Tag Archives: fire chief

The City of Selma, Alabama has reached an undisclosed “confidential” settlement with three fire department assistant fire marshals/fire investigators following their 2021 lawsuit for unpaid overtime, breach of contract, and FLSA retaliation. The plaintiffs’ complaint set forth three basic allegations. First, the plaintiffs claim the city misclassified them as overtime exempt employees in violation of the FLSA. Second, the city ...

Today’s FLSA Question: I am a firefighter in a small full-time unionized fire department. Our most recent three-year collective bargaining agreement provided us with “discretionary” lump-sum annual bonuses in lieu of traditional percentage-based wage increases. In the first year of the contract, we received a $2,000 lump sum payment. In the second and third year of the contract we will ...

For the second year in a row, Florida firefighters, paramedics, and law enforcement officers will receive $1,000 bonus checks from the state. The program, which is intended to reward the work of first responders state-wide, allocates $125 million to the program. In total over 100,000 first responders will receive checks. Gov. DeSantis hand-delivered some of the checks to Jacksonville Fire ...

Today’s FLSA Question: I am a paid firefighter in a small full-time fire department. My department has one station and a total of 7 firefighters on-duty per shift. We work 24-hour shifts that start at 7 am. We rotate ride positions between two engines and an EMS unit. Our department’s policy requires that all personnel report to the shift captain ...

The City of Encinitas, California is the latest city to face an FLSA overtime lawsuit from a fire department battalion chief. The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California on April 8, alleges the city misclassifies battalion chiefs as overtime exempt employees in violation of the FLSA. As of now, the lawsuit ...

A federal judge has found in favor of a group of thirty Pemberton Township, New Jersey police officers and sergeants following their 2014 lawsuit over uncompensated pre-and-post shift work activities. The judge’s decision, which came after eight years of litigation and a 4-day bench [non-jury] trial found that Pemberton Township failed to pay the officers for time spent preparing their ...

Today’s FLSA Question: I am a fire chief for a small suburban fire department. Our local fire chiefs’ association is hosting a one-day presentation on leadership to be held at a neighboring community’s recreation facility. I am encouraging many of my personnel to attend what I believe will be a very valuable and worthwhile learning opportunity. Additionally, I will reimburse ...

The City of Kansas City, Missouri has reached a global settlement with 383 current and former city firefighters following their 2019 lawsuit for alleged violations of the FLSA. The firefighters alleged in the lawsuit, which was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri on February 8, 2019, that the city failed to include specialty ...

Today’s FLSA Question: I am an overtime exempt battalion chief for a mid-sized municipal fire and medical department. I do not receive any FLSA overtime. Despite being overtime exempt, the city pays me and other exempt chiefs “straight time overtime” for additional shifts worked beyond the normal work schedule. This is paid at our normal hourly rate. It is not ...

The City of Martinsburg, West Virginia has reached a $1.75 million settlement with a group of thirty-seven current and former city firefighters following a 2018 lawsuit over holiday pay. The settlement ends more than three years of legal wrangling between the city and firefighters that eventually made it all the way to the West Virginia Supreme Court. The firefighters had ...