Too many working hours

[copelandamuffy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close copelandamuffy]

All of us have in this wacky business have worked marathon hours
From Saturday morning @ 0700 through to Sunday afternoon at 1600 hours
I did 28 workiing hours. Or 5 hours rest. I am off Monday and Tuesday
and working 8 hours on Wednesday, and 16 hours on Thursday

My supervisior called me at home. She wanted to know if I wanted
to work a detail at a shoping mall for 12 hours on Tuesday night
till Wednesday morning

The detail would have been an overnight detail
And yes it would be overtime pay, but I have seen too many
in our business who thought they were macho and could work
80 hours plus a week

My close friend Bob was like that.
A police woman found him keeled over in
his car in a parking lot. Doctors determined
he died of exhaustion.
Bob had worked those 8o hours.

I am going to be a Grandfarther in February 2007.
I'd like to see my new Granddaughter

Boy and Girls

Slow down.
Take time to smell the roses.

[Mr. Security Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mr. Security]

Wise Advice

I know guards like that. Maybe they have to because of circumstances. Some though, are just after the bucks. I've never placed work above my family and I never will. Anyone who truly understands that money doesn't equate to happiness will apply your advice.

[N. A. Corbier Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close N. A. Corbier]

I used to work 96 hours sometimes. A week. I made more than the owner drew from profits. There were about 3 of us who could do that. We were all in our early to mid twenties.

The first thing you have to do is know if you can do it, and for how long. I've been put on 7 days a week for a month because some idiot got thrown off post by the client and the client asked for me specifically, for as many days as I could work, no matter if I was on OT or not.

The other thing that you have to do is have support from the patrol supervisor. One of the best things that I had ever done was the ability to rotate posts during those marathon shifts. Someone arrives, and I call the supervisor and go, "Where next?" The reply was, "Wait there for 15 minutes, get some rest, then you have 1 hour to be here." That hour was also to get food and drink for the next post. It usually meant the difference between falling asleep due to boredom and working another 8 hours with no problem, just the change of scenery.

[FDG06 Member Find all posts View Profile Close FDG06]

All my GSA Tac Team gigs, were minimum 84 hrs a week. 90 was more the norm. A day off, had to be requested weeks prior & only when things were slow (never.. or we wouldnt be pulling 12's or you were medically declared 1/2 to 3/4 dead, (99% dead required a signed permission waver 1st from the Capt, to go ahead and DOD: Die on Duty..j/k) Yes some guys, not ready for it, involuntarily fell out.
If you managed to pull a day off, your shift hours could change & you'd be thrown back in at whatever schedual was open, meaning a flip to the opposite shift you had been working. I'm certain not all GSA gigs work this way however.
If its a regular thing, you can get used to it.. You sleep 7-8 hrs, 2 hours pre shift, 2 hrs post, not much of a life..what messes a man up, is when the hours are not consistant or when an officer normally works 8 & is then cast into the 12 hr/7 days a week life with no real adjustment time.
Yoda

[HotelSecurity Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close HotelSecurity]

The owner of my hotels has a very very stict NO OVERTIME rule. The province also has a strict 'you must be paid overtime after 40 hours' law. Being a supervisor that also covers a shift I am paid 8 hours a day but am "on call" for another 6. If I actually have to be in one of the hotels over 40 hours I "bank" the hours & take them off at another time. It is very rare that I can get paid overtime. (An exception was a few years ago during a stike. We were allowed unlimited overtime. I was working 12+ hours a day, 7 days a week, sleeping in the hotel).

[Arrowslinger Member Find all posts View Profile Close Arrowslinger]

We are paid every two weeks 80 hours is normal, since December 28 2005, I have over 120 hours EACH pay period. Since my promotion it is not as bad, the worst has to be covering when someone calls off a hour or so before your shift is up

[copelandamuffy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close copelandamuffy]

I know guards like that. Maybe they have to because of circumstances. Some though, are just after the bucks. I've never placed work above my family and I never will. Anyone who truly understands that money doesn't equate to happiness will apply your advice.

Amen Mr. Security: Yes we all need a pay check. But as Mr. Security has
stated, family first. I worked this past weekend to help my Field Supervisior,
but I was determinded to spend time with my family the next couple of
days.

