Tag Archives: DOL

North Carolina Volunteer Fire Company Facing FLSA Lawsuit

A North Carolina EMS Captain has filed a lawsuit against The Cooks Community Volunteer Fire Department, Inc., alleging violations of the FLSA. Captain Christopher Crump filed the suit in federal court on February 26, 2024. Crump’s primary claim is the that his department fails to pay him and other similarly situated firefighters overtime after working more than 40 hours in ...

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Firefighters Traveling Out-of-State To Spec / Inspect Apparatus Can Cause FLSA Headaches

Today’s Advanced FLSA Question: What are the potential wage and hour concerns associated with sending non-exempt firefighters out of state to spec and/or inspect new fire apparatus? Answer: Good question. Believe it or not, this is a very advanced question. Allowing overtime eligible employees [like firefighters] to engage in work-related travel without considering the potential wage and hour implications is ...

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Lockheed Martin Settles 2022 FLSA Lawsuit with Firefighters for Close to $1 Million

Lockheed Martin [a global aerospace and defense contractor] has settled a 2022 FLSA lawsuit filed by a group of forty-nine industrial firefighters for a total of $949,996. The crux of the firefighter’s claims was that Lockheed Martin only paid its in-house firefighters’ overtime after they worked more than 48 hours per week. The FLSA requires non-public agency fire departments, pay ...

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LA City Police Officers File FLSA Regular Rate Lawsuit Over Out-of-Rank Pay

The City of Los Angeles is facing an FLSA lawsuit from four city police officers. The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California contains allegations that the city is violating the FLSA by failing to include all “remuneration” in the officers’ regular rate of pay. More specifically, the officers claim the city ...

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Volunteer Firefighter Compensation and the FLSA

Today’s FLSA Question: I am a fulltime chief of a combination fire department. We have a mix of volunteer and paid firefighters. Like many folks, we are struggling with recruitment and retention within all of our ranks, but especially within our volunteers. Recently, some of our neighboring departments began offering their volunteers an hourly rate instead of a stipend. Some ...

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Bonuses for Collateral Duties and the Regular Rate

Today’s FLSA Question: I am the administrator for a fulltime fire and EMS district. We have several personnel that work part-time collateral positions within our organization. These collateral positions include training officer, EMS coordinator, and HAZMAT officer. Personnel receive overtime when working in these capacities outside of their normal work hours, however they also spend a great deal of their ...

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More than 500 LA City Fire Department Employees File FLSA Lawsuit

A group of more than 500 Los Angeles firefighters, captains, engineers, fire inspectors, and pilots filed have filed a class action lawsuit alleging that the city fails to include longevity pay, wellness bonuses, retirement incentive pay, special duty pay, platoon duty pay, and educational bonuses in their regular rate of pay in violation of the FLSA. The FLSA requires “all ...

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Fire Service Implications from the Department of Labor’s Planned Minimum Salary Increases for White Collar Overtime Exempt Employees

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is poised to increase the minimum the salary necessary to classify workers [including many high-ranking fire officers] as overtime exempt under the FLSA. The new rule, which will likely go into effect in early 2024 will raise the minimum required weekly salary for overtime exempt white-collar employees by $375 per week and the minimum ...

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Arkansas Medics File FLSA Lawsuit over Incentive Bonuses

Two Arkansas paramedics have filed a lawsuit alleging that their employer, Ambulance Services of Forrest City, LLC (Forrest City, LLC), violated the FLSA by not including nondiscretionary bonuses in their regular rate of pay in violation of the FLSA and the Arkansas Minimum Wage Act (AMWA). The suit, which was filed on October 19, 2023, in the U.S. District Court ...

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