Swapping the schedule: Monitoring shift exchanges in fire districts and other local governments

Fire districts, city police departments and county sheriff’s offices commonly have collective bargaining agreements that allow staff to exchange shifts or have shift fill-ins, as long as the shift exchange does not interfere with operations or incur additional costs.

However, recent audits have found governments did not adequately oversee their shift exchange programs to prevent clear and large imbalances in unworked shifts. It is important to prevent these discrepancies to ensure public funds are used appropriately and that employees are only compensated for shifts they actually worked.

Governments are responsible for setting effective internal controls, such as policies and procedures, to ensure employees are paid accurately and according to their contracts and collective bargaining agreements.

Collective bargaining agreements make employees responsible for tracking their shift exchanges and ensuring the exchanges are balanced out. Our auditors have identified large imbalances, including an employee who was paid for 45 shifts they gave up but did not later work. In another instance, an employee resigned and received a large vacation leave buyout despite having six unworked shifts.

To ensure proper stewardship of public funds, we recommend that governments that allow shift exchanges properly oversee and monitor the exchanges to prevent large imbalances or program abuse. A helpful step might be setting clear policies on shift exchange expectations, such as when exchanges are allowed, how they are tracked and the repayment timeline. These could also be included in collective bargaining agreements. We also recommend governments track the exchanges to ensure compliance.

For other payroll monitoring guidance, check out SAO’s resource library.