Tag Archives: firefighters

This is the first installment in a six-part series from FirefighterOvertime.org on the regular rate. Proper calculation of the regular rate is critical. All FLSA overtime must be at least time and one-half of the regular rate. The regular rate has been referred to as the “linchpin” of the FLSA. Not only is calculating the regular rate important, it can ...

Today’s FLSA Question: I am a city HR director. We employ civilian public safety dispatchers who handle dispatching for both the police and fire departments. The dispatchers work an average of 42 hours per week. If they work all their assigned shifts, the dispatchers are paid 80 hours of straight time and four hours of overtime every two weeks. The ...

The City of Modesto, California, has agreed to settle an FLSA lawsuit filed by several current and former city firefighters. The 2016 suit alleged the city failed to include cash payments made to some firefighters in lieu of receiving health benefits in the firefighters’ regular rate of pay. While not all firefighters opted out of city sponsored medical benefits, those ...

Want to rectify past FLSA mistakes without costly litigation? Many employers (including fire chiefs and city administrators) have been reluctant to tackle FLSA compliance concerns for fear of the unknown. Very often, the amount of money in wages owed as a result of an FLSA violation is easy to determine. What follows is the real question . . . The ...

Twenty-three current and former La Verne, California, firefighters have filed a federal lawsuit against the city for violations of the FLSA. The firefighters make two basic allegations in a six-page complaint filed in the Central District of California. First, the City of La Verne failed to pay some firefighters for all hours worked attending meetings, training, and performing other administrative ...

Today’s FLSA question: I am a U.S citizen working as a contract firefighter at a U.S. military base overseas. The company I work for is based in the U.S. My co-workers and I receive straight time for all hours worked. We receive zero overtime. We average over 80 hours of work per week! Does the FLSA apply to us? The ...

Today’s FLSA Question: I recently read (on FirefighterOvertime.org) that money paid to firefighters for unused vacation time typically does not need to be included in a firefighter’s regular rate. Our employment contract provides “bonuses” up to $1,000 annually if a firefighter does not use any sick time in a calendar year, and states that a certain number of unused sick ...

Today’s FLSA Question: I am the chief of a small but increasingly busy volunteer fire and EMS department. Our volunteers are paid $12 per hour when responding to calls. I was picking up the firefighters’ 1099s last month, and the accountant asked me a question about “our employees.” This caught me by surprise. I told her we have volunteers, not ...

Adolfo Jimenez, a former police officer for the City of Parlier, California, has filed a federal law suit in the Eastern District of California, claiming the city violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The suit alleges the city failed to adequately compensate Jimenez for off-the-clock work related to the care, training, maintenance, and transport of his police work dog. ...

The FLSA requires any public agency electing to utilize the §207(k) partial overtime exemption for police officers and firefighters establish a work period. In other words, to avoid paying overtime to firefighters and police officers after they work 40 hours every 7 days, the public agency needs to establish a qualifying work period. While establishing a work period may not ...