On August 8, 2016, then Fire Chief Tom Garrison presented a proposal to City Council to expand Sparks Fire Department (SFD) services to include paramedic level medical response.  The Council approved the proposal and directed staff to implement the paramedic program.  To accomplish the pay portion of this directive, the City’s labor negotiating team met and conferred with IAFF 1265 on Paramedic Certification and Nevada Licensing, requiring Emergency Medical Technician – Advanced certification for all suppression personnel from a Firefighter, and resulting changes in pay.  The outcome those discussions and negotiations is the proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) under consideration today.

As the result of the meet and confer process, the City and IAFF developed the attached MOU regarding titles, job requirements and associated pay.  Below is a summarization of the MOU.

The parties agreed to create a new job title of Firefighter/Paramedic and agreed upon new pay steps for the position.  The new Firefighter pay steps are 6.5% above existing Firefighter pay steps.   The pay changes are reflected in the Appendix A and are effective the first full pay period after the Fire Chief deems the Fire Department ready to provide paramedic service to the City of Sparks with a target date of April 3, 2017. 

The addition of the new title resulted in several sections needing amendment in the current IAFF 1265 contract for job titles, including areas addressing acting temporary pay.  It was also agreed that the City would pay for the associated cost(s) of renewal of the Nevada Paramedic License.

With the addition of the new title Firefighter/Paramedic, it was agreed that for purposes of personnel reductions as it pertains to the Regulations set forth by the Civil Service Commission, the titles of Firefighter and Firefighter Paramedic would be considered equivalent positions in a career ladder.  This would mean that the employee with the lowest “city seniority” would be laid off first regardless if they had the title of Firefighter or Firefighter Paramedic. 

For Fire Apparatus Operators and Fire Captains who possess and maintain a Paramedic Certification and Nevada license, the parties agreed to a special pay of three percent (3%) of the employee’s base pay.  This is effective the first full pay period after the Fire Chief deems the Fire Department ready to provide paramedic service to the City of Sparks with a target date of April 3, 2017.

The parties agreed that suppression employees are required to maintain the Emergency Medical Technician - Advanced certification as an essential function of the positions of Firefighter, Fire Apparatus Operator and Fire Captain with the exception for two (2) grandfathered employees listed in the Appendix A.   In exchange for this new requirement, the current special pay was converted from a percentage of a top step firefighter to a flat dollar amount added to base pay which is $.82 per hour for 112 hour employees and $1.28 for 80 hour employees. 

1. The City Council may approve the Memorandum of Understanding with the International Association of Firefighters, Local No. 1265.
2. The City Council may not approve the Memorandum of Understanding with the International Association of Firefighters, Local No. 1265.
3. The City Council may not approve the Memorandum of Understanding with the International Association of Firefighters, Local No. 1265, but provide other direction to the City Manager.

I move to approve the Memorandum of Understanding with the International Association of Firefighters, Local No. 1265.