Tag Archives: FLSA for Fire Departments

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 ...

Today’s FLSA Question: My fire department has a firefighter out on long-term leave. He is receiving his normal salary by utilizing his accrued sick leave while out of work. While on leave he performed six hours of computer type work from home. This work wasn’t required. He volunteered to file some reports related to grants and other computer work. As ...

According to AFGE Local 4060, the union that represents thousands of Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA] workers, a $16.5 million settlement has been reached following a 2018 grievance for unpaid overtime. According to the union’s president Steven Reaves the bulk of the settlement funds will be distributed to effected employees based on various factors and data and will likely take ...

The Livingston Parish Fire Protection District 5, in Denham Springs, Louisiana is facing an FLSA lawsuit filed by a former fire district employee. Former Livingston Parish Captain Brian Jackson filed the lawsuit last week in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana. Jackson’s complaint contains two basic allegations. First, the district failed to pay Jackson and other unnamed ...

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 ...