r/Firefighting Apr 30 '25

General Discussion I hate the coming early culture in Firefighting

So because everyone said something about this o taught I might as well.

I hate the fact that it's standard that every shows up early.

To give you an example: At my Department we officially get paid from 6:45 to 7 so 24:15h but it's standard in my department that everyone shows up at around 6-6:15.

So we basically artificially moved our shift time one hour early 6-6 instead of 7-7. In the end everyone still works 24 hours no matter what time you actually start.

Big edit because people don't seem to get my point:

We all Still work 24 hours nobody is actually getting relieved earlier since everyone obviously expects to be relieved by 0615

But if you happen to catch a late call before you get relieved you don't get paid for that call.

For Example:

If I work from 6-6 I worked 24 hours if I get a late call at 5:45 and now worked till 7 I now worked 25 hours

But because my official shift time is 7-7 I only get paid 24 hours even though I worked 25

This problem wouldn't exist if not for the everyone coming in early

This is not supposed to be a discussion about when is a good time for shift change to beat traffic or have more from the day but instead of coming in early and working for free we should just put pressure on our departments to change the shift times to what we actually want

Please share your opinions on this but I personally think it's just annoying and it would be easier if every just shows up when they are paid to do so (plus of course 10-15 minutes to actually get ready)

142 Upvotes

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6

u/splinter4244 Apr 30 '25

Yeah, culture isn’t gonna fight the city/workman’s comp when you get injured before your scheduled time.

12

u/NickGodfree FL FF/PMD Apr 30 '25

What's this about? I'm on duty when I make relief. If I make it early, I'm on the city's insurance. Is this not normal?

4

u/[deleted] May 01 '25

[deleted]

1

u/NickGodfree FL FF/PMD May 01 '25

You dont have time swaps? That's essentially all coming in early is, when you come down to it. I'm working the last hour and a half of the previous shift for my counterpart, so I'm on duty. Never heard of anyone having a problem.

1

u/[deleted] May 01 '25

That's absolutely not true

-1

u/Interesting_Local_70 Apr 30 '25

Yup. Getting on the truck before your scheduled time is idiotic.

3

u/NickGodfree FL FF/PMD Apr 30 '25

You seem...fun.