Proposition 11 would impact emergency ambulance workers by no longer entitling them to work breaks without being on-call.
Most employers have to provide an unpaid 30 minute meal breaks during each work shift, and a paid 10-minute rest break every four hours. Emergency ambulance workers take similar breaks, but those calls can be interrupted by 911 calls or calls to reposition their ambulance in the city. During the shift's downtime, crews would normally be able to take uninterrupted meal and rest breaks even while technically being on-call.
A California Supreme Court ruling, Augustus v. ABM Security Services, decided that on-call breaks violate state labor law and that employers have to provide off-duty non-interruptible breaks, even in an emergency. This case shared similarities with lawsuits that EMTs and paramedics have filed against private ambulance companies in the past, according to the Legislative Analyst’s analysis.
Proposition 11 would address some of the issues ambulance companies would be facing with the court ruling and the lawsuits.
What does the proposition do?
There are three main components to Proposition 11.
It would require on-call meal and rest breaks for EMTs and paramedics, attempt to limit costs for previous practices of on-call meal and rest breaks, and require employer-paid training and mental health services for EMTs and paramedics.
How would this affect counties where ambulances operate?
The Legislative Analyst considers it likely that ambulance companies would be required in the near future to give off-duty meal and rest breaks to emergency ambulance workers. This would raise the cost of services.
With higher costs, the counties would be affected by reducing ambulance company payments and potentially requiring county payment to ambulance companies to get adequate service. Prop 11 would allow the companies to avoid most the new costs and allow them to continue operating with on-call meal and rest breaks.
One more before you go... Brandon Rittiman explains the ins and outs of Proposition 11 and what your vote means in the 2018 election.