Tag Archives: firefighters

AL City Resolves Underpayment of Overtime with City Firefighters

Rainbow City, AL has paid twenty-two city firefighters a total of $22,846.88 following a Department of Labor Wage and Hour investigation. The investigation looked at the way city firefighters were paid from August 2017 to August 2019. The investigation revealed the city failed to pay firefighters overtime and maintain records as required by the FLSA. Specifically, the city agreed to ...

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Training Required for Promotion and the FLSA

Today’s FLSA Question: I am an HR director for a mid-sized city. The fire chief wants to require all future officers possess NFPA 1041 (Fire Service Instructor) and 1021 (Fire Officer I) certification prior to getting promoted. The chief tells me these classes are frequently offered at the state fire academy at a minimal cost. The chief also believes these ...

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Consecutive Hours Worked and the FLSA

Today’s FLSA Question: I am the fire chief of a mid-sized full-time fire department. Currently, our firefighters work 24-hour shifts; however, the firefighters’ union is proposing a move to 48-hour work shifts. I am open to the change, but I am concerned about firefighter fatigue and the effects of working shifts longer than 48 hours. We do not have a ...

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$247k Settlement in Oklahoma Fire Marshal’s Unpaid OT and FLSA Retaliation Lawsuit

Stan Smith, a former Fire Marshal for the City of Sand Springs, Oklahoma Fire Department has agreed to a $247,500 settlement with the city following his 2017 lawsuit over unpaid overtime. Smith filed a rather common straight-forward FLSA lawsuit in September 2017. Smith alleged that he regularly performed work during his unpaid scheduled lunch hour. The FLSA requires employers pay ...

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Tennessee County Facing FLSA Suit from Medic

Gary Perry, a paramedic for Montgomery County Emergency Medical Services, has filed a federal lawsuit alleging the county fails to pay him and other similarly situated medics overtime as required by the FLSA. According to Perry’s complaint—which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee on October 28—the county does not provide Perry and other ...

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Managing Firefighters, Daylight Savings Time, and the FLSA

Does your state participate in Daylight Savings Time? Most likely, you answered yes to this question. Now, in addition to changing the batteries on smoke and CO detectors, did you pay your firefighters correctly? Since it is getting to be that time of year again, here is a post from FirefighterOvertime.org dating back to December of 2017 that is just ...

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Lump Sum Annual OT Payments and the FLSA

Today’s FLSA Question: I am a full-time paid firefighter that works a 24/48 schedule for an average of 56 hours per week. Historically, firefighters in our city received all of their FLSA overtime in one big check at the end of the year. The city maintained a running record of all the overtime pay firefighters were owed from scheduled work ...

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Arkansas Firefighters Gearing Up to File FLSA Suit Over On-Call Time

A lawyer representing a group of Blytheville, Arkansas firefighters is gearing up to sue the City of Blytheville for unpaid wages. According to NewsChannel 3, the lawyer sent a “demand letter” to city officials indicating the intent to file an FLSA lawsuit over a city policy that requires city firefighters be on-call 24-hours per day, seven days per week in ...

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