Wisconsin Paramedic Files Federal Lawsuit Over Unpaid On-Call Time and Overtime Pay

A Wisconsin paramedic has filed a lawsuit in federal court against his employer, Green County Emergency Medical Service, Inc., alleging the agency violated federal and state wage and hour laws by failing to properly pay paramedics for on-call time, mandatory trainings, and overtime hours. Although the complaint was filed by a lone paramedic, it requests the court expand the suit to include other paramedics that were allegedly underpaid.

While the complaint is rather straightforward, it contains some interesting allegations related to the compensability of on-call time. Quoting from the complaint:

• Defendant agreed to pay paramedics an hourly wage for all hours worked “on ambulance.”
• Defendant agreed to pay paramedics at a rate less than minimum wage for what Defendant deemed “on call” hours. Plaintiff was paid $3.00 per daytime “on call” hour and $6.00 per nighttime “on call” hour.
• During “on call” hours, Defendant required paramedics to respond to the worksite in uniform within four minutes of a call or to otherwise remain on site.
• Plaintiff and members of the putative classes spent most of their “on call” hours on site or were otherwise so close thereto that they could not use the time effectively for their own purposes.
• Paramedics log their “on ambulance” hours through “run sheets” that record the date, time, and location of, and the medical care administered during an ambulance “run.”
• Defendant regularly altered paramedics’ run sheets after they were submitted to reduce the number of “on ambulance” hours.
• Defendant paid paramedics at their “on call” rate for hours removed from run sheets.
• Defendant expected paramedics to attend mandatory scheduled on-site cleaning, trainings, and administrative meetings.
• These scheduled on-site cleanings, trainings, and administrative meetings are controlled by Defendant and pursued necessarily and primarily for the benefit of Defendant.
• Defendant failed to pay paramedics any hourly wage for attendance and participation in scheduled on-site cleaning, trainings, and administrative meetings.
• Defendant regularly scheduled paramedics to work more than 40 hours in a workweek.
• Paramedics regularly worked more than 40 hours in a workweek.
• Defendant did not include “on call” hours or unpaid work-hours spent at mandatory scheduled on-site cleaning, trainings, and administrative meetings when calculating overtime pay.
• As a result, Defendant failed to pay Plaintiff and members of the putative classes at a rate of one and one-half times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a workweek.

The practice of an employer giving an employee additional compensation for the burden of being on-call is not uncommon. That compensation can be paid in any amount. In other words, there is no requirement that compensation provided be paid at a rate at least equal to the federal (or state) minimum wage. That is because the employee is not “working” but is merely “on-call.” However, if the employer’s degree of control over an employee’s activities while on-call is found to be overly restrictive, non-compensable on-call time can quickly turn into compensable work time. That is what the plaintiff is arguing here.

Do have questions about on-call time and the FLSA? If yes, please join us at one of the upcoming FLSA for Fire Departments live seminars.

FLSA for Fire Departments – DeLand, Florida – December 9-11, 2025 and  Houston, Texas – February 3-5, 2026 .

Here is more on on-call time and the FLSA along with a copy of the medic’s complaint.

On Call Time and the FLSA