family ties can be maintained and inmates at the end of their sentences can thus rejoin the community with fewer adjustment problems. But in order to enable this laudable goal, correcting all issues related to the staffing shortfalls at the prisons should be at the top of the priority list.

Other steps must be taken to reduce staffing shortages, of course, and these city and state agencies are in the midst of adding new staff. That may complicate work scheduling in the near term, because new hires need shorter shifts at first while they’re in training. In other jurisdictions, negotiations for 12-hour shifts have required agreements enabling management to reduce 12-hour shifts for training purposes.

Just to cite one out-of-state example: A contract for campus police officers in Minnesota was opened for modifications relating to its new 12-hour shifts, and the memorandum of agreement drawn up addressed this issue among others, such as the rate of pay for hours worked beyond the regular shift.

Workers on longer shifts will require monitoring to ensure that they are functioning up to standard, and that they have enough recovery time. There is much research that offers recommendations on the optimal scheduling patterns.

Let’s hope UPW and the city are indeed close to a settlement on the pilot project. This agreement will take some tweaking to get it right, but the goal of more satisfied workers and more efficient operations is worth the effort.