Firefighter Overtime Discussing Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for Firefighters, First Responders as well as Human Resource & Finance Professional

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) just announced that it will begin issuing opinion letters once again after a four-year break. An opinion letter is an official written interpretation of federal wage and hour law. Generally, an opinion letter will answer a specific fact-based question related to existing wage and hour laws. Employers, labor organizations, lawyers, HR professionals, and even ...

The City of Milford, Connecticut has settled a lawsuit filed by a group of eighty-eight current and former firefighters for a total of $400,000. The settlement includes $100,000 to pay the firefighters’ attorneys and the remaining $300,000 divided among the plaintiff firefighters to cover back wages and damages. The firefighters alleged in a 2023 federal lawsuit that city failed to ...

Twelve part-time firefighters from the Village of Bradley, Illinois have filed a federal lawsuit claiming the village failed to pay them overtime in violation of both federal and state laws.  The firefighters’ suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois late last month. The main allegation advanced by the firefighters is that the village ...

Sixty-seven current and former firefighters from Brownsburg, Indiana have filed suit in federal court alleging the town’s pay practices violate the FLSA.  The firefighters’ claim the town failed to pay overtime when required and improperly calculated the firefighters’ regular and overtime rates of pay. Quoting from the complaint: Unpaid Overtime Claims: During the periods that Plaintiffs have worked in excess ...

A North Carolina Volunteer Fire Department and a group of five firefighters have agreed to settle a 2024 lawsuit for a total of $86,573. The lawsuit, which was initially filed by a lone firefighter in federal court in 2024, expanded to include four additional firefighters. The main allegation made by the firefighters was that the department misclassified them as employees ...

The City of Eldora, Iowa is facing an FLSA misclassification lawsuit filed by the city’s former Director of Emergency Medical Services.  Plaintiff Maile Carter worked as the city’s EMS Director from March 2020 until leaving in August 2023. During that time Carter alleges that the city misclassified her and other presumably high-ranking city officials as overtime exempt employees. According to ...

The Princess Ann Volunteer Fire Company, Inc., is facing a lawsuit filed by nine of its firefighters. The lawsuit, which was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, on April 3, 2025, contains allegations that the fire company’s pay practices are violating both federal and state laws. More specifically, the firefighters allege the fire company ...

A group of 16 EMTs have filed suit in federal court alleging that the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia has misclassified them as “employees engaged in fire protection activities” (a.k.a. §207(k) firefighters). According to the EMTs’ complaint, the city fails to pay them overtime after working more than 40 hours in a 7-day workweek. Quoting from the complaint: From the time ...

The City of Los Angeles and a class of more than 1,100 plaintiff firefighters have agreed to settle a 2023 lawsuit over unpaid work hours. The lawsuit, which was initially filed by three firefighters in federal court in February 2023, contained allegations that city firefighters were frequently being required to work beyond their 24-hour shift without compensation. Quoting from the ...

A former 911 telecommunicator/dispatcher for the City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin is suing her former employer alleging the city’s pay practices for probationary dispatchers violates the FLSA and that the city improperly retaliated against her when she complained. Christina Harris’s attorneys filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin late last month. According to the ...