Beaumont negotiators and union leaders discussed incentive pay tied to EMS certifications, proposed clearer links to state credentialing, and warned that slow credentialing processes could delay members receiving pay increases.

The union proposed replacing internal labels with state designations — paramedic, advanced EMT and EMT — and keeping the city’s incentive amounts while adjusting the label for consistency with state‑certified credentials. The city responded that incentives are commonly paid only when employees are credentialed to operate under the medical director’s license; city and legal advisers said that paying for a credential that has not been put into service does not guarantee benefit to the public.

Fire Chief’s remarks: The fire chief explained the credentialing path: local protocols and medical director approval are submitted to the state for E1/E2/E3/P1 designations, and the training timeline can be protracted. The chief told negotiators that the department’s civilian EMS training track has been slower in the past, and recommended either policy changes or a timeline clause to ensure training completion.

Training, timelines and policy
- Timeline uncertainty: Union negotiators warned that credentialing through the medical‑director / state process could take many months or longer, creating a lag between when personnel complete local training and when the city can assign them to higher scopes of practice (and therefore when incentive pay would become payable).
- Proposed fixes: City negotiators suggested language that ties incentive pay to state credentialing but allows a parenthetical reference to local designations. The city also recommended adding “or equivalent credential level” so a future re‑naming of designations would not remove a member’s eligibility.
- Oversight: Participants discussed creating or using an operational guidelines committee to streamline credentialing/training policies during the merger and transition period; the committee was suggested as a place to address timelines and scheduling conflicts that slow credential completion.

Temporary promotions and upgrades
Negotiators also discussed temporary promotion language tied to published schedules. The city proposed a 2‑hour window after schedule posting during which members must raise scheduling errors; both sides agreed to continue wordsmithing to limit disputes caused by late schedule changes or software outages.

Outcome and next steps: Parties agreed they were close on certification pay language but asked staff and counsel to draft revised wording that: uses state designations alongside parenthetical local labels; ties pay to the ability to operate under the medical director; and adds a clause for “equivalent credential” to protect members if the medical‑director labeling changes.