Tag Archives: regular rate of pay

Today’s FLSA Question: I am full-time firefighter for a small combination fire department. We work a 24/48 schedule for an average of 56 hours per week. The department has a policy that requires firefighters be on-call for at least one 24-hour shift every two-week work period. The department pays on-call firefighters $24 for each on-call shift and overtime if called ...

Today’s FLSA Question: I am the fire chief for a small combination fire department. In addition to myself, we employ fifteen full-time employees. Twelve firefighter/medics, two lieutenants, and one captain all assigned to 24-hour shifts (24 hours on, 48 hours off) working a 56-hour average workweek. We use a 14-day work period and pay overtime for all hours worked over ...

The Town Council in Dyer, Indiana recently passed a temporary ordinance related to compensating town employees that also serve as paid-on-call firefighters. The ordinance, which was unanimously passed by the council, mandates the town set the overtime rate for town employees that also serve as paid-on-call firefighters, at time and one-half of the “highest regular hourly rate of pay” earned ...

The City of Chickasha, Oklahoma is facing a lawsuit filed by city firefighters for unpaid overtime. A group of thirty-one, current and former Chickasha firefighters filed the lawsuit in federal court earlier this month. Specifically, the firefighters allege the city failed to include contractually guaranteed longevity payments in their regular rate of pay in violation of the FLSA. As a ...

This is the first 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: Can uniform allowances paid to police officers and firefighters be excluded from the regular rate of pay? Does the ...

In this Vlog, Curt Varone and I discuss a recent federal court decision that invalidated one Texas fire departments use of the FLSA’s §207(k) partial overtime exemption for firefighter/medics assigned to EMS companies. Here is more on this important ruling. Ruling in FF/Medics’ FLSA Overtime Lawsuit Stresses Importance of FD Policies and Procedures

The San Diego City Council unanimously approved a $3.4 million settlement with more than 700 city firefighters this week. The settlement resolves a 2019 lawsuit, that was initially filed by only three city firefighters, alleging the city’s pay practices violated the FLSA. Over the course of the next several months hundreds of more firefighters opted into the suit. In the ...

The City of Gloversville, New York has agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by three retired firefighters over alleged violations of the FLSA. According to The Leader-Herald, the settlement provides a total of $110,000 paid to the three retirees and their attorney(s). The crux of the retired firefighters’ claims revolved around the FLSA’s compensatory time (comp time) requirements. In particular, ...

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 ...

Fire Departments that utilize the FLSA’s §207(k) partial overtime exemption for cross-trained firefighter/EMTs should carefully review their policies and procedures following a recent court decision. The decision, which was handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Ada Brown, invalidated the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport’s Fire Department’s (DFWFD) use of the §207(k) exemption for cross-trained firefighter/EMTs assigned to the department’s EMS ...