Allegations of Unpaid Overtime from Illinois Part-Time Firefighters

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 paid them straight time pay for all hours worked, even hours in excess of 212 in a 28-day work period, from at least April 2022 until January of 2025. Quoting from the complaint:

• The Village of Bradley’s Fire Department provides fire suppression, emergency medical services, and fire prevention services for the Village of Bradley.
• The Village’s Fire Department is staffed, in part, by full-time firefighter/paramedics who qualify as “employees in fire protection activities” under Section 3(y) of the FLSA, 29 U.S.C. § 203(y).
• The Village also employs so-called “part-time” firefighter/paramedics, including Plaintiffs, who qualify as “employees in fire protection activities” under Section 3(y) of the FLSA, 29 U.S.C. § 203(y).
• These part-time firefighters perform the exact same job duties as the full-time firefighter/paramedics, and they work alongside the full-timers out of the same facility.
• The part-timers are generally required to receive the same training and hold the same qualifications and certifications as the full-time firefighter/paramedics.
• Despite their title, the part-time firefighters have not regularly worked fewer hours than their “full-time” counterparts, and the Village has not capped the number of hours or shifts that part-timers may be assigned.
• Like the full-time firefighter/paramedics, the part-time firefighters are typically assigned to work 24-hour shifts, normally on a 24-hours on, 48-hours off rotation. Most part-timers are, therefore, on the exact same work schedule as the full-time firefighter/paramedics.
• The Village has established a 28-day work period for its part-time firefighters pursuant to Section 7(k) of the FLSA, 29 U.S.C. § 207(k). Under this arrangement, part-time firefighters may work up to 212 hours in any given 28-day work period without receiving any overtime compensation, while any hours worked over 212 in a 28-day work period must be paid at least time-and-one-half the part-time firefighters’ regular rate of pay.
• At all relevant times, Plaintiffs and other similarly-situated current and former employees of the Village have regularly worked in excess of 212 hours during their 28-day work periods.
• A regular schedule of 24-hours on, 48-hours off results in a total of either 216 or 240 hours worked per 28-day work period. Thus, in many instances, the part-time firefighters were entitled to between four and 28 hours of overtime compensation based solely on the hours worked as part of their regularly scheduled shifts.
• In addition to regularly scheduled shifts, many part-time firefighters have also regularly worked additional shifts. During the relevant time period, some part-time firefighters have worked as many as 17 shifts in a single month, resulting in more than 400 hours worked in a 28-day work period.
• Since at least April 2022, and continuing until about January 2025, the Village maintained a policy and practice of only paying part-time firefighters their straight-time hourly rate of pay for all hours of work, regardless of the total hours worked during the relevant work period. As a result, the Village failed and refused to pay the overtime compensation that was owed to its part-time firefighters, including Plaintiffs, whenever they worked in excess of 212 hours in a work period.
• At all relevant times, the Village has been aware of its obligation to pay overtime wages to its part-time employees for all hours worked in excess of 212 in a work period, yet it has knowingly and intentionally failed to pay them any overtime compensation.
• In the past, part-time firefighters were told by the Village that they should not pick up additional shifts if those shifts would bring their total hours in a work period over 212, because the Village would be required to pay them overtime. Furthermore, the Village occasionally prevented part-time firefighters from picking up such additional shifts, with the stated purpose of avoiding any obligation to pay overtime compensation. However, the Village generally allowed, or even required, part-time firefighters to work more than 212 hours in a work period. Indeed, the Village actively encouraged part-time firefighters to pick up more shifts in addition to their regularly scheduled shifts, even when doing so would cause their hours to exceed 212 in a work period. At times, the Village even suggested that certain part-time firefighters risked being terminated because they were not working enough hours in addition to their regularly scheduled shifts, despite already working well over 212 hours per work period.
• Part-time firefighters, including some Plaintiffs, have asked their supervisors at the Village whether they should be receiving overtime pay for the overtime hours they worked, but the Village never took any action in response to those inquiries.
• On information and belief, the Village has altered or falsified its timekeeping records for part-time firefighters by not accurately tracking the actual hours worked by each employee. The Village took these actions in order to evade its obligations under the FLSA, or with a reckless disregard for its obligations under the FLSA.
• In or about January 2025, the Village changed its policy and practice, and it began compensating its part-time firefighters at time-and-one-half their regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 212 per work period.

The FLSA does not differentiate between part-time, fulltime, or even per diem employees. However, the FLSA clearly requires that overtime is paid when a non-exempt employee works more than the maximum hours standard for any workweek or [in the case of firefighters] work period. According to the firefighters’ complaint, there was a time when village officials limited the firefighters’ work hours in an effort to avoid paying overtime. But more recently the village began allowing the part-time firefighters to work additional hours without regard to the possible overtime implications. It is vitally important that professionals responsible for paying firefighters and other public safety professionals have a basic understanding of the FLSA and the Department of Labor’s wage and hour regulations.

Here is a copy of the firefighters’ complaint.