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City offers up to $10K bonuses to attract new 911 employees

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Updated  June 20, 2023 6:21pm EDT
Atlanta
FOX 5 Atlanta

Bonuses for new Atlanta 911 operators

Atlanta needs help in its emergency call center and bonuses of up to $10,000 will be offered to new employees. A city union leader says she fought for pay incentives to attract workers because the critical department is short-staffed.

ATLANTA - The Atlanta City Council is expected on Tuesday to approve large cash bonuses to attract new workers to handle phone calls at the emergency call center. 

Atlanta 911 is severely short-staffed, and the one-time bonuses will pay up to $10,000 for those candidates who can meet the training standards.

"I am happy, we are grateful to the city council for stepping up," said Gina Pagnotta, a union leader who has complained about staffing for years. 

Last Wednesday, the bonus measure passed unanimously in the important council finance panel.

That green light paves the way for the expected approval on Tuesday.

Pagnotta said there are times when the critical department is held together "by a thread" due to the low manpower.

"They get burned out," Pagnotta said. "We have to get some new people in there, so the current workers can schedule off, take vacations and get home to family"

Pagnotta added the workers are every bit as important as police officers and firefighters. 

"If they don't execute," Pagnotta said, "then nothing else happens as it should."

On Tuesday afternoon, Atlanta Police issued a statement about the bonus proposal.

It reads, "Atlanta City Council is voting on legislation that would allocate $100,000 dollars for bonuses for new-hires for the Atlanta Police Department's E911 Communication Center. The legislation caps the maximum amount for the bonuses at $10,000."

The statement adds that the actual amount for the bonuses would be determined by the Atlanta Police Department's leadership.

According to the APD statement, "Our E911 Center plays a vital role in our mission to create a safer Atlanta. The E911 Center has been short-staffed for some time and we believe sign-on bonuses would help attract quality candidates to fill our open positions. If this legislation passes, our goal is to excel the hiring of new E911 employees and we do not anticipate setting the bonus amount near the $10,000 cap. Once the amount is set, we will push that information out to the public."