Firefighters with the Columbus Fire Department will receive more vacation days starting next year depending on their number of years of service with the city.
Columbus Board of Public Works and Safety members on Tuesday approved a revision to CFD’s Fire Department Order 2-11 that bumps up the number of vacation days members of the department can take, effective Jan. 1, 2026.
One part of the policy encompasses 56-hour work week schedules, meaning firefighters, and the other involves CFD employees working 40-hour week schedules.
Mike Kutsko, deputy chief of administration for the department, said the policy essentially adds two additional days for incumbent members, as well as a new parameter that recognizes firefighters with 15 years with the department.
For example, firefighters that have completed their first year with the department will see an increase in vacation days from six to eight; those that have finished year five with CFD will go from nine to 11 vacation days; and those that have been with CFD for 10 years will now have 13 vacation days.
Firefighters with 15 years with the department will get 14 vacation days and those with more than 20 years receive 15 vacation days.
“This update would help support members health and their well-being, strength, morale and retention. And it aligns our benefits with industry standards,” Kutsko told the board. “Our members dedicate themselves daily to protecting our citizens, both here in Columbus and Bartholomew County, and we want to recognize our years of service with additional vacation time.”
