Staff Services
713-247-4703
1205 Dart Street
Houston, Texas 77007
Staff Services
Staff Services is comprised of eight divisions: Governmental Liaison, Legal Services, Grievance Administration, Language Assessment, and Pension.
Staff Services is responsible for overseeing many vital and diverse functions directly affecting and supporting the other Commands of the Houston Fire Department.
Pension - The Houston Fire Department has representation on the Houston Firefighters' Relief and Retirement Fund Board of Directors who directly responds to matters pertaining to a member's pension benefits, accrued severance pay, insurance benefits, and numerous other duties.
This office is responsible for counseling families of deceased active firefighters and retired firefighters. They provide information in regard to pension benefits, accrued severance pay, and assistance in filling out and filing forms. This office also coordinates the procedures required to obtain payment of monetary claims to family of firefighters killed in the line of duty from the State and Federal Government. Assistance is provided for the families of deceased firefighters by offering help in funeral arrangements, filing proper tax information, and assisting the family in any way needed.
Communicates with the pension physician regarding examination of disability retirement applications, reviews and reports the status of the medical physical report's of Fire Trainees to the Pension Board, and the Fire Department personnel in regards to pension and retirement procedures and benefits.
The pension office representative also serves of the following committees:
Chair of the Administrative Hearing Committee
Chair of the Pension Benefits Committee
Serves on the Investment Committee
Serves on the Policy and Procedure Committee
Serves on the Budget and Oversight Committee
Serves on the Legislative Committee
Language Assessment - The Language Assessment section of the Staff Services Command administers Bilingual Assignment Pay by assessing bilingual proficiency utilizing an Oral Proficiency Interview through an application designed by an outside consultant and administered by our own Language Assessment Raters
In compliance with City Ordinance 93-623, the Houston Fire Department created the Language Assessment program, and developed an Oral Proficiency Interview (Test) in the Spanish, Chinese and Vietnamese languages. The Language Assessment Program has a coordinator and thirteen Firefighters that are certified Spanish Raters (Testers). The Raters administer OPI (Test) to Firefighters requesting Bilingual Assignment Pay for Spanish. The Houston Fire Department at this time does not have Chinese or Vietnamese Raters, which is due to the small number of Chinese and Vietnamese speaking Firefighters in the department. Firefighters requesting the OPI (Test) in the Chinese and Vietnamese Languages are conducted by Language Plus Inc, who also certifies the Language Assessment Raters (Testers) annually.
The Language Assessment Coordinator is responsible for scheduling Candidates, Raters (Testers), an examination room, and updating, and maintaining all documentation and confidentiality. The coordinator is responsible for submitting all qualifying members' names and information to the Fire Department Personnel Office and the Chief Dispatcher's Office.
Members who meet or exceed the minimum level of 1+ will receive Bilingual Assignment Pay for a period of three years at which time the member must pass a re-certification test before their certificate expiration date. Members who fail to take a re-certification test on or before their certification expires will lose their Bilingual Assignment Pay for a period of six months at which time they may retest for Bilingual Assignment pay. Members who fail their re-certification test will lose their Bilingual Assignment Pay for a period of one year at which time they may test for Bilingual Assignment Pay. Members who do not meet the minimum level of 1+ may schedule a retest one-year from the date of the previous exam. Members who schedule a test that do not show up or call ahead to cancel their test will be subject to a 30- day waiting period before rescheduling a test.
The Houston Fire Department also tests its' civilian employees and City Of Houston municipal employees as well.
Legal Services -The Houston Fire Department Staff Attorneys provide legal advice and representation on matters concerning internal issues and outside legal litigation. The legal staff consists of two attorneys and one legal assistant.
Legal services provided by the Staff Attorneys are in the following areas:
Civil Service Appeals - Defense of HFD in all appeals of discipline imposed by HFD
Texas Workforce Commission - Defense of all unemployment compensation benefit claims.
Discipline - Drafting letters of reprimand, suspension, termination, and demotion letters of classified and civilian employees.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission - Defense of all EEOC charges and complaints filed, including but not limited to, matters regarding Title VII discrimination charges and ADA complaints.
Texas Human Rights Commission - Defense of all Texas Human Rights Commission complaints and charges.
DOL - Defense of Department of Labor charges and complaints regarding Family Medical Leave Act violations and applications as well as the Fair Labor Standard Act.
AAA - Defense of appeals to the American Arbitration Association under Chapter 143 of the Texas Local Government Code regarding discipline and grievances.
Litigation - Defense of all lawsuits filed in both federal and state district courts regarding Title VII, FMLA, THRCA, FLSA, Breach of Contract, Statutory violations, Injunctions and Temporary Restraining Orders, and Declaratory Judgement Actions.
Cadet Review Board - Serve as non-voting members and legal counsel to the Board in its deliberations regarding a cadet's termination.
Loudermill Hearings - Attend and provide legal counsel for both the pre-disciplinary and pre-disciplinary hearings commonly referred to as Loudermill Hearings conducted prior to indefinite suspension.
Temporary Suspension/Accident Review Hearings - Attend all pre-disciplinary and disciplinary hearings conducted prior to imposing a temporary suspension, letter of reprimand or other form of discipline.
Special Projects - Provide legal counsel regarding numerous labor/employment matters concerning terms and conditions of employment in the HFD application to classified and/or civilian employees, including drafting and/or reviewing Orders, Bulletins, Special Bulletins, etc.
Lawsuits - Category 2, 3, 4, and 5.
Grievances-Providing legal advice to all levels.
Grievance Office - The Grievance office governs the filing, handling, and record keeping of a firefighter's grievance, in accordance with 143.127 of the Texas Local Government Code. The Grievance office, within the Staff Services command is available to all members of the Houston Fire Department for facilitation of grievances that are filed utilizing the Grievance Procedure set out in the Texas Local Government Code. The Staff Services division is also directly responsible for compliance and administration of the disciplinary process within the Houston Fire Department. This section works in close proximity with the Office of the Inspector General to address complaints directly affecting the Houston Fire Department. Compliance and administration of these processes are achieved not only through the efforts of the Grievance Staff, but also through the energies of extremely credible and capable staff attorneys and their assistant.
The Grievance Procedure is a four-step process. The Houston Fire Department Grievance Counselor is responsible for the scheduling and conduct of Step I and 11 grievances. Step III and Step IV grievances are scheduled with the City Grievance Director's office.
The Grievance Counselor is appointed by the Fire Chief to administer the grievance procedures. It is the duty of the Grievance Counselor to provide the appropriate forms to a firefighter and accept, on behalf of the Fire Chief, a Step I or Step 11 Grievance. The Grievance Counselor helps the firefighter in handling the grievance, and forwarding a copy of a Step I or Step II Grievance form to the Director and notifying the Fire Chief. The Grievance Counselor is responsible for scheduling a meeting of the firefighter and that person's immediate supervisor in a timely manner.
