By Mitch Hotts
The Macomb Daily, Mount Clemens, Mich.
STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. — In a move officials say will increase police visibility, Sterling Heights city officials and the labor union representing police officers have approved moving officers from a 10-hour day work day to 12-hour shifts four days a week.
The City Council last week approved a new three-year collective bargaining agreement with the Sterling Heights Police Officers Association that also includes double-digit pay increases, a boost in the officers’ Retirement Health Savings Plan, and an annual health assessment incentive.
City administrators said the contracts include “unprecedented” salary adjustments that are focused on ensuring Sterling Heights will offer competitive pay for recruitment and retention of the police labor force.
“It goes without saying we’ve had a very tough labor market in the last few years and staying competitive is a top priority,” City Manager Mark Vanderpool said at the Nov. 6 council meeting.
The contracts cover the years from July 2024 to June 2027.
Highlights include:
* Increases for the entry-level patrol officers, reduction in top step wages, and an “aggressive” formula that credits officers with prior law enforcement experience; a 10% increase for officers in the first year; in the last two years, hikes of $1.5% each year. Starting pay will be $65,000, according to the contract.
* Officers hired after July 1, 2006 will receive a $500 annual increase in the city’s contribution to their Retirement Health Savings accounts. Officers eligible for RHS contributions are either ineligible for retiree medical benefits or responsible for fifty percent (50%) of the city’s cost.
* A new benefit, the Annual Health Assessment Incentive, will provide union members with a financial incentive of $750 per member and $500 for the member’s spouse to take an annual physical and health risk assessment at the city’s on-site health center in an effort to lower overall healthcare claims through the city’s self-insured medical coverage.
Moving to a 12-hour shift for the patrol officers will allow the 161-officer department to have more officers available at the start of each shift, officials said in agenda materials.
Since the early 2000s, the work schedule has been four 10-hour shifts, creating three daily shifts totaling thirty 30 hours of coverage for what is only a 24-hour day. That schedule results in manpower gaps that has caused almost every law enforcement agency in southeastern Michigan to move to the 12-hour model.
For example, officials say, the department currently starts each of its three daily shifts with approximately 13 officers available. However, due to vacations, illness and injury or other reasons, it is not uncommon for five or more officers to be unavailable, forcing overtime to meet shift manpower minimums.
Patrol officers making the switch will work 84 hours per pay period, with the extra 4 hours paid out or carried as compensatory time.
Under the 12-hour shift, as many as 18 officers will be scheduled for the start of the shift, a number that can readily absorb officers being unavailable without the need to order overtime.
Mayor Pro Tem Liz Sierawski, who is employed as a director in home healthcare, staffing issues in the nursing industry are problematic similar to law enforcement as each is responsible for 24-hour services.
“In healthcare, the 12-hour shift has become the best practice to do for staffing,” she said.
Sierawski said the additional two hours to a shift can be difficult at first, but gives employees more time off. She urged the officers to have patience as they adapt to a new schedule.
Vanderpool said the only the patrol officers will be moving to the new 12-hour shift, while others will continue to work either a 10-hour shift or 8-hour shift.
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