Tag Archives: regular rate of pay

Today’s FLSA Question: I am a newly appointed fire chief. I am very concerned about some of my department’s pay practices. In particular, payments made to firefighters for paramedic certification and longevity are not being included in their regular rate of pay. I want to resolve this issue. Based on my figures, we probably owe our firefighters around $60,000 in ...

The State of California has agreed to pay almost 2000 firefighters a total of $4.8 million in back pay after shortchanging their regular rate over the past several years. According to The Sacramento Bee, the back wages will be going to approximately 1,900 CalFire firefighters that received cash payments in lieu of accepting employer sponsored medical benefits from May 2015 ...

The Cobb County Georgia Fire Department is facing a second lawsuit in as many years for allegedly violating the FLSA. David Simister, a fire captain for Cobb County Fire filed this second suit, on behalf of himself and “other similarly situated individuals,” last week in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Simister claims the county’s pay ...

Putnam County, Tennessee has reached a $280,000 settlement agreement with a group of current and former EMTs following a 2019 lawsuit over alleged FLSA violations. The suit, which was initially filed by a lone paramedic last July, contained three basic allegations. First, the county failed to pay for off-the-clock pre-and-post shift work, second, the county improperly implemented the “fluctuating workweek ...

The City of Austin, Texas has announced that some city employees will be receiving “hazard pay” as a result of working during the coronavirus outbreak. Austin officials have announced that some city workers will receive a one-time lump-sum payment as a reward for coming to work during the height of the pandemic. The one-time payment could be as much as ...

Today’s FLSA Question: I am a career firefighter. The city provides a $90,000 life insurance policy for all firefighters. I noticed the city included a portion of the cost of the insurance policy as taxable income in my last paycheck of 2019. I asked our finance department for an explanation. I was told the IRS requires some fringe benefits, like ...

The Borrego Springs Fire Protection District (District) is the latest California fire department facing an FLSA lawsuit. A group of seventeen firefighters filed the suit last month, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, alleging the district failed to include all remuneration in the firefighters’ regular rate of pay. Specifically, the firefighters allege the district did ...

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has announced a significant modification to an existing overtime rule for employees that work fluctuating hours from week to week. As a result, many first responders, including firefighters may find less money in their paychecks in the coming months. The new rule, set to take effect in July, alters the current stringent requirements necessary ...

Today’s FLSA Question: I am a municipal fire chief. In response to the current COVID-19 pandemic our city passed an ordinance providing rank-and-file city firefighters with hazard pay. This hazard pay is above and beyond the firefighters’ normal wages and is payable for every hour worked. In fact, the city even made the payment retroactive to include the last two ...

A Federal Magistrate Judge has recommended the approval of a $350,000 settlement between the City of Merced and several dozen firefighters following a 2018 FLSA lawsuit. The firefighters alleged the city’s failure to include holiday “in-lieu” pay in their regular rate of pay violated the FLSA. The city continues to assert that it did not violate the FLSA, however in ...