EMS Manager and FIRE Manager allow Massachusetts’ public agencies to easily track shift trades through their online scheduling system and keep accurate records for the PERAC (Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission).
Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN - Last fall the PERAC issued a memorandum to all Massachusetts state retirement boards requiring documentation that all shift substitutions have been “paid back” prior to the employee’s retirement. Employers must certify the repayment of shifts for the entire period of a member’s employment after the date of October 25, 2011 when the memorandum was issued. The retirement boards must request and receive documentation that the member has actually worked the requisite number of shifts in a calendar year to qualify for all the regular compensation and creditable service claimed.
The memorandum states, “This documentation should be readily obtainable in departments with restrictions and safeguards on this practice. In other departments where safeguards are not in place yet, a member may have a difficult time establishing his entitlement to creditable service and regular compensation when attempting to calculate his or her retirement allowance.”
Certifying shift trades is a nightmare if an agency uses a non-computerized, non-trackable method of shift trades such as a paper calendar or white board. In a follow up memorandum dated January 25, 2012, the PERAC clarified some questions that arose from the first memo and in addition states, “Since shifts must be tracked only on or after October 26, 2011, we are confident that all employers and systems will develop the record keeping procedures they need to certify that shifts have been repaid.”
Aladtec’s EMS Manager and FIRE Manager, online employee scheduling and workforce management systems allow agencies to track shift trades easily and quickly. Agencies implementing an Aladtec system will be able to accurately certify shift substitutions as required by the PERAC.
“Tracking out trades, swaps of shifts, was the primary reason we recently subscribed to FIRE Manager,” explains Martin Greene, CFO EMT-P, Fire Chief, Bourne Fire & Rescue, Buzzards Bay, MA. “Tracking certifications with FIRE Manager will be a big help also.” In addition he indicated there will be a financial savings to his agency based on the time FIRE Manager will save his staff from having to research trades that have taken place. In Chief Greene’s case with 50 employees at four stations with four different shifts this is a substantial savings in time, along with the ease of complying with PERAC’s requirement through FIRE Manager.
About EMS Manager and FIRE Manager
Aladtec, Inc. is a provider of web-based software solutions for online employee scheduling and workforce management applications. The company’s flagship products, EMS Manager and FIRE Manager, are leaders in the public safety sector. Together with their newest product, Zanager, they serve over 800 EMS agencies, fire departments, police departments and other businesses. Nearly 50,000 employees use Aladtec’s online employee scheduling and workforce management products. Aladtec is headquartered just outside the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area in Hudson, Wisconsin. For more information, visit www.aladtec.com.