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original document ·
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unofficial consolidation, the official version is held by the municipal clerk.
1. PURPOSE STATEMENT
The purpose of this policy is to outline:
- The attendance requirements for Calls and Training;
- How the attendance is calculated;
- Exceptions to the policy;
- Actions plans, demotions and/or terminations
The purpose of this policy is NOT to apply to action plans, disciplinary measures, demotions
and/or terminations for behaviour or instances unrelated to attendance.
2. DEFINITIONS
"Attendance" means the percentage of calls and training attended;
"Calls" means any method to notify SFR about an emergency that requires SFR to attend;
"Chief" means SFR's active Chief or delegate, as appointed by Council;
"Combined average attendance" means the average attendance of calls and training;
"Firefighter" means the individual serving SFR at any rank;
"Minimum Requirements" means the minimum attendance of 25%, as stipulated in this Policy;
"Officers" means Firefighters with a rank of Lieutenant, Captain, Assist Deputy Chief, and
Deputy Chief;
"Salisbury Fire & Rescue" means Salisbury Fire and Rescue ("SFR" or "Salisbury Fire
Department";
"Total Attended" means the sum total of CALLS and TRAINING attended by the Firefighter;
"Total Required Events" means the total CALLS received and non-exempt TRAINING
provided to SFR members in the time period specified;
"Training" means regularly scheduled training that occurs weekly on Monday nights between
1930h and 2130h.
POLICY
Department:
Salisbury Fire Department
SALISBURY FIRE & RESCUE
ATTENDANCE POLICY
Effective Date: May 9, 2023
Last Reviewed Date: January 13, 2023
3. ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS
It is a requirement that all members meet the minimum requirement of 25% of combined average
attendance over a 12-month rolling calendar.
Attendance is calculated by the Total Attended divided by Total Required Events in a given time
period (e.g.: quarterly or a rolling 12-month period).
It is a requirement of the Chief to track attendance for members of the SFR.
4. EXCEPTIONS
There are a number of exceptions to the required attendance, which include:
Training exceptions:
- During the months of July and August, to permit for summer vacations, training events
are not considered a required event;
- Training nights that are on Holidays;
- Ad-hoc training outside regular training days and times.
o Training may still be required by other policies, procedures or Chiefs request but
will not impact the attendance calculation. Such as but not limited to First Aid,
Driver Training, etc.
Pregnancy and Maternity Leave:
-
Pregnant firefighters may not be able to train or attend throughout pregnancy. The
exception to attendance will begin as soon at the individual notifies the Chief in writing.
Maternity Leave will exempt the Firefighter from attendance requirements. The duration of the
exemption will begin at birth of the child or upon notification of being unable to perform active
or training duties and end when either 18 months following birth, or at the request of the
firefighter, whichever occurs first.
Leave of Absences:
-
Upon approval by the Chief, firefighters on a leave of absence are exempted from
attendance requirements;
-
Requests for a leave should be in writing and include the following information:
o Reason for request;
o Expected start date;
o Expected return, whenknown.
5. VIOLATIONS
The Chief is responsible for reporting on firefighter attendance quarterly.
At the end of every quarter, all firefighters failing to meet the minimum requirements over last
12 months will receive their attendance report for the last quarter.
If last quarter was:
-
ABOVE minimum requirement - No action taken, this is just a notice.
-
BELOW minimum requirement - Action plan needs to be developed.
6. ACTION PLANS
In the event of a violation of a subsection of this Policy, the firefighter will develop a plan with
the Chief on how they will meet the minimum requirements for attendance. This plan will have
a target attendance percentage and due date. The action plan must:
-
Be mutually agreed upon by the Chief and Firefighter;
-
Include a targeted attendance rate, which may be lower than the minimum requirement
but should NOT be less than current attendance, at the discretion of the Chief;
-
Include a target date to have the attendance rectified, which is not necessarily related to
the quarterly reporting period.
In the event of a failure to meet or breach of an agreed upon action plan, further action may be
taken which can include, but is not limited to the Officer(s) being demoted and.or Firefighter(s)
being relieved of their duties with the SFR.
The Chief has the discretion to grant extensions to action plans in the event that the terms of an
action plan are not met but if attendance has improved.