And at some point working 80-96 hours you are a zombie.
If you are on a patrol, or standing Guard at a Mall you are no
more than a robot.

Any Good Doctor will tell you need your sleep and rest

My limit is 64 hours I will work in a week

[mh892 Member Find all posts View Profile Close mh892]

My Disaster Recovery assignments have been 12 on, 12 off, 7 days. 2 or 3 months of this gets old while waiting for more people to show up. For Hurricane Ivan some of us worked September 30 to March 15 on that schedule. Then were sent to other FEMA sites. I didn't mind this one as it was close enought to home to sleep in my own bed when off duty.

[Lawson Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Lawson]

Post Katrina/Rita when in LA, we worked 12hr shifts 7 days a week w/ no days off. You had to work 30 days before you could even begin to think about requesting a day off and even then the pickings were rather slim as you would need to compete with the guys who had been there since the hurricane hit.

I was able to bank a ton of $$$ down there though. It was a bit rough and sometimes you spent too much time doing stuff during the day to get the necessary amount of sleep to be able to work the night.

On a side from our working duties there was a lot of transferring hotels, going to companies and LE agencies to get passes, going to the airport to transfer rental cars, payroll and supervisor visits, etc...

Now that I am back home I try to work the essential hours needed to survive and pull a tad bit of OT when it presents itself. At my Co. now, whether I pull OT or not typically has to do with who I will be partnered with as I am not too inclined to work with certain people or cover shifts for same said certain people.

[FDG06 Member Find all posts View Profile Close FDG06]

BHR,
Were you ever housed in base camps, in LA, during Katrina/Rita/Wilma?

I spent about 40 days total on & off in Base Camp Allen right after Kat hit (f'n mudd hole, people stealing duty gear.. but great chow & there were VOA & DHMS nurses houses in #9 which made life a little more like planet earth), During Wilma we moved into our vehicles, when unit #2 on the south end blew out & left approx 600 guys tentless at 0200 hrs...lmao

Spent another 30 days in Base Camp Algiers...housed with of all people, the very evacuees we were policing, in unit #3..ya good times!

Then did some time ('bout 2 weeks) at the NOPD temp detention center in upper 9th.

I only saw a real hotel (that wasnt torn to $#!+) was when I went to MS.

On that initial ICE/FPS gig, if you wanted a day off, you bought a plane ticket home, it was that simple.
Yoda

[Eric Member Find all posts View Profile Close Eric]

I attended a security gathering last week and the speaker was Douglas Kirkland. He was an adviser for security at the recent Turino and Greek Olympics, he talked about the fatigue factor for these events by all of the staff.
Staff need down time to be able to perform, the same message you have all noted.

I am presently working 7 X 12's, it happens once every few years, and I checked my family schedule before accepting. Things like monthly assemblies at my daughters school are a do not miss. I am also shopping for a new car this fall .
Back when I was in my 20's and single, overtime would take care of all toy purchases, VCR, camera, TV, trips etc.

[Lawson Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Lawson]

I wasnt in any "established" base camps. For the most part our company was able to secure a lot of rooms in hotels just outside New Orleans, I think there were 3 hotels in one city alone that we probably had 75% or more of the vacancies. For a week or so, I stayed in a semi-truck trailer turned barracks. Basically it was the back end of a semi truck that had windows and doors installed and three levels of beds on either side running from front to back. Since I worked night shift it got hot as hell in there during the day, usually I was the only one sleeping in there, but that didnt mean you didnt have the dumbass general population employees stomping in and out around noon during lunch hour. I even had a guy walk all the way down the trailer to my bunk look at me and shout, "Yeah! He's sleeping!" then walk all the way back down the trailer as the 9-10 guys proceeded to eat their lunch as loudly as possible.

[Lawson Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Lawson]

Back when I was in my 20's and single, overtime would take care of all toy purchases, VCR, camera, TV, trips etc.

What the heck is a VCR?

[Eric Member Find all posts View Profile Close Eric]

What the heck is a VCR?

Glad I did not say BETA.....or 8 track tapes Oh, and it wasn't.

[Guest Close Guest]

I've never worked so many hours the most I ever put in was 14 hours straight holiday pay plus OT = double pay, so worth it for me.

I declined a lot of OT one friday because I was going clubbing that night and I wouldn't let work get in the way of my happiness.