• National Fire Service Work Schedule Survey

  • This survey collects information about fire service work schedules, department scheduling practices, and firefighter work-schedule experiences. The information collected will be used to support the development of fire-service educational, research, workforce-management, and digital reference resources.

    This survey is designed to protect respondent anonymity. No name, email address, department name, employee identification number, or other directly identifying information is requested. Results will be analyzed and reported in aggregate.

    Participation is voluntary. Please answer department-level questions using official or reliable department information when practical and personal-experience questions based on your own experience. Questions displayed may vary based on your role and responses.

     

    Estimated completion time: approximately 10-15 minutes.

     

  • Eligibility

  • Are you currently employed in the career fire service?*
  • Is your current fire department located in the United States or a U.S. territory?*

  • Thank You for Your Interest

    This survey is intentionally limited to personnel currently employed in the career fire service within the United States or a U.S. territory. Based on your responses, no aditional survey questions are required. Please select "End Survey" below to complete your response.

  • Rank & Routing

  • Which best describes your current rank or role?*
  • Are you familiar enough with your department's staffing and work-schedule practices to provide department-level information?*

  • Department & Schedule Profile

  • The following questions request department-level information. Please use official department information where practical. Estimates are acceptable where specifically requested.

  • Which best describes your department?*
  • Approximately how many career suppression personnel are employed by your department?*
  • Approximately how many fire stations does your department operate?*
  • Approximately how many emergency incidents does your department respond to annually?*
  • What is the primary repeating work schedule used by your 24-hour suppression personnel?*
  • How many suppression platoons/shifts are used to operate the primary schedule?*
  • Does the schedule use Kelly days, debit days, or another recurring scheduled relief mechanism?*
  • Approximately how long has your department used its current primary suppression schedule?*

  • Schedule History, Staffing & Overtime

  • What primary work schedule did your department use immediately before its current schedule?*
  • Was your department's current schedule implemented following a formal trial or pilot period?*
  • If yes, approximately how long was the trial or pilot period?
  • What were the primary reasons for your department's most recent schedule change?*
  • Does your department maintain a formally established minimum daily suppression staffing level?*
  • Approximately what percentage of authorized career suppression positions are currently filled?*
  • Which methods does your department routinely use to fill staffing vacancies?*
  • Does your department have a formal limit on consecutive hours worked?*
  • Which annual overtime information does your department formally track?*
  • Are shift trades permitted for suppression personnel?*
  • When a suppression employee takes an entire scheduled shift off, how many hours of paid leave are typically deducted from their leave balance?*

  • Schedule Administration, Recruitment & Evaluation

  • What FLSA work period does your department use for eligible suppression personnel?*
  • Is your department's suppression work schedule governed or materially affected by a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) or memorandum of understanding (MOU)?*
  • Does your department formally track firefighter turnover or separation rates?*
  • During recruitment, does your department specifically promote its suppression work schedule as an employee benefit?*
  • Has your department formally identified work schedule as a recruitment or retention factor?*
  • Has your department formally evaluated its current suppression work schedule since implementation?*
  • Which measures has your department used to evaluate its work schedule?
  • Has your department considered changing its primary suppression work schedule within the past 5 years?*
  • Which alternative work schedule(s) has your department considered within the past 5 years?
  • Would department-specific implementation resources-such as sample schedule calendars, policy considerations, FLSA information, staffing considerations, and schedule comparisons-be useful to your organization when evaluating work schedules?*

  • Individual - Work Schedule Experience

    The following questions ask about your personal experience working fire service schedules. Please answer based on your own work experience rather than department policy or the experiences of others.
  • How many years have you worked in the career fire service?*
  • Approximately how many years have you personally worked a 24-hour shift schedule?*
  • Which fire service work schedule(s) have you personally worked?*
  • During a typical month, approximately how many additional shifts or partial shifts do you work beyond your regular schedule?*
  • During the past 12 months, have you worked 48 or more consecutive hours due to overtime, callback, holdover, shift trades, or additional staffing?*
  • Approximately how often have you worked 48 or more consecutive hours during the past 12 months?

  • Sleep, Fatigue & Recovery

    Please answer the following questions based on your typical experience while working 24-hour fire service shifts.
  • On a typical 24-hour work shift, approximately how many total hours of sleep do you receive?*
  • On a typical 24-hour work shift, what is the longest period of uninterrupted sleep you normally receive?*
  • On a typical 24-hour shift, approximately how many times is your sleep interrupted for emergency responses?*
  • How often do you leave a 24-hour work shift feeling significantly fatigued?*
  • Following a typical 24-hour work shift, approximately how long does it take before you generally feel recovered from the shift?*
  • During the past 12 months, have you ever felt too fatigued to safely drive home following a work shift?*
  • How often does post-shift fatigue interfere with activities you planned for your first day off?*
  • During a typical 24-hour work shift, approximately how many emergency incidents does your assigned company/unit respond to?*

  • Commute, Work-Life & Schedule Priorities

    The following questions ask about commuting and the factors you consider important when evaluating a fire service work schedule.
  • Approximately how long is your normal one-way commute to work?*
  • Approximately how many miles is your normal one-way commute to work?*
  • How important is each of the following to you when evaluating a fire department work schedule?*
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  • How important is your work schedule when considering whether to remain employed by a fire department*
  • If choosing between two fire departments offering otherwise similar employment conditions, would the work schedule influence your decision?*
  • Have you ever considered changing fire departments primarily because of the work schedule?*
  • Have you ever chosen not to apply for, pursue employment with, or accept a position with a fire department because of its work schedule?*

  • Schedule Comparison & Preference

    The following questions ask about your work schedule preferences. Responses should be based on your personal experience and knowledge. No particular schedule is assumed to be preferable.
  • What is your current primary work schedule?*
  • Based on your current knowledge and experience, which fire service work schedule would you most prefer to work?*
  • Based on your current knowledge and experience, which fire service work schedule would be your second choice?*
  • What is the single most important factor influencing your preferred work schedule?*
  • Is your preferred schedule a schedule you have personally worked?
  • Overall, how satisfied are you with your current work schedule?*

  • Senior Leader Experience

    The following questions ask about your personal experience with fire service schedules during your career. Please answer based on schedules you have personally worked.
  • Approximately how many years during your career have you personally worked a 24-hour shift schedule*
  • Which fire service work schedule(s) have you personally worked during your career?*
  • Have you personally worked two or more different fire service work schedules during your career?*
  • Of the fire service schedules you have personally worked, which did you prefer most?
  • What was the single most important reason for that preference?
  • Based on your professional experience, have you observed a meaningful difference in recruitment or retention after your department changed work schedules?*

  • Final Questions

    These final questions help identify areas where additional fire service work-schedule information may be useful.
  • Which fire service work-schedule resources would you find useful?*
  • Is there a fire service work schedule or schedule variation that was not adequately represented in this survey?*
  • Should be Empty: