A limit on overtime for FDNY ambulance workers has been lifted as the amount of calls in the city continue to rise.
Other agencies have had their overtime capped by the city, but the FDNY's bureau of Emergency Medical Services needs all the hours it can spare from its 4,133 paramedics and emergency medical technicians for the almost 1.9 million calls annually, the New York Post reports. While those hours can have a positive effect on workers' bank accounts, that busy climate does have a downside overworked employees.
"It’s a problem when you have a union (that represents EMS workers) saying there’s too much overtime for its members. … It demonstrates how much stress is put on members," New York City Council member Joe Borelli said at a budget hearing last week, according to the Post.
The overtime cap was lifted in December, something rare for the city to do. Extra hours are not mandatory for ambulance workers, and officials will re-examine the issue this summer.
With calls headed to hit 2 million in 2019, Oren Barzilay, the head of the EMS union, told the Post that hiring at least 5,000 workers might be better than paying overtime. Last year, $48 million was spent on extra EMS hours.
