Polk County FL to Hire 75 more Firefighters to Improve Work/Life Balance and Lower Mandatory OT

Polk County Fire Commissioners have authorized spending $9.2 million to hire an additional 75 firefighters. The hiring plan is in response to significant employee turn-over, which according to some is partly due to excessive mandatory overtime. County officials hope that the move will significantly decrease firefighter overtime. The current levels of overtime frequently require Polk County firefighters to work beyond their normal work schedule of 24 hours on-duty, followed by 48 hours off-duty. Union officials hope this hiring is the first step in adding an entire additional platoon of firefighters, which would lower firefighters’ hours worked from a 56-hour per week average to a 42-hour per week average.

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