Review Work Force Calculation Strategies Against Peers. The most economical number of operators across any given period of time (e.g., fiscal year) can be determined as the number of operators that would minimize the combined cost of (a) fixed fringe benefits and allowed time (which increases as the number of operators increases) and overtime premium with its variable fringe benefits (which decreases as the number of operators increases). It is also possible, and increasingly frequently the case that the fixed fringe benefits are so expensive, that fulfilling work with overtime premium is always less expensive than hiring additional operators. In this case the practical limit on reducing the work force size is often determined by the necessity to keep the work force interested in working overtime to avoid situations where assignments cannot be filled practically. The following diagram illustrates this economic relationship. Subject to discussion with the City and the City’s approval, the Contractor shall select peer systems considered appropriately comparable to the City’s system for comparability analysis and surveys. The Contractor’s written survey instruments shall be integrated so that systems responding to surveys can allocate the responses based on their own organizational structures. Follow-up telephone interviews by the Contractor shall clarify and supplement the procedures used by peer systems for operator work force planning. The Contractor shall integrate the data collected in the prior tasks and shall assess the optimal number of operators for MTA first on a strictly financial basis, and then, if necessary, taking into account the operating impact of the financial optimum. In addressing the optimal number of operators, the Contractor shall take into account less straightforward issues that affect the truly optimal number of operators, including:
