CBA Promotional Exam Exhaustive Study Guide

Article 3 — No Strike or Lock Out

• Criteria for Strike Determination:

  • Under Section $6(A)$, the City Manager has reasonable cause to believe a strike is in progress if $30\%$ or more of the Bargaining Unit employees fail to report for work on a given workday.

  • Management is authorized to conclude a strike is occurring without waiting for a court determination, though a court process may occur concurrently.

• Suspension of Benefits during Strikes/Emergencies:

  • Protected Benefits: Wage rates, insurance, and pension benefits shall $NOT$ be suspended during a strike or civil emergency.

  • Suspendable Benefits: Sick leave accrual, vacation leave usage, and the processing of grievances (which may be stayed under Section $6(B)$) may be suspended.

• Workers' Compensation Protection:

  • Employees who sustain a Workers' Compensation injury or become ill $prior$ to the start of a strike remain eligible for sick leave benefits.

  • To maintain eligibility, the employee must provide an acceptable physician's statement and submit supplemental weekly evaluations.

Article 5 — Dues Deduction

• Notice of Change: The Union must provide the City with at least $30$ days' notice before changing the amount of Union dues deducted from paychecks.

• Revocation Process: If a bargaining unit member wishes to stop dues deductions, the cessation becomes effective at the beginning of the pay period $30$ days following the date the revocation form was signed.

Article 7 — Time Pool

• Annual Usage Caps for Union Officials:

  • Union President: Maximum of $1,200$ hours per calendar year.

  • Chief Steward: Maximum of $400$ hours per calendar year.

  • Individual Non-Officer Members: Maximum of $200$ hours per calendar year.

• Voluntary Donations: Members may only donate hours to the Time Pool twice per year, specifically during the months of January and July.

Article 8 — FOP Representation

• Negotiation Leave:

  • For negotiating an entire labor contract: up to $300$ hours off per person without loss of pay.

  • For non-negotiation years (re-openers): limit is $100$ hours per person.

• Grievance Presentation Standards: Under Section $2(G)$, a Steward may $only$ present a grievance while being paid at a straight time rate. Presenting grievances while earning overtime pay is strictly prohibited.

• Notice for General Orders: The FOP must receive copies of special orders, general orders, or training bulletins at least $10$ working days before they are issued or implemented, except in cases of emergencies affecting officer safety.

Article 12 — Rights of Law Enforcement Officers Under Investigation

• Interrogation Locations: Formal interrogations must occur at the Fort Lauderdale Police building or the Office of Internal Affairs.

• Recording Access: Officers must be provided a copy of the interrogation audio recording no later than $72$ hours after a request, excluding weekends and holidays.

• Pre-Interview Review Rights: Before an investigative interview begins, subject officers are entitled to review:

  • The formal complaint;

  • All witness statements;

  • All statements from other subject officers;

  • All existing evidence, including GPS data, incident reports, and audio/video recordings.

• Prohibited Investigative Inducements: Investigators are prohibited from making any promise or reward as an inducement to answer questions (e.g., promising reduced charges for cooperation).

• Mechanical Testing (Polygraphs): No mechanical devices, including polygraphs, may be forced on an employee. Disciplinary action cannot be taken against an officer for refusing to submit to such testing.

• Subsequent Statements: An employee is not required to give a second general statement about the same facts but may be required to give subsequent statements to clarify specific points or if new information comes to light.

Article 13 — Legal Benefit

• Civil Suit Notification: An officer served with a civil damage suit for actions within the scope of employment must notify the Office of the City Attorney within $5$ days of service.

• Private Counsel: An officer may hire private counsel and substitute them for City-provided counsel with City permission and court consent. This action does not result in the forfeiture of indemnification rights.

Article 15 — Discipline and Discharge

• Disciplinary Hierarchy (Least to Most Severe):

  1. Written Reprimand

  2. Suspension/Forfeiture of Time

  3. Demotion

  4. Discharge

  • Note: Counseling is explicitly distinguished as non-disciplinary.

• Hearing Requests: Employees have $10$ working days after receiving notice of proposed discipline (beyond counseling/reprimand) to request a hearing.

• Working Through Suspension: Employees may satisfy a suspension by forfeiting earned vacation leave (not sick leave) at a $1:1$ ratio, up to a maximum of $80$ hours per calendar year.

