BILLERICA — The four Fire Department employees serving suspensions for the on-duty sex scandal will work for 60 days but not receive a paycheck, The Sun has learned.

The employees involved in the sexual misconduct — Capt. David Forziati, firefighters Michael Ricci and Dan Barrila, and dispatcher Christina Winitzer — had been on paid leave from April 13 to June 21.

Town Manager John Curran structured the suspensions as “working without pay” to help the town recoup some of the money lost as a result of the scandal. The Fire Department had to pay firefighters overtime for two months, and the town also incurred legal costs with a lengthy investigation and hearings.

Forziati has been demoted in rank, The Sun has also learned.

“For those people that say, ‘Well, what came out of the investigation was only a few suspensions,’ I want to people to know that the town has an obligation to investigate issues like this to make sure services are not impaired, the work environment is safe, and any systemic issues impeding those things needs to be addressed immediately,” Town Manager John Curran said.

“It took a long time, but it was a serious, serious issue, and that’s why it took months,” he said. “You can’t just make knee-jerk reactions. You need a full investigation, and that’s what we did, turning over every rock.”

Last week, Curran announced that the four employees had accepted the suspensions. Curran did not provide details on the length of the suspensions or about which employee was demoted at that time.

In last week’s announcement, Curran described the situation as “a significant drain of resources and attention from the more important business of the town.”

“It is important that the department, the town and its residents are able to move forward, confident that this type of situation will never arise again,” he continued.

The violations included “sex while on duty on town property, conduct unbecoming of a firefighter/officer, and lying,” sources told The Sun. The sexual misconduct occurred in both the central and Pinehurst fire stations.

There was never evidence that public-safety service or calls delivered to the station were compromised, Curran said.

The violations date back to last summer. Fire Chief Tom Conway became aware of the misconduct and alerted Curran in January. The town’s labor counsel, Feeley & Brown, then launched a three-month investigation.

Hearings were held behind closed doors last month, with Curran serving as the hearing officer.

As part of the investigation’s outcome, the town will implement the following corrective actions: an operations assessment, reorganization of mid-level command staff, management training pertaining directly to the misconduct issues, sexual-harassment training, and enactment of visitor/fraternization policies.

“We’re moving forward with the corrective actions to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” Curran said.

Follow Rick Sobey on Twitter @rsobeyLSun.