Tag Archives: regular rate

Today’s FLSA Question – I am a firefighter. We have a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that requires overtime (OT) pay for all hours worked outside of a firefighter’s scheduled shifts, regardless of hours actually worked in the work period. This contract OT rate does not include various monetary incentives (longevity, medic pay, and HAZMAT pay). However, we also receive FLSA ...

Five California firefighters filed a lawsuit last week alleging their employer, the City of Santa Clara, violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Christopher Gaffney, Andre Jerome Soto, John C. O’Leary, Guido Quartaroli, and Jeff Provancher filed the collective action (lawsuit) on behalf of themselves and other similarly situated individuals against the city in federal court on October 24, 2018. ...

The City of Petaluma, California, has settled claims made by seventy current and former police department employees for unpaid overtime. The original complaint was initially filed by only two police department employees in August of 2016. These two original plaintiffs sought to have money paid in lieu of receiving city sponsored health insurance included in their regular rate of pay ...

Late last week, firefighters in two west coast cities filed separate FLSA lawsuits alleging they were shorted overtime pay by their employers. The first lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, by four Flagstaff firefighters, on September 20, 2018. The complaint makes two basic claims: The City of Flagstaff failed to include non-discretionary “premium ...

Six Merced, California, Police Department employees have filed a lawsuit against the city, claiming it failed to calculate overtime pay correctly. The suit was filed on August 17, 2018 by three sergeants, two patrol officers, and one dispatcher in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. Specifically, these sergeants, officers, and dispatcher claim the city failed to ...

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 ...

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 ...

Four Louisiana paramedics claim their employer, the Parish of Plaquemines, Louisiana, failed to pay them any time and one-half over the past three years, despite working 7-day, 168-hour work shifts. The complaint, which was filed last week in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana contains some very unique and interesting facts. We have allegations of unpaid overtime, ...

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 ...

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 ...