• Criminal Charges (Moral Turpitude): If an officer is charged with a crime of moral turpitude and the charges are dismissed without adjudication, the City must, within $20$ days of notice of dismissal, either:

  1. Reinstate the employee with full back pay; or

  2. Institute administrative disciplinary charges.

Article 17 — Rates of Pay

• Performance Ratings and Merit Increases:

  • Employees with "Marginal" or "Unsatisfactory" ratings receive no merit increase and are re-evaluated within $90$ days.

• Promotional Pay Adjustments: Upon promotion, an officer's pay is adjusted to the lowest step in the new range that provides at least a $5\%$ increase in pay.

• Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) Pay:

  • Effective: January $1$, $2024$.

  • Amount: $2.5\%$ of base pay.

  • Cap: Limited to $40$ members of the Patrol Division.

• Lump Sum Payments for "Topped-Out" Employees:

  • "Satisfactory" rating: $1.5\%$ one-time annual lump sum.

  • "Above Satisfactory" or "Outstanding" rating: $3\%$ one-time annual lump sum of the base annual rate.

• Shift Differentials:

  • Midnight Shift: $50.00$ biweekly.

  • Evening Shift: $25.00$ biweekly.

Article 18 & 19 — Assignment and Tiered Pay

• Temporary Assignment Pay: An officer replacing an absent sergeant for a minimum of $3$ consecutive shifts is paid $5\%$ above their straight time rate, retroactive to the start of the first shift.

• Specialty Unit Supplements:

  • Field Training Officer (FTO)/Field Training Sergeant (FTS) Roster: $100$ biweekly.

  • Patrol Division (Under $10$ years service): $150.00$ per month.

  • Patrol Division ($10$ or more years service): $200.00$ per month.

  • $5\%$ Base Pay Supplement: Homicide, Violent Crimes, Special Victims, Traffic Homicide Sergeant, Rapid Offender Control, Threat Response, Public Information Officer, and Crime Scene Sergeant.

  • $2.5\%$ Base Pay Supplement: SWAT Team and Bomb Squad.

  • $50/month$ Flat Rate: Field Force Team and Honor Guard.

Article 20 — Longevity Pay

• Eligibility by Hire Date:

  • Hired before Feb 1, 1990: Eligible for Section $1$ schedule.

  • Hired between Feb 1, 1990, and Feb 18, 1993: Covered by Section $2$ (Section $1$ percentage schedule applies but is capped at $10\%$ of annual salary).

  • Hired between Feb 19, 1993, and Sept 30, 2004: Receive flat dollar amounts (e.g., $2,745.00$ or $3,295.00$ based on years).

  • Hired on or after October 1, 2004: No longevity pay eligibility.

Article 21 — Injury Pay and Light Duty

• Injury Day Compensation: An officer unable to return to work on the day of an on-the-job injury is paid for $8$ hours, regardless of hours actually worked.

• Employment Termination for Injury: The City may terminate employment if:

  1. The employee has not worked for $2$ years due to the service-incurred injury; and

  2. The employee reaches Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI) without clearance for full duty.

Article 22 — Call-Back Pay

• From Authorized Leave: Employees called back while on leave receive time-and-a-half ($1.5\times$) with a $3$-hour minimum, and they are $NOT$ charged leave for the hours worked.

• Exceptions to 3-Hour Minimum: The minimum does not apply if:

  1. Overtime begins $1.5$ hours or fewer before the regular shift and runs continuously into it.

  2. The employee is called back to rectify their own error or omission.

Article 24 — Court Appearances

• Off-Duty Appearance: Paid at $1.5\times$ regular rate with a $3$-hour minimum.

• Court Standby:

  • Paid at one-half ($0.5\times$) the straight time hourly rate.

  • Maximum of $8$ hours standby pay per day.

  • Standby pay stops once the officer is summoned to court, at which time overtime rates apply.

Article 25, 26 & 27 — Specialized Leave

• Bereavement Leave:

  • Entitlement: Maximum of $40$ hours per occurrence.

  • Status: Not charged against sick, vacation, or holiday leave.

  • Immediate Family: Includes parents of a spouse or domestic partner (in-laws).

• Military Leave Supplement: Beyond the statutory $240$ hours per year, the City pays up to $10$ additional workdays for employees ordered to active duty.

• Jury Duty: If released from jury duty within $1$ hour of the required reporting time, the employee must report for their regular police duty that day.

