On the Internet, if you search mandatory overtime, you get a lot of different websites on states that have either limited, restricted, or banned mandatory overtime for health care workers such as nurses. While nurses are very important to everyday life, what about Public Safety? Public safety whether its Local, State, or Federal, shouldn't the Mandatory overtime laws passed for health care workers be equivalent for Public Safety personnel?

The term "Public Safety" refers to Police Officers, Corrections Officers, Fire Rescue personnel, and EMS personnel.

Mandatory overtime contributes to poor quality work performance because of fatigue which results from excessive overtime, thus increases the likelihood of errors. According to a study conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Division of Biomedical and Behavioral Science, when employees plan to work additional shifts on a volunteer basis, they are more likely to get plenty of rest immediately prior to working the extended shift. However, when overtime is mandated by an employer, this occurs with little or no prior notice. The result is high levels of fatigue and increased errors made on the job.

In the Law Enforcement field Correctional Officers (CO’s)

• Have the second highest mortality rate of any occupation.
• Assaults in prisons and jails are committed by inmates against staff 33.5% of the time.
• A CO’s 58th birthday, on average, is their last.
• A CO will be seriously assaulted at least twice in a 20 year career.
• On average a CO will live only 18 months after retirement.
• CO’s have a 39% higher suicide rate than any other occupation, and
• Have a higher divorce and substance abuse rates then the general population.

Public Safety personnel recognize that stress is part of the profession and working conditions. Adding "forced overtime" or mandatory overtime to an already high stressed job, just multiplies error at a greater rate. The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) identifies fatigue as the number-one safety problem in transportation operations, costing more than $12 billion a year. Sleepy drivers are as much a danger as alcohol-impaired drivers, says the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Two recent Australian studies, demonstrate that being awake for 18 hours produces impairment equal to a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.05 percent and 0.1 percent after 24 hours; 0.08 percent is considered legally drunk. Using mandatory overtime greatly increases injuries on the workplace therefore costing employers hundreds, thousands, and even millions of dollars depending on the number of employees.

A 2012 study on police officer fatigue revealed the following alarming facts (Basińska & Wiciak, 2012). Fatigued officers:

• Use more sick time
• Have difficulty managing successful personal relationships.
• Have time management issues (reporting for duty on time).
• Make mistakes on departmental and court paperwork.
• Tend to sleep on duty (often due to rotating shiftwork).
• Generate higher rates of citizen complaints for reported misconduct.
• Tend to have problems communicating with supervisors and have stressful relationships with superiors.
• Have problems testiying in court regarding being prepared.
• Experience more accidental injuries on duty.
• Early retirement (often due to burnout).
• Are at a higher risk of being seriously injured or killed because of lack of focus and not recognizing danger signs.

The research tells us that chronic fatigue affects the mental and physical health of police officers (Basińska & Wiciak, 2012; Senjo, 2011). Fatigued officers:

• Have impaired judgment.
• Experience weight gain or unhealthy weight loss.
• Show an increase in and presence of severe mood swings.
• Demonstrate impaired eye-hand coordination.
• Have increased anxiety or depression.
• Have increased change of substance-abuse addiction.
• Show increased gastrointestinal problems (loss of appetite and/or stomach ulcers).
• Have increased reports of back pain and frequent headaches.
• Have increased chance of PTSD.
• Demonstrate inappropriate reactions to a situation (excessive use of force).
• Show increased risk of serious health problems such as diabetes or cardiovascular disease.

Mandatory overtime is a concern because it could require a fatigued law enforcement officer to provide public safety duties carelessly, thereby increasing the officer’s risk of making an error. In addition to mandatory overtime in Public Safety, the 12 hour shifts plus overtime does not give adequate time for officers to “unwind”, change gears, and enjoy their time off away from their duties. Mandatory overtime interferes with officers’ work-life balance and general industry satisfaction as reasons for the prohibition of overtime work. The new law would not specify a number of hours for a shift and addresses only involuntary overtime. For example, a 15-hour shift on one day, but not another, may be suitable, depending on work load.

Specifically, this new law should prohibit a law enforcement agency from requiring an officer to work mandatory overtime, authorizes an officer to refuse to work mandatory overtime, and clarifies that an officer is not prohibited from volunteering to work overtime. Further, an agency may not use on-call time as a substitute for mandatory overtime. The Public Safety agency is solely responsible of scheduling and staffing needs.

The prohibition against requiring an officer to work mandatory overtime has four exceptions:

(1) A crisis situation or natural disaster that unexpectedly affects the county in which the officer is employed and which increases the need for public safety personnel;

(2) A federal, state, or county declaration of emergency in the county in which the officer is employed;

(3) irregular emergencies or unforeseen events that increase the need for public safety personnel to provide safe care for the citizens in which the officer is employed and which could not prudently be anticipated by the public safety agency; or

(4) If the officer is actively engaged in an ongoing emergency situation and the continued presence of the officer through the completion of the emergency situation is necessary to ensure the health and safety of the emergent situation.

For the exception applying to irregular emergencies or unforeseen events, public safety agencies must engage in good faith efforts to meet staffing needs through voluntary overtime, including calling per diems (if available) or requesting an additional day of work from off-duty employees. Significantly, Public Safety agencies are prohibited from suspending, terminating, or otherwise disciplining or discriminating against an officer who refuses to work overtime.

Hopefully this petition will reduce the errors, injuries on the job, and costly workers comp costs and increase productivity and excellent Public Safety service.