Washington D.C.'s 911 call center is reportedly offering $800 bonuses to employees who show up to all their scheduled shifts after a series of staffing and system problems.
NBC4 Washington reported on Tuesday that Office of Unified Communications (OUC) Director Heather McGaffin sent out an email announcing the bonus to staff members, mentioning the offer would start "immediately."
"Good morning 911 Team. Starting immediately, all 911 employees who show up for all of their scheduled shifts will receive an $800 incentive for the month," the email allegedly read.
"Staffing is crucial to the success of our agency. Unscheduled call-outs of all kinds are up and causing a hardship for fellow employees who are continuously getting stuck, coming in early, and being asked to come in on days off," it continued. "The pilot is simple - show up for each shift you’re assigned and receive $800 additional for the month. We start today for August."
Fox News Digital reached out to McGaffin for comment.
The news followed several ongoing issues with staff shortages that have only increased in recent months. According to the OUC website, 58 out of 66 shifts did not meet their staffing target in the month of July, compared to 31 out of 65 shifts being understaffed in June.
This was also a significant leap from May, which had 16 out of 66 shifts understaffed.
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According to NBC4, the OUC has also been experiencing serious issues regarding its internal computer systems, with six system crashes since May. Earlier this month, a computer outage occurred during a radio dispatch involving a 5-month-old infant going into cardiac arrest. The infant later died.