Article 30 — Workweek, Overtime, and Comp Time

• Canine Unit Vacation: Officers taking $1$ week of vacation must use $40$ hours of paid leave but receive $43$ hours of straight time pay to account for dog care.

• Compensatory Time Cap: Maximum accrual is $80$ hours. It must be used within $9$ months of accrual or it is paid out at the overtime rate.

• Election of Pay: Whether to receive comp time or overtime pay is the employee’s option, unless it interferes with operational needs or funds are insufficient.

Article 31, 32 & 33 — Seniority and Layoffs

• Holiday Eligibility: Must work or be on paid leave the scheduled workdays immediately before $AND$ after the holiday.

• Floating Holiday Expiration: Must be used within the calendar year it is posted or it is forfeited. It cannot be cashed out.

• Seniority Termination: Employment and seniority terminate if an employee is absent for $3$ consecutive working days without authorized leave.

• Layoff Sequence:

  1. Eliminate vacant positions.

  2. Lay off probationary employees.

  3. Lay off regular employees in reverse order of classification seniority.

• Recall Rights: Recall rights for employees with non-service-connected disabilities last for $2$ years from the layoff date.

Article 36 — Promotional Examinations

• Eligibility (Sergeant): Must have $4$ or more years in the rank of Police Officer with the City by November $30$th.

• Written Test Standards:

  • Passing Score: $70\%$ raw score after the review process.

  • Weighting: Written Test = $60\%$, Assessment Exercise = $40\%$.

  • Curves: No curve is applied to written test results.

• Assessment Personnel: Assessors must be law enforcement command personnel from agencies $outside$ Broward County.

• Preference Points (FTO): $0.25$ points per continuous year as an FTO, up to a maximum of $4$ years ($1.0$ point total).

• Selection Process: The Police Chief may choose from the top $5$ candidates on the register.

• Announcement Dates: Sergeant exam posted by October $1$st; Lieutenant exam posted by June $15$th.

Article 40 — Sick Leave

• Notification Requirements: Employees must notify their supervisor of a sick leave absence no later than $2$ hours after the beginning of the scheduled workday.

• Respite Days: Up to $2$ days per year; they do not count against the Floating Holiday benefit as sick leave use.

• Conversion (720+ Hours Accrued): Employees can convert up to $96$ hours of sick leave from the prior year into vacation or a cash payment at $50\%$ of the current pay rate.

• Termination Payout: Standard payout for employees in good standing is $28\%$ of unused accrued sick leave.

Article 42 & 43 — Grievance and Arbitration

• Individual Grievances: Non-union members may process a grievance individually if the Union declines to represent them.

• Timeline to Step 2: The written grievance must be presented within $10$ working days after the supervisor's Step $1$ response.

• Missed City Response: If the City misses a response deadline, the Union may treat the grievance as denied and advance it immediately.

• Arbitration Filing: Written requests for arbitration must be made within $10$ working days of the Step $4$ decision.

• Arbitration Costs: The losing party must bear the full cost of the arbitrator's services.

Article 44, 45 & 46 — Administrative and Retirement

• Rating Review Appeal: Written requests must be submitted to the HR Director within $7$ days of the review by authorities.

• Health Insurance Administration: The Union, not the City, provides and administers the health and dental plan.

• Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP): Tier $2$ members can enter DROP after $20$ years of service for a maximum period of $8$ years.

• Pension Contribution: The employee contribution rate is set at $10\%$ of pensionable earnings.

Article 48, 53 & 62 — Policy and Records

• Tuition Reimbursement Scale:

  • Grade A: $100\%$

  • Grade B: $75\%$

  • Grade C: $50\%$

  • Repayment: Required if an officer voluntarily leaves within $2$ years (undergrad) or $6$ years (doctorate).

• Personnel Record Retention: Written reprimands cannot be used for progressive discipline after $3$ years. Rebuttals to discipline must be submitted within $5$ calendar days of receipt.

• Tobacco Use (Hires on/after Dec 3, 2013): Must be non-users of tobacco at all times (on/off duty) as a condition of continued employment.

• Drug-Free Workplace Standards:

  • Suspense: Reasonable suspicion with concurring supervisor leads to immediate suspension $without$ pay.

  • Alcohol Threshold: Positive test is a BAC of $0.05$ or greater.

  • Notification: Conviction of a drug statute offense at work must be reported within $5$ calendar days.