r/Firefighting • u/thatdudewayoverthere • 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)

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u/Roscobaron Apr 30 '25

I get this, it makes sense, but isn't doing stuff like that part of the job and therefore stuff you should be getting paid to do?

-6

u/Gam3f3lla Apr 30 '25

I'd say being 100% confident your eq, rig, and med bags are ready to go once your shift starts is part of the job.

19

u/Roscobaron Apr 30 '25

Yeah, if it's part of your job I'd say you should be getting paid for it.

-4

u/[deleted] May 01 '25

We do truck checks at 7, but being in your uniform, shaved, and whatever other personal things you need to take care of need to be done before your shift starts. No one is paying you to put clothes on.

10

u/Roscobaron May 01 '25

Okay but that's not what the guy I was replying to said.