Tag Archives: FLSA

Fire Service Implications from the Department of Labor’s Planned Minimum Salary Increases for White Collar Overtime Exempt Employees

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is poised to increase the minimum the salary necessary to classify workers [including many high-ranking fire officers] as overtime exempt under the FLSA. The new rule, which will likely go into effect in early 2024 will raise the minimum required weekly salary for overtime exempt white-collar employees by $375 per week and the minimum ...

Read More »

Orlando District Chiefs Allege Retaliation Following FLSA Misclassification Lawsuit

The City of Orlando is facing allegations of retaliation from several District Fire Chiefs following a recent federal lawsuit over unpaid overtime. According to the district chiefs, the city has announced wide-spread transfers among high-ranking city fire officers. The transfers will move several dozen Orlando Fire Department District and Assistant Chiefs to different shifts and stations. The district chiefs are ...

Read More »

Arkansas Medics File FLSA Lawsuit over Incentive Bonuses

Two Arkansas paramedics have filed a lawsuit alleging that their employer, Ambulance Services of Forrest City, LLC (Forrest City, LLC), violated the FLSA by not including nondiscretionary bonuses in their regular rate of pay in violation of the FLSA and the Arkansas Minimum Wage Act (AMWA). The suit, which was filed on October 19, 2023, in the U.S. District Court ...

Read More »

Vermont City Looks to Pay Firefighters Overtime to Combat Rise in Overdose Calls

The City of Burlington, Vermont is taking a bold new step to help combat the “crushing number of overdose calls” that they respond to daily. According to WCAX news, the Burlington Fire Department is requesting the City Council allocate overtime funds for two city firefighters to work twelve hours per day, seven days per week staffing an emergency response vehicle ...

Read More »

Fire Prevention and Investigators, On-Call Pay, Regular Rate, and the FLSA

Today’s FLSA Question: I am the fire chief for mid-sized full-time fire department. Our fire prevention / investigation division has two full-time personnel that take turns being on-call after hours and weekends. Both of these personnel have take-home vehicles and respond after-hours to any confirmed structure fires or any suspicious fires. They divide on-call time between the two assigned personnel, ...

Read More »

Cobb County, Georgia Facing Another FLSA Lawsuit from a Battalion Chief

Cobb County, Georgia is no stranger to FLSA litigation. The county is yet again facing an FLSA lawsuit related to alleged misclassifying senior fire officers as overtime exempt executive employees. The most recent lawsuit contains very similar allegations as another misclassification lawsuit filed by a group of ten Cobb County battalion Chiefs last April. Cobb County Fire Department Battalion Chief ...

Read More »

Orlando District Chiefs File FLSA Lawsuit

A group of twenty-four current and former “District Chiefs” from the Orlando Fire Department have filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging the city misclassified them as overtime exempt employees in violation of the FLSA. This lawsuit is the latest in a series of similar lawsuits filed by high-ranking fire officers from across the country seeking overtime pay. Quoting from ...

Read More »

Jackson Mississippi Firefighters Push for Pay Raises

Tensions between firefighters and their fire chief are running high in Jackson, Mississippi over firefighter pay and the chief’s newly proposed budget. The chief’s proposed budget, which does not include any pay raises for city firefighters has the firefighters seeing red. As a result, Jackson firefighters are pushing back against their fire chief and requesting a vote of “no confidence” ...

Read More »

Hundreds of Los Angeles City Firefighter/Medics File FLSA Lawsuit Against the City

Over 400 current and former Los Angeles City Fire Department firefighter/medics have filed a federal lawsuit against the city alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The lawsuit, which was filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California earlier this summer contains allegations that the city misclassified hundreds of firefighter/medics as employees engaged ...

Read More »