The City of Lakewood does hereby provide that the specific terms and conditions of employment for Paramedics and Paramedic Supervisors shall be as follows:
(a) Definitions. For purposes of the following provisions:
(1) Both Paramedics and Paramedic Supervisors, shall be referred to as “Paramedics”. “Firefighter Paramedic” shall not be governed by this Section.
(2) “Paramedic” shall be defined as a member of the City of Lakewood, Division of Fire whose position description and related job duties have been approved by the Civil Service Commission.
(3) “Tour” shall be defined as a twenty-four hour scheduled period of work.
(4) “Work week” shall be defined as a seven day period, beginning Sunday to Saturday.
(5) Averaged annual salary shall consist of “regular time” and “scheduled overtime” only.
(6) “Regular time” shall be defined as an average forty hour work week.
(7) “Scheduled overtime” shall be defined as the additional 10.4 hours scheduled constituting the remainder of the 50.4 hour average work week.
(8) “Extra overtime” shall be defined as hours worked as a result of being called back to work, held over from previous shift, or required to work any unscheduled hours.
(b) Vacations for Paramedics.
(1) Vacations for all full time Paramedics shall be earned in one calendar year and taken in a subsequent year.
(2) Probationary employees shall not be credited with vacation time during their probationary period, but shall receive credit upon expiration of their probationary period for all time spent as a probationary employee. Vacation time earned during the calendar year of 1999 shall be pro-rated according to the table below.
(3) Beginning in the calendar year 2000, a paramedic who has completed at least three months of service with the City of Lakewood, may use earned and accrued vacation from the previous calendar year subject to the approval of the Fire Chief.
(4) All full time Paramedics who have completed one full year of service as a full-time Paramedic with Lakewood Hospital Association (since its separation from the City in 1986) shall be entitled to credit for this service. The rate of prior service shall be factored on the basis of a 2:1 ratio, that is, for every two full years of service with Lakewood Hospital, the employee shall have one full year of credit.
(5) All full time Paramedics who have completed one full year of service or more as a member of the Division of Fire, shall, as of December 31st of any given year, be entitled to vacation in a subsequent year based on the following schedule:
YEARS OF SERVICE | VACATION TOURS |
1 through 7 | 5 |
8 through 13 | 7.5 |
14 through 19 | 10 |
20 through 24 | 12 |
25 plus | 12.5 |
(6) Accrued vacation time shall be used in the year following the year it is earned. If the vacation time is not so used, it shall be forfeited.
(c) Sick Time Accrual For Paramedics. All full time Paramedics shall accrue sick time at a rate of 16 hours per calendar month of accumulated services; however, no Paramedic shall be allowed to accumulate more than 1600 hours. Paramedics shall be entitled to sick leave credit on the first of each month following the date of employment. Sick leave will not be available to be used during the first three (3) months of employment with the City of Lakewood.
(d) Hours of Work for Paramedics. The work week shall consist of an average of 50.4 hours each week as averaged over the course of a calendar year. These shall consist of “regular time” and “scheduled overtime” to be paid at a rate determined by the Director of Public Safety. Additional hours worked will be considered “extra overtime” and will be paid at a rate equal to the averaged annual salary divided by 2080 multiplied by 1.5.
(e) Funeral Leave for Paramedics.
(1) If a death occurs within the Paramedic’s family, the Paramedic shall be granted funeral leave, without loss of pay, benefits, holidays or vacation time, in accordance with the following schedule: (calendar days taken off must be consecutive and include the day of the funeral).
A. Spouse, son, daughter, step-children, 10 calendar
mother, father, step-parents days
B. Brother, sister, father-in-law, mother-in- 3 calendar
law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, grand- days
parents, grandparents-in-law, grandson,
granddaughter, brother or sister-in-law
(2) Funeral leave may be extended at the discretion of the Chief of Fire based on individual circumstances. Such extra time will be utilized out of the employee’s sick or vacation time.
(f) Holidays for Paramedics. Paramedics shall be granted eleven holidays to include New Year’s Day, President’s Day, Good Friday, Easter, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, plus one twenty-four hour off-duty period to be classified as a personal business day provided the Paramedic works a full year in which the holidays occur. These holidays shall be granted in the form of five and one-half twenty-four hour off-duty periods to compensate employees for holidays actually worked. Paramedics who work the actual holiday shall be paid at the regular rate and shall also receive “premium pay” which shall accrue at one-half hour for each hour worked. Holiday time must be taken during the year in which it is earned.
(g) Uniform Allowance for Paramedics. Newly hired Paramedics shall receive (within sixty days of hire) a stipend in the amount of two hundred dollars ($200.00) for uniform maintenance. Upon successful completion of the required probationary period, the Paramedic shall receive an additional two hundred dollars ($200.00). Thereafter, Paramedics shall receive a uniform maintenance of two hundred dollars ($200.00) on March 31st and on September 30th of each year.
(h) Surviving Paramedic Spouse Benefits. In the event that a Paramedic is killed in the line of duty, the surviving spouse or estate of the Paramedic shall be compensated in an amount equal to the salary they would have earned as a Paramedic in the Division of Fire. The benefit shall be paid for a maximum of thirty-six months from the date of death or until such time as a surviving spouse remarries, whichever comes first.
(i) Probation. Each Paramedic who has previously served a term of employment in excess of two years at Lakewood Hospital shall serve a six month period of probation. Otherwise, the term of probation shall be one year.
(j) Hospitalization Coverage. For purposes of hospitalization coverage, the sixty day continuous service requirement found in Section 149.15 is hereby waived. Hospitalization coverage will commence upon date of hire.
(Ord. 30-99. Passed 7-19-1999.)