Board okays E911 employee perks
Shown above, E911 Board president, Jon Horner (left), swears in Emma Burns (right) as board secretary at its September 27 meeting. Submitted photo.
October 6, 2021
Sheila Harris
At the Barry County E911 board’s quarterly meeting Monday, September 27, director Mike Phillips brought to the board’s attention the difficulty the center has in hiring and retaining emergency dispatchers.
“We are facing a lot of competition for employees from other E911 centers, as well as from other area employers in general,” he said.
According to Phillips, a help wanted ad that ran for two weeks recently yielded only five applications for the open positions he was then looking to fill.
In an attempt to become more competitive in the employment market, Phillips presented to the board several options for making the Barry County center more attractive to prospective employees. After much discussion a package was approved which Phillips believes will increase both employee applications and aid in the retention of current employees. The new terms will be announced at a later date and will not go into effect until January 1, 2022.
“It takes a certain kind of person to work as a dispatcher,” Phillips said. “The 12-hour, rotating, 24/7 shifts are hard on family life, and the job itself is stressful, but if we’re going to find and keep good employees, we have to be competitive with other employers.”
Phillips says the increased benefit package for new and current employees will add another $47 to $50,000 to the center’s annual budget, but Phillips told the Board he’s confident the center can absorb the jump in expense.
According to Phillips, the balance of $400,000 on the E911’s center’s building loan will be paid off in two years, which will go far toward providing the extra money toward employee retention, he said.
In addition to a proposed change in pay rate and benefits for employees, Phillips also requested that the board consider adding a new form to the initial paperwork packet for new employees. The proposed form would advise new employees that if they self-terminate their employment between a six and 12-month time period, they would be responsible for reimbursing the E911 center for half of the cost of their required certification training for the position. If they opted out prior to six months of employment, employees would be responsible for the reimbursement of the total cost.
“The price tag for the training that goes toward a new employee attaining their EMS, EFD and EPD certificates totals about $1,300 per employee,” Phillips said. “The E911 center pays for that training and those certificates.
“Lately, though,” Phillips explained to the Board, “we’ve had employees who decided they didn’t like the job, so they quit after they’d been fully trained and received their certificates. Not only is the E911 center out the money for their training, but those people can also take their certificates, which we’ve paid for, to other facilities anywhere.”
Board member Nick Mercer had some reservations about asking new employees to sign such a form and asked Phillips whether the proposed new form might deter people from wanting to work at the E911 center, in spite of the new employee benefits package.
“I don’t think so,” Phillips said. “I think it would just make them think twice before quitting after they’ve been fully trained.”
Sheila Harris
At the Barry County E911 board’s quarterly meeting Monday, September 27, director Mike Phillips brought to the board’s attention the difficulty the center has in hiring and retaining emergency dispatchers.
“We are facing a lot of competition for employees from other E911 centers, as well as from other area employers in general,” he said.
According to Phillips, a help wanted ad that ran for two weeks recently yielded only five applications for the open positions he was then looking to fill.
In an attempt to become more competitive in the employment market, Phillips presented to the board several options for making the Barry County center more attractive to prospective employees. After much discussion a package was approved which Phillips believes will increase both employee applications and aid in the retention of current employees. The new terms will be announced at a later date and will not go into effect until January 1, 2022.
“It takes a certain kind of person to work as a dispatcher,” Phillips said. “The 12-hour, rotating, 24/7 shifts are hard on family life, and the job itself is stressful, but if we’re going to find and keep good employees, we have to be competitive with other employers.”
Phillips says the increased benefit package for new and current employees will add another $47 to $50,000 to the center’s annual budget, but Phillips told the Board he’s confident the center can absorb the jump in expense.
According to Phillips, the balance of $400,000 on the E911’s center’s building loan will be paid off in two years, which will go far toward providing the extra money toward employee retention, he said.
In addition to a proposed change in pay rate and benefits for employees, Phillips also requested that the board consider adding a new form to the initial paperwork packet for new employees. The proposed form would advise new employees that if they self-terminate their employment between a six and 12-month time period, they would be responsible for reimbursing the E911 center for half of the cost of their required certification training for the position. If they opted out prior to six months of employment, employees would be responsible for the reimbursement of the total cost.
“The price tag for the training that goes toward a new employee attaining their EMS, EFD and EPD certificates totals about $1,300 per employee,” Phillips said. “The E911 center pays for that training and those certificates.
“Lately, though,” Phillips explained to the Board, “we’ve had employees who decided they didn’t like the job, so they quit after they’d been fully trained and received their certificates. Not only is the E911 center out the money for their training, but those people can also take their certificates, which we’ve paid for, to other facilities anywhere.”
Board member Nick Mercer had some reservations about asking new employees to sign such a form and asked Phillips whether the proposed new form might deter people from wanting to work at the E911 center, in spite of the new employee benefits package.
“I don’t think so,” Phillips said. “I think it would just make them think twice before quitting after they’ve been fully trained.”