The Village of Villa Park, Illinois, is being sued by a former firefighter for alleged FLSA violations. Brandon Santiago filed the lawsuit on behalf of himself and other “similarly situated” firefighters, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois last week. Santiago claims the village failed to include various wage augments in his and other firefighters regular ...
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Kansas Fire Investigators Reach Settlement with City Following FLSA Suit
The City of Wichita, Kansas, will pay six fire department arson investigators and their attorney almost $155,000 to settle unpaid overtime claims. The six investigators argued they should receive overtime similar to city police officers as opposed to firefighters. Here is more on those claims. Wichita Fire Investigators File FLSA Overtime Lawsuit The Settlement According to the Wichita Eagle, Wichita’s ...
Read More »Tennessee City Looks to Correct FLSA Violations with Firefighters
According to the Elk Valley Times, the City of Fayetteville, Tennessee, is looking to correct overtime “pay issues” with local firefighters. City officials are poised to correct longstanding violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) that may date back over the tenure of the past two fire chiefs. Fayetteville firefighters work a 28-day work period. The FLSA requires time ...
Read More »Virginia Battalion Chiefs File Lawsuit Seeking Overtime Pay
Seven Battalion Chiefs from the Chesapeake Fire Department, in Chesapeake, Virginia, have filed a federal lawsuit looking for overtime pay. The Battalion Chiefs claim the city violated both the Fair Labor Standards Act and Virginia Gap Pay Act. The complaint, which was filed on July 24, 2018, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, alleges ...
Read More »A New York City Offers $250K Settlement with Firefighters for Alleged FLSA Violations
The City of Gloversville, New York, has agreed to pay city firefighters a total of $250,000 for alleged violations of the FLSA. According to The Daily Gazette, the city agreed to the settlement in an effort to “avoid more costly litigation with the [firefighters] union.” City firefighters claimed the city’s compensatory (comp) time practices violated the FLSA. Comp time is ...
Read More »$4.1 Million Settlement for California Firefighters
More than 2,000 current and former California state firefighters will receive a total of $4.1 million in back wages following a settlement with the state of California. According to the Sacramento Bee, the back wages stem from hours worked while the firefighters were trainees at the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Academy. These firefighter cadets were paid for ...
Read More »California City and Firefighters Reach Global Settlement following a 2016 FLSA Lawsuit
The City of San Luis Obispo has reportedly reached a settlement with city firefighters following a 2016 federal lawsuit regarding overtime pay. The firefighters alleged the city failed to include money paid in-lieu of receiving employer sponsored medical benefits in the firefighter’s regular rate of pay. Properly determining a firefighter’s regular rate is critical, since all FLSA overtime must be ...
Read More »Tuition Reimbursement and the FLSA
Today’s FLSA question: Our city reimburses firefighters’ tuition costs for college classes related to fire science. In order to qualify for the reimbursement program, participating firefighters must have at least two years of service with our department prior to taking any classes, and they must earn a grade of “B” or better in the class. The city reimburses all money ...
Read More »Two Hourly Rates, Same Work Period, and the Regular Rate
Today’s FLSA Question: I am the finance manager responsible for our fire department’s payroll. Our firefighters receive higher hourly rates when working in a higher rank. For example, last week a firefighter worked 24 hours as a firefighter and another 48 hours as a lieutenant. How can I calculate a firefighter’s regular rate when he or she is paid two ...
Read More »“Off-the-Books” Paid Time Off Practice Ended for Ohio Police and Firefighters
The City of Akron, Ohio has ended the practice of providing “off-the-books” paid time off to some police officers and firefighters. For more than 30 years, the city had an unwritten policy that allowed some police officers and firefighters take time off in lieu of receiving overtime pay for attendance at community outreach meetings and fire safety events. The paid ...
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Firefighter Overtime Discussing Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for Firefighters, First Responders as well as Human Resource & Finance Professional