By Laura Kelly

Regular - This is a straightforward field. Simply determine the number of hours you worked (or had a trade work for you) during the pay period and multiply it by your hourly rate. Your hourly rate is printed on your paycheck. IDV, SP and TC are not included in this field.

P/F Premium - This field includes A/O, EMT, Holiday, BLS and Haz Mat pay. We’ll start with A/O and EMT pay. A/O and EMT pay is 5% of your base wage. The following example illustrates how to calculate this field, assuming a 5th year H-2 and one 24-hour watch as an A/O. First, multiply your hourly base rate by the number of hours worked as an A/O: $23.7815 * 24 = $570.756. This is you’re A/O base wage. Next, multiply this A/O base wage by 5%: $570.756 * 5% = $28.54.

Please note that if you are paid as an A/O or EMT while working a WDO the pay will not be reflected in this field; instead, it will show in the Overtime field.

Next, we’ll calculate Holiday Pay, which is also paid in the P/F Premium field. Holiday pay is 6% of your base wage. In the following example, we’ll use the same assumptions as above. To calculate, simply multiply your regular (base) by 6%: $2,283 * 6% = $136.98.

You will receive holiday pay if you are on vacation. As of this writing, if you are off on DP, you do not receive holiday pay. You are also ineligible to receive holiday pay if you make yourself unavailable to work on the actual holiday by going off sick. For example, if the holiday is on the 25th of the month and you go off sick on the 22nd, returning to work on the 26th, you lose the holiday pay. If, on the other hand, you go off sick on the 22nd and return to work on the 24th, you will receive the holiday pay.

In addition, if you work LWLP and receive Holiday Pay (as opposed to receiving it as TC), your P/F Premium will increase as your Holiday Pay increases. To calculate this increase, please refer to the Diff Day section below.

BLS pay is also found in P/F Premium. BLS pay is 8% of your base wage. To calculate this figure, first multiply your hourly base rate by the number of hours worked BLS. For a 2nd step firefighter who worked one BLS watch it would be: $20.5417 * 24 = $493. This is your BLS base wage. Next, multiply this BLS base wage by 8%: $493 * 8% = $39.44.

Mis Pay 04 - This field covers Education and Longevity Pay, which is 3% of your base wage. Again, simply multiply your regular (in this example, 5th step H-2) by 3%: $2,283 * 3% = $68.49. You will earn additional Mis Pay 04 when you work a WDO, but it will show in the Overtime field.

Overtime - This field shows the money you earned by working a WDO. To calculate Overtime, multiply the number of hours worked by your hourly rate (on paycheck), then by 1.5 for time and one-half. Again, we’ll use the same assumptions as above in this example: 24 * $23.7815 * 1.5 = $856.12. This becomes your WDO base wage.

As previously stated, if you work in a premium position while working a WDO, the extra money will show in this field. To continue with the example, you would simply multiply your WDO base wage by 5% to determine the amount earned: $856.12 * 5% = $42.81.

In addition, if you regularly earn Mis Pay 04, you would also earn it for the WDO. To calculate it, multiply your WDO base wage by 3%: $856.12 * 3% = $25.68.

Diff Day - This field covers any days worked LWLP. To calculate this figure, you must first calculate your LWLP hourly wage. Your LWLP hourly rate is the difference between your current rate per hour and the higher rate per hour. For example, the difference between a 5th step H-2 ($23.7815/hour) and an H-20’s ($27.6041/hr) hourly rate is $3.822.

To calculate the Diff Day, simply multiply the number of hours worked LWLP by the rate calculated above. For example, if this firefighter worked as an H-20 for three watches during the pay period, you would multiply 72 hours by $3.822 = $275.25. This number is your LWLP base wage.

In addition, if you regularly earn Holiday Pay, you will earn additional P/F Premium whenever you work LWLP. To calculate this additional P/F Premium, multiply the LWLP base by the 6% holiday pay: $275.25 * 6% = $16.51. Again, this $16.51 will not show in the Diff Day field; it will appear in P/F Premium.

Mis Pay 04 (Education Pay) will not increase for working LWLP.

Retro PR & PN - Retro PR is retro pay subject to retirement. This includes items such as LWLP and Education / Longevity pay. Retro PN is retro pay not subject to retirement and includes items such as Holiday, EMT and A/O premiums.

Sick and Vacation - Sick time is accrued by 6.05 hours per pay period. Close to your anniversary date, you may accrue slightly less than 6.05 due to the fact that the maximum hours you accrue in one year is 156. (The math shows that 6.05 * 26 paychecks = 157.3 hours.)

Vacation time is accrued according to the number of service years:
1 – 5yrs: 4.62 hrs/pay period
5 – 15yrs: 6.93 hrs/pay period
15 + yrs: 9.24 hrs/pay period

Unlike Sick time accrual, your vacation accrual in a pay period will slightly increase due to a WDO. As a result, as with Sick time accrual, you may accrue slightly less than the regular amount as you near your anniversary date.

• Deductions - Fed Tax is obviously federal taxes. HI is the Medicare portion of the Social Security tax. Only those who were hired after the 1986 changes to the Social Security tax structure pay the 1.45% for Medicare. ST Tax is state taxes. Caf Hlth is pre-taxed health deduction for out-of-pocket health care for dependants. Other fields in this area may include deferred compensation (Def Comp), Local 798 union dues (Vol Due1), other dues and supplemental insurance (Vol Ins1).

A Few Parting Notes…

• When checking the calculations on your paycheck, please note when the pay period ends as this is very important. For example, if you work on the day when the pay period ends, you will receive 12 of your 24 hours on one paycheck and the additional 12 hours on your next paycheck.

• It’s not always a good idea to compare paychecks with your co-workers because deductions for such things as deferred comp, loan payments, and other items all changes the net amount of an individual check. The only way two individuals could have the exact same net pay is to have the exact same income and deductions.

• You may have a number of different items within your P/F Premium; it’s not just A/O and EMT pay and you may need to add a few numbers to get the one shown in the field.

• If you own a spot as an A/O or EMT, you will not receive P/F Premium for it if you are off SP. You will, however, receive the additional pay if you are off DP.

• TC and Vacation used are added to your Regular when calculating your base wage to determine your premiums and Mis Pay 04.

• For those taking their Holiday Pay as TC (Form 418.2, in case you’re interested), you are credited 5.775 hours per pay period. After one year (and 26 paychecks), you will earn 150.15 hours of TC.

• Mis Pay 24 used to be Holiday Pay, but Holiday Pay now shows in the P/F Premium field. In case you’re interested, I’m told the change occurred because it was first thought that we would pick up Holiday Pay in our retirement benefit. This was later found to be untrue, so they moved the Holiday Pay from its own category (Mis Pay 24) and added it to P/F Premium.

• I know I didn’t touch on the paramedic paychecks and paychecks for people who are on days. If you would like information concerning your paycheck, forward your question to the Union. You must provide a sample paycheck so there is a reference point.

• I hope I answered many of your questions and cleared up the confusion around paychecks. If, however, you have additional questions, please submit them to the Union.