An emergency call-out crew for the Forestry Division of the Parks & Recreation Department has been established to provide a guarantee that, in the event there is a problem, there will be qualified personnel available

During the first week of January each year, all Forestry Leadworkers and Senior Tree Trimmers in the Forestry Division will be asked if they are interested in participating in the program. All employees who elect to participate (hereinafter referred to as "participants") in January, will be required to remain in the program for a one year period.

Assignment to the call-out crew will be rotated every seven days amoung all participants. Participants will receive compensation as set forth under Article II, Section H.28.

Work hours for the Forestry Division are Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 4:00 pm. Participants are required to be available for emergency calls and pages during all after-hour periods including, but not limited to, evenings, weekends, and holidays. Participants, who are scheduled to be on call, shall make themselves available to respond to emergency calls from the Police Department Dispatch Center, Public Service Guard, Verdugo Dispatch, and the Fire Department.

The participant who is paged, will return the emergency page within fifteen (15) minutes of receiving the page and, if required, shall respond to the site of the emergency within forty-five (45) minutes of the page.

When a page is received and answered, each participant shall contact the Forestry Services Manager for approval to respond to the emergency. If unable to contact the Forestry Services Manager, the participant shall use their judgment to determine whether or not the situation warrants an emergency response. If the participant is uncertain, they shall contact the Deputy Director of Parks and Recreation/Park Services to determine if the situation warrants an emergency call-out. For this purpose, an emergency is defined as a situation which could cause hardship to the public or employees, damage to property, or injury to persons, or impairment to public right-of-way access.

Once the participant receives approval or determines an emergency response is warranted, the participant will respond to the site of the emergency and try to resolve the immediate problem without causing further damage. This does not mean that the participant should attempt to make any repairs of systems or equipment or perform any work that is not normally within his or her scope of duties. If the participant is able to resolve the immediate problem (i.e, shut off the water) but it is believed that related devices, equipment, or associated systems will be affected by these actions or is unable to resolve the immediate problem, the participant shall call out the appropriate personnel from the appropriate department to handle those devices. If the participant is able to effectively resolve the immediate problem and no additional assistance is needed, the participant shall notify the appropriate department or individual at the beginning of the next work day.

Note:

Calling an employee at home for verbal assistance or job information and instruction is not appropriate. The employee is not required to discuss work related issues during off hours. If the employee's knowledge is necessary to address an emergency response, then the employee is to be called in for a four hour minimum and shall be subject to the overtime rules in Article VIII, Section F of the Memorandum of Understanding.