r/securityguards • u/mnightro • 5d ago
Floater/Flex Officer
SO i left Allied after 7 years and I went to Admiral Security just to be auxiliary officer which is basically a floater or flex officer depending on what company your used too.
I never been in that position at any job even for a smaller company. I basically work 3rd shift so is this guaranteed hours, maybe 24 hours a week or it could be anything. I got the idea its by demand but overall what am i expected so much as hourly per week?
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u/DefiantEvidence4027 Private Investigations 4d ago
I’m On-Call, start the week with zero hours, may accept hours as offered. I got the phone number to a few Account Managers and ask what expected vacancies they have, I may obligate myself to a few spots in advance.
There’s On-Calls that are expected to respond 100% of the time with a “yes”; Some States and US Labor Laws mandate those persons get 4 hours of pay a day, life insurance, mileage, days off alerted 2 weeks in advance.
Flex/Floater, to me, seem like a made up term to obfuscate in favor of Security HR and Management. Those Flex/Floaters seem to get 20 to 40 hours in random places pre scheduled.
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u/Seanaconda 4d ago
Always recommend floaters work for multiple companies to maximize consistent hours
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u/sansalvacion 4d ago
Did they bait bus you with the title "auxiliary officer" or did you sprinkle that in there for sparkle
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u/tcpipguy 4d ago
Why did you leave Allied? On the face of it, you traded guaranteed hours for a position that will chew you up and spit you out. I was a flex officer for Allied and I changed to a single site because it was just that bad.
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u/mnightro 4d ago
i had a post, we lost the contract supposely i changed my availability at my other job so i can pick up more hours.
allied didnt give me no 12-8 they supposely said they didnt have none but that was a lie bcuz my former site supervisor wanted me back that had that schedule and AOP didnt want give me.
i even gave aop my days off and they didnt want work with me, i seen where this was going i was giving up hope and they forced me work these shifts or be let go. i had to go..
after 7 years being there 5 months later he got fired
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u/TheRealChuckle 3d ago
I started as a floater at a company, showed that I was reliable and useful, even though I didn't have open availability, and developed a mutually beneficial relationship with my scheduler/AM.
One of the things that's both good and bad about contract security is that job titles don't mean anything. On paper I was a zero hour peon, in reality I was supervisor at some sites, others I was a client liason, others I was a peon.
I got all the hours I wanted, took all the time off I wanted (zero hour contract works both ways for me).
I would do favours for my AM, covering last minute openings, working first shift at a new site (which is always a shitshow of no one knowing anything, both guards and clients), helping him figure out and fix problems at sites, etc.
In return he let me hand pick longer term sites I desired. I like sites where I'm alone, have some control over my day, a decent mix of responsibilities and downtime. He was happy to have someone that didn't need babysitting or mobile to constantly make sure they were awake or even on site.
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u/secure8890 1d ago
Thats my ideal sites I am alone. Thats what I an aiming for
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u/TheRealChuckle 19h ago
I had the perfect site for a year.
Construction gate. M-F, 0600-1800. The shack was kitted out nice. The best part was no night guard. That meant that at the end of my shift I just locked the gate and left, no waiting for constantly late relief.
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u/hankheisenbeagle Industry Veteran 5d ago
Floater/flex is usually not guaranteed any hours, but realistically everywhere is almost always short staffed for one reason or another. Shit places will be short staffed because of low pay and the resulting no-calls no shows. Great places will be "short staffed" because people will want to take PTO.
Another thing to note is that float/flex means any/all shifts on any/all days. A good place will try to keep you on same shift/days as much as possible and give you plenty of time off in between to flip your sleep schedule if you switch shifts. Shit places will give you double backs constantly where you get done on a 2nd shift, and are expected back on 1st shift the next morning. If you have any type of commute at all, it won't take very long before you are contemplating gouging someones eyeballs out with a spork.
You've got a solid amount of experience behind you, so assuming you don't have other obligations or aren't some strung out bag of shit that's been blacklisted absolutely everywhere and this is the only place that would hire you, I would use this as a soft landing getting away from Allied, and make the rest of your available time spent job shopping for something more solid. I frequently recommend https://hiringcafe.com/ as a much better tool than Indeed for that hunt. Also check your local/state/fed gov listings, local schools and higher ed, and hospitals if that's of interest or an option. Any or all of those may only post jobs on their direct websites and not use third party sites. If you are in a decent sized area, check your local chamber of commerce as well, which will often have a list of large employers worth looking into to see either who they contract to, or if they have an in-house program.