Augusta and outside employment

It is a bargained term, not a policy

Augusta's rules come from Article 33 of the collective agreement between the City and Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #003, covering patrol officers and detectives. That matters: the limits below were negotiated rather than issued, and they change when the contract does.

The opening test is the familiar one — employees will not engage in outside employment which may in any way hinder their impartial performance of their public duties or impair their efficiency to the public — and written permission from the Police Chief is required first.

Six conditions, any one of which ends it

The agreement lists what makes outside employment unacceptable, and it applies if any of them apply or develop — so a job approved today fails the moment one becomes true.

More than twenty hours a week, except during regular days off, holidays or vacation periods. Work whose nature or place might bring disfavour on the employee or the City. Work with an adverse effect on the employee's sick leave record — an unusual condition, and a pointed one. Work that impairs the ability to discharge City duties. And any suggestion the employee is using their City position to influence their outside employment.

The sixth is the vehicle answer: outside employment is unacceptable where it would involve the employee's appearance in City uniform, involve use of City equipment, or in any manner be considered a conflict of interest with the municipal position. Uniform and equipment are barred in the same clause, which is why nothing about a patrol car needs saying separately.

Underneath it all sits a statement of precedence: the primary duty, obligation and responsibility is to the City, all employees are subject to call at any time for emergencies, special assignment or overtime, and no secondary employment may infringe on that.

The detail rate is pegged to a rank you may not hold

Article 16 prices extra detail work, and the formula is distinctive: one and a half times the top step detective's rate, plus whatever educational benefit applies to the individual officer, with a four-hour minimum.

So a patrol officer on their first step is paid a detail at a rate calculated from the highest-paid detective step — the rate follows the job, not the person. Work on New Year's Eve between 5:00 pm and 5:00 am is twice the extra detail rate.

The agreement also names what is not an outside detail: anything city-sponsored, including details for any city or school department or the Greater Augusta Utility District.

And a sentence the parties put in deliberately, which almost nothing else in this section states out loud: it is recognised that the rate paid to employees working an outside detail does not equate to the billing rate charged to the responsible party. Miami-Dade makes the same point across two documents; Augusta puts it in one clause of the contract.

Scheduled extra duty carries a two-hour cancellation notice requirement, or the officer is paid as originally scheduled — and officers accepting extra duty must make themselves reachable to receive that call.

What this page cannot tell you

A collective agreement sets terms; it is not a conduct policy. Article 33 does not list prohibited industries, does not describe how details are handed out, and says nothing about liability or what happens if an officer takes police action on a detail.

Those answers, if they exist, are in the department's own rules, which the agreement expressly leaves the Chief free to delete, change or implement — with any change posted for ten working days before it takes effect.

Vehicles

This policy does not deal with vehicles — it does not say whether an agency car may be taken on an off-duty job, or what one costs. That is a gap in the document, not a prohibition.

Common questions

How many hours can an Augusta officer work outside employment?

Not more than twenty a week, except during regular days off, holidays or vacation periods.

Can an Augusta officer wear the uniform or use a police car on a second job?

No. Outside employment is unacceptable where it would involve appearing in City uniform or using City equipment.

What does an Augusta extra detail pay?

One and a half times the top step detective's rate plus any applicable education benefit, with a four-hour minimum, and double that rate on New Year's Eve between 5pm and 5am.