Tag Archives: FLSA for Fire Departments

An FLSA lawsuit filed by more than 2,500 FDNY EMTs and Paramedics back in 2013 is inching towards a conclusion after a federal judge dismissed the city’s most recent attempt for a new trial last week. This latest decision comes on the heels of a 2019 trial in which a jury awarded the FDNY EMTs and medics over $14 million ...

The City of New York has agreed to pay four current and former FDNY Motor Vehicle Operators (MVOs) and their attorneys a total of $429,901.18 to settle an unpaid overtime lawsuit. The MVOs, filed the lawsuit in June 2019, alleging the city failed to pay them for required pre-and-post shift activities (i.e., off-the-clock work), time spent working during unpaid meal ...

Today’s FLSA Question: I am a new fire chief for a mid-sized full-time paid fire department. Our firefighters work a 48/96 schedule with a 24-day work period. Additionally, we provide our firefighters with 12 (24-hour) Kelly Days every year. However, we do not assign a Kelly Day every work period. Instead, we allow our firefighters to use their 12-Kelly Days ...

Following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division, the City of East St. Louis, Illinois has been ordered to pay almost $160,000 in back wages and penalties to a total of 19 city police officers. The DOL investigation uncovered several FLSA violations. In particular, the DOL found that the city failed to pay police ...

Today’s FLSA Question: I am a rookie firefighter working for a rural county fire department. I am confused about the way firefighters in my fire department are compensated. We are paid a bi-weekly salary. However, we also receive FLSA overtime pay for all hours worked over 106 every two weeks. I am confused. I thought that being paid a salary ...

Today’s FLSA Question: I am a firefighter for a city fire department. We have a total of 33 line firefighters and officers assigned to 2 stations on 3 shifts. We work 24 hours on duty, followed by 48 hours off-duty. Our department uses a 14-day work period and we receive overtime for all additional hours worked outside of our normally ...

The State of Louisiana has a unique state law that requires most firefighters in that state receive a uniform minimum salary amount and longevity pay after three years of continuous service. In 2008, a group of thirty-two current and former Bastrop, Louisiana firefighters filed a lawsuit in state court alleging the city’s pay practices violated this state law. In 2014, ...

How many consecutive hours should an EMT/paramedic be required to work? That is the question EMS workers from Beaufort County, South Carolina are raising following months of excessive mandatory overtime. According to The Island Packet, Beaufort County EMS workers have a long history of working significant amounts of overtime. In fact, between 2015 and 2020 the county projected overtime costs ...

The City of Eaton, Ohio has settled a lawsuit filed by four current and former fire department employees for a total of $185,000. The lawsuit, which was filed in 2019 by four of the department’s five full-time employees, contained two basic allegations. The first allegation was that the city misclassified the four full-time fire department employees as overtime exempt executive ...

Seventeen Fire Captains from Marion County Fire and Rescue (MCFR), in Marion County, Florida have reached a settlement with the county following a 2019 lawsuit alleging they were misclassified as overtime exempt executives. The settlement, which still must be approved by the court, requires the county to pay a total of $725,000 to the captains and their attorneys. The settlement ...