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Compton consultant says overtime driven by low staffing, recommends negotiating limits and clearer budgeting
Summary
Matrix Consulting told the council the Compton Fire Department’s overtime is driven by mandated FLSA overtime, staffing shortfalls and an MOU that permits long consecutive work hours; consultants recommended separating FLSA overtime in the budget, negotiating lower allowable consecutive hours and improving tracking.
Matrix Consulting Group presented an analysis showing that the Compton Fire Department’s overtime costs stem largely from how shifts are scheduled, minimum-staffing shortfalls and an existing memorandum of understanding that allows extended consecutive work hours. Robert Finn, Matrix’s vice president and project manager, told the council the department’s personnel costs are “just under 60%” of operating costs while overtime as a percentage of personnel costs was 23.3%, higher than a set of peer communities.
Why it matters: High overtime affects municipal budgets, employee health and service resiliency. The consultant identified trade-offs: hire more permanent staff and pay benefits, or accept higher overtime spending. Finn said the study found that, based on historical leave and deployment rates, the department is effectively about four personnel short per shift — a deficit that drives forced overtime for minimum staffing.
The report pointed to several concrete actions. Finn recommended splitting FLSA-mandated overtime from other overtime categories in the city’s budget so reimbursements and emergency deployments are shown separately. He urged the council to negotiate lower allowable consecutive work hours in the meet-and-confer process (the current MOU referenced a 150-hour allowance before refusal), add greater tracking and reporting of overtime drivers at the controller’s office, consider temporary or seasonal hires to backfill deployments, and add training and disciplinary clarity around unauthorized overtime.
Council members pressed on health and liability concerns. Councilmember Bowers said Compton’s fire department “is one of the busiest departments in the United States” and warned that fatigue risk can be costly: “It’s pretty clear that we need staffing right now.” Finn agreed the study includes sections on health impacts and said more frequent rest periods and a lower allowable consecutive work limit would improve work-life balance and decrease risk.
What’s next: The presentation concluded with staff indicating they will seek council direction on the recommendations and work with the controller, the fire department and the firefighters’ association in upcoming meet-and-confer sessions to determine which changes are pursued and how they will be budgeted.
