Tag Archives: Covid – 19

The union representing thousands of Philadelphia firefighters (IAFF Local 22) is urging its unvaccinated members to submit overtime requests for department mandated Covid testing. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, the city and union recently reached an agreement that requires unvaccinated firefighters (approximately 700 of a total 2,300 city firefighters) test themselves weekly and upload those results to a city website ...

The Dallas Fire Fighters Association is claiming that the City of Dallas, Texas has failed to pay hundreds of firefighters’ tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid overtime dating back several months. According to union officials, the city failed to pay some firefighters overtime for hours worked during the months of December 2021 and January 2022, in violation of city ...

The City of Columbia, South Carolina has announced a new hazard pay and bonus program for city workers. The plan, which has been approved by the city council will provide firefighters, police officers, public works, and other “front-line workers” with a $2,500 one-time stipend for working through the pandemic. Other city workers will receive a $1,250 one-time stipend. Additionally, city ...

A group of 225 current and former federal correctional employees filed a lawsuit last week alleging that the U.S. Department of Justice has failed to pay them required hazardous duty pay and environmental differential pay. Additionally, the plaintiffs also allege violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The plaintiffs are all current and former employees at the Allenwood Federal ...

This is the second of several posts dedicated to answering questions asked by attendees at the recent FLSA for Fire Departments live webinar. If you have questions like this, please consider attending the next live webinar in February 2021. FLSA Question: We require mandatory weekly COVID tests for all of our firefighters. We pay off-duty firefighters four hours of overtime ...

A group of more than 1,000 Washington D.C., police officers filed a lawsuit earlier this week in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia alleging the District has shorted the officers’ overtime rate during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the officers claim the District has failed to include hazardous duty pay in their regular rate of pay in violation ...

Today’s FLSA Question: I am an HR manager for a medium sized city. We have a number of non-essential personnel, including several members of the police and fire department’s clerical staff, working from home due to the pandemic. Traditionally, these employees worked Monday-Friday, forty-hour per week schedules. Now, since these non-essential personnel are working from home, we have very little ...

Today’s FLSA Question: I am a municipal fire chief. In response to the current COVID-19 pandemic our city passed an ordinance providing rank-and-file city firefighters with hazard pay. This hazard pay is above and beyond the firefighters’ normal wages and is payable for every hour worked. In fact, the city even made the payment retroactive to include the last two ...

Should workers’ compensation cover police and firefighters that contract the coronavirus? Pennsylvania first responders think that it should…And are trying to do something about it. The Pennsylvania Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) has drafted legislation—which has yet to find a sponsor in the Pennsylvania legislature—that would include coronavirus in a list of “specific occupational illnesses covered under the Workers’ Compensation Act for first responders.”

In this Podcast, Curt Varone and I discuss the legal implications related to the quarantine of firefighters following the recent Corona COVID – 19 breakout. The issues discussed include: the applicability of workers’ compensation benefits for quarantined firefighters, FLSA wage and hour requirements for injured and quarantined firefighters, and much more.