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Consultant: understaffing, not management, drives Compton Fire Department overtime; council hears options
Summary
A Matrix Consulting Group presentation to the Compton City Council found chronic understaffing and accounting gaps drove high firefighter overtime, and recommended separating FLSA overtime in the budget, improving tracking of overtime drivers and negotiating limits on consecutive work hours.
The Compton City Council on Oct. 14 heard a report from Matrix Consulting Group concluding that the Compton Fire Department’s high overtime costs are primarily driven by understaffing and by not separately accounting for mandatory FLSA overtime.
The study, presented by Robert Finn, vice president and project manager for Matrix Consulting Group, said Compton’s overtime percentage of personnel costs was 23.3%, higher than peer cities examined, and that the department was frequently short about four personnel per shift based on a three‑year leave analysis. “Your overtime percentage compared to personnel was 23.3%,” Finn said, presenting the payroll analysis and peer comparisons.
Why it matters: the consultant framed the council’s decision as a trade-off between hiring more full‑time firefighters (with benefits) to create relief positions or accepting a higher overtime budget. Finn recommended (1) separating FLSA‑mandated overtime in the city’s accounting so reimburseable deployments and minimum‑staffing overtime are shown separately, (2) improving controller‑level tracking codes to identify overtime drivers (deployments, minimum staffing, inspections, events), (3) negotiating limits on consecutive allowable work hours in the next meet‑and‑confer to reduce long sequences of forced work, and (4) periodic position reviews with HR to ensure classification and FLSA status remain appropriate.
Council discussion and staff response: Council members asked whether the analysis accounted for health impacts and litigation risk if fatigued personnel make errors. “We have a detailed section in there about what those impacts are to personnel when you exceed certain work hours,” Finn said, noting the report addresses fatigue and related risks. Councilmember Bowers said the health and liability risks argued for quicker staffing action: “If a firefighter makes a mistake that gets the city sued because he's fatigued, that's gonna cost us too.”
On budgeting, Finn said some jurisdictions accept higher overtime when benefit costs for additional hires exceed roughly 50% of salary; others hire to reduce overtime and improve work‑life balance. The study flagged that current practice does not separately budget FLSA overtime and that reimbursable overtime tied to large‑scale deployments can distort year‑to‑year comparisons unless broken out.
Next steps: staff indicated they will use the report to inform budget planning and meet‑and‑confer strategy with the fire association; the presentation concluded with an offer to return with follow‑up details and to provide staff with the tracking recommendations.
