Tag Archives: first responders

This past July the Spokane Valley Fire Department (SVFD) filed an unusual lawsuit against the union that represents Spokane Valley firefighters (IAFF Local 3701). SVFD wanted the court to issue a “declaratory judgement” that SVFD battalion chiefs and fire marshals were exempt from receiving FLSA overtime. A declaratory judgement is when a court is asked to issue a formal opinion ...

Today’s FLSA Question I run payroll for a municipal fire department. The fire chief wants to give firefighters an opportunity to work part time on their days off, staffing a city ambulance that transports sick and elderly patients home from the hospital, to doctors’ appointments, dialysis treatments, etc. Firefighters will be paid their regular hourly rate for all hours worked ...

The Austin City Council is set to review a new contract between the city and firefighters later this week. The new agreement changes, among other things, the way overtime is paid to the city’s firefighters. The agreement comes on the heels of a recent report that found overtime for the Austin Fire Department had increased 147 percent between 2014 and ...

Today’s FLSA Question I am a fire chief. My EMS chief wants us to consider a CPR notification system known as PulsePoint. It notifies trained citizens (and off-duty firefighters) when there is a CPR incident nearby so that immediate aid can be rendered. It’s a wonderful system, and as this video shows, one of the best uses for it could involve ...

Four Richmond VA police officers are suing the city for unpaid overtime. The officers filing the law suit were assigned to former mayor, Dwight C. Jones’ “Executive Protection Unit” (EPU). This specialized unit provided security and transportation for the mayor.  According to the complaint, these officers worked and were paid “significant overtime” in the past.  However, EPU operations and costs ...

Dueling FLSA questions from two perspectives with the same answer. Fire Chief’s question: Our fire department began providing our firefighters with annual physicals several years ago. It was a tough sell in tough fiscal times but it was mandated by OSHA and we really had no choice. We try to schedule personnel while they are on duty, but one of ...

The City of Philadelphia just agreed to pay police officer’s approximately $8 million dollars to do just that. The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 which represents Philadelphia police officers filed a complaint alleging the City required officers to frequently check phones and email while “off-duty”. The officers argued requiring them to regularly check and respond to department calls and ...

Horry County Fire Rescue (HCFR) is hopeful 30 new recruits will alleviate a shortage of firefighters that dates to 2015. Hiring new firefighters to reduce overtime costs is not a new concept, however HCFR seems to be experiencing a chronic shortage of firefighters that dates back at least the last two years. In fact, the department has a mandatory overtime ...

Today’s Question: The city and firefighters just concluded a long and drawn out battle over a new contract.  The old contract expired six months ago.  The new contract contains two provisions that are raising questions in the stations.  The first is a 2% retroactive pay increase (retroactive to July 1) and the second is a “bonus” that is payable to ...

My fire department recently initiated a new policy.  The policy allows the department to adjust a firefighter’s schedule towards the end of the work period to avoid paying FLSA overtime.  We work a 24/48 schedule.  My scheduled work days are being cut from my schedule because I may have worked extra shifts earlier in the work period.  Does the FLSA ...