Effective: 07-07-24
Supersedes: 04-04-24
Purpose: To define our expectations for reliable attendance and punctuality and to define excessive or abusive sick use. Employees eligible for overtime pay (non-exempt) must maintain a record of the actual hours worked each day. Brewster Ambulance Service utilizes TraumaSoft, a scheduling software that is fully integrated with Fleet Management, ePCR, and Payroll Applications. The time recorded must accurately reflect all regular and overtime hours worked, any absences, and (if uncompensated) any meal breaks. At the end of each week, the employee should review and approve their timecard.
Policy: Employees are expected to arrive at work for all assigned shifts on-time, in proper uniform and prepared to complete all requirements of their job. An employee will not leave their assigned shift or abandon their duties until properly relieved.
Team members assigned to the Communications Section, Scheduling, Field Supervisors, and Managers have increased access within the system to reassign personnel or assign certain payroll codes due to their work duties and responsibilities. This access is intended strictly for legitimate work purposes only, and under no circumstances should the increased access be used to circumvent the normal chain of command for one’s own benefit or convenience. All requests for time off, schedule changes, or overtime must still be requested and approved per established policy prior to entering in the system.
Definition(s):
Dedicated Vehicle refers to any vehicle assigned to cover a particular municipality’s emergency responses, affiliated hospital’s specialty contracted services, Mobile Integrated Health (MIH) units, or units assigned to a major incident.
Inadequate Notice refers to both tardiness and absenteeism. As stated in this policy, Brewster and EasCare Ambulance Service require at least a two (2) hours’ notice for absences and at least (30) minute notice for tardiness.
Late Assignment refers to an employee being assigned a call(s) or other work assignment near the conclusion of an employee’s scheduled shift or assigning a call(s) or other work assignments that are expected to require an employee to work beyond their scheduled shift.
No-Call / No-Show refers to an employee who fails to provide notice of an impending absence and fails to appear for work, or an employee calls out for a shift after said shift has begun. In these cases, the employee is considered to be a No- Call / No-Show for disciplinary purposes. Discipline related to a No-Call / No-Show shall run concurrently with any other discipline related to the Inadequate Notice and Absence for the missed Shift.
Non-Dedicated Vehicle refers to any vehicle that is NOT assigned to cover a particular municipality’s emergency responses, affiliated hospital specialty contract, or assigned to a major incident.
Tardiness is defined as any punch that occurs past the time of your scheduled shift.
Procedure:
Employees are required to arrive at work on time, in the proper uniform, and fully prepared to carry out all assigned duties.
It is the responsibility of the employee to punch in and out at the beginning and end of their scheduled shifts utilizing the Company’s time and attendance software and utilizing a designated computer or approved device while physically located at the assigned base location. Unless authorized, employees cannot punch in more than seven (7) minutes before their scheduled start time. Employees are expected to “clock in” as close to their scheduled start time as possible.
If an employee forgets to punch in and/or out, they must notify their Field Supervisor immediately. Any excess or patterns of missed punches will result in disciplinary action up to and including termination.
Late/Tardy Notification: An employee who is going to be late or absent must notify dispatch and speak directly to a live person on a recorded line.
Employees must give a minimum two-hour (2) notice prior to the start of their shift if they are going to be absent. If an employee is scheduled to work two (2) consecutive shifts and is looking to call out for only the first half, the employee must notify the company four (4) hours prior to the beginning of the second shift that they are able to come into work.
If an employee is going to be tardy, they must provide at least a 30-minute notice. Failure to provide notification for tardiness, absenteeism for whole or subsequent portions of the shift will result in potentially the forfeiture of scheduled hours and disciplinary action up to and including termination.
Disciplinary actions for sick time misuse or tardiness will be handled in accordance with the Company’s disciplinary action policy. Examples of sick time misuse include excessive sick days without medical documentation, patterned sick day use just before or after a vacation, holiday, or scheduled days off; or calling out sick without adequate notice or accrued sick leave to cover the absence. There are other absences that have a more severe impact on operations or that reflect a greater disregard for the integrity of the staffing plan. Absences that are the most damaging to effective operations and require a more decisive response would include but are not limited to, No-Call / No-Show (NCNS), calling out sick on a holiday, or when an employee has been denied vacation leave and subsequently calls out sick.
No-Call / No-Show
An employee who is absent for three (3) consecutive shifts without notifying the Company will be assumed to have voluntarily resigned their position with the Company and will be removed from the payroll.
An employee who has notified the Company of their absences from work for three (3) consecutive shifts may be required to submit a Healthcare Practitioner’s (MD, DO, NP, PA) note prior to their return to work. Depending on the severity of the illness or injury at the Company’s discretion, we may require the employee to be evaluated by our Occupational Health vendor prior to returning to work.
Providing a note from a healthcare provider for unexcused absences may still result in disciplinary action up to and including termination if you have surpassed your available sick time.
Late Assignments
Efforts should be made to schedule routine transports so as not to require employees to experience late assignments. However, that may not be an option in the case of a Dedicated Vehicle (911-truck) situation.
Crews of Dedicated Vehicles shall not leave their shift unless properly relieved by an on-coming crew or authorized by a supervisor.
Employees are expected to complete all calls that have been assigned to them prior to the end of their regular shift even if that assigned call extends beyond the scheduled end-time of that shift.
As the contracted EMS provider for several area hospitals and municipalities, Brewster/EasCare Ambulance Service must maintain minimum staffing levels at the BLS, ALS, MIH, and Supervisor ranks and will, when necessary, utilize Mandatory holdover for up to four (4) hours to maintain staffing. Refer to “Mandatory Holdover.”