The city of Battle Creek is contracting with a retired Battle Creek police officer to check up on firefighters who call in sick.
City officials said the move is an attempt to reduce the number of sick days used and, in turn, reduce how much the city spends on overtime in the department.
Lee Coltson will be visiting every firefighter who calls in sick and will be paid $25 per visit in the Battle Creek area, $35 a visit for areas farther away, such as Lansing, and $45 per visit plus 40.5 cents per mile for visits to the city's firefighters who live in Niles and Fort Wayne, Ind.
According to the contract between the city and the firefighters union, the city has the right to make sure a firefighter who calls in sick either is at home or at a hospital, doctor's office, medical clinic or pharmacy.
However, because of wording in a letter sent to firefighters alerting them the city will enforce its right, some are concerned the contractor will be investigating more than their use of sick leave.
Employee Relations Director Russ Claggett said that will not happen.
"We were told all he'll be doing is verifying you're there," said union president and Battle Creek firefighter Chuck Asher. "Then to not be sure whether he'll be performing any other duties, we all have a little bit of conspiracy theorist in us.
"You can imagine the major, major impact this has had on morale in the fire department."
"If an employee had that concern, they only had to pick up the phone and talk to me," Claggett said. "I haven't received a single phone call."
The city is struggling to eliminate $487,000 in overtime from the department's budget this year, and Claggett said sick days are costly to the city because not only is the sick firefighter getting paid, another will have to be called in on overtime to cover the missed shift.
Last year, the department's roughly 80 firefighters used 364 sick days. Firefighters accumulate 14 hours of sick leave per month and can bank up to 1,950 hours, or about eight-and-a-half months total."If we're able to cut down on the use of sick days and only have people use them for what they are intended, then the contract will pay for itself," said Assistant City Manager Ken Tsuchiyama. "If we see it's reducing the amount of sick time used, then it's served its purpose."
Claggett said the stepped-up enforcement, which started about two weeks ago, has yet to show any results.
Asher said he understands the city has a right to check in on sick firefighters, but with firefighter morale down, it could be difficult for the city and the union to ratify a contract currently being negotiated.
"Unfortunately, morale has a big impact on ratifying contracts," Asher said. "I've been here for 21 years and I've never seen our morale lower than it is now."
