Tag Archives: regular rate

The Summerville Fire and Rescue Department in Summerville, South Carolina is the latest fire department to move away from paying its firefighters under the fluctuating workweek (FWW) method of overtime compensation. Summerville firefighters will no longer receive salary-based pay under the FWW and instead will be compensated by the hour. The move is expected to cost the city an additional ...

Today’s FLSA Question: Our employment contract contains a provision entitled “annual vacation buy-back,” which allows firefighters to cash out up to 100 hours of unused vacation hours annually. The hours are paid at the firefighter’s hourly rate at the time of buy-back. Does this “buy-back” money for unused vacation time need to be included in the firefighter’s regular rate? Excellent ...

The City of Albuquerque, New Mexico, has reached an agreement with the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF), Local 244, which represents the city’s firefighters for a one-time $8 million payment to settle an almost decade long pay dispute. In 2008, the city and firefighters entered into a three-year collective bargaining agreement (CBA) in which the city promised to provide a ...

Today’s FLSA Question: Does longevity pay need to be included in a firefighter’s regular rate of pay? What if the firefighter receives longevity pay in a lump sum every year? Yes, most longevity payments need to be included in the regular rate. Whether the money is paid annually, quarterly, weekly, or even hourly does not change this fact. Receiving longevity ...

Providence firefighters have accepted the city’s offer of $5.9 million to settle numerous grievances and lawsuits dating back to 2013 over the way the city paid firefighters. There are several different components to the settlement. Here are a few of the highlights. The settlement resolves a lawsuit originally filed in 2013, which alleged the city failed to pay overtime to ...

The City of Palo Alto, California continues to settle claims for unpaid overtime with city firefighters. The city has paid more than $1.5 million in the past year to firefighters and other city employees for failing to include all remuneration in the regular rate of pay for FLSA overtime purposes. Some of these payments stem from a 2016 lawsuit filed ...

The City of Chula Vista, California has agreed to pay over 100 firefighters just over $1 million in back wages and other damages for FLSA violations. The firefighters filed a lawsuit to recover back wages and additional damages in August of 2016. The firefighters claimed the city failed to calculate the regular rate of pay correctly. Proper calculation of the ...

Thirteen Hermosa Beach, firefighters have filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The firefighters claim the city improperly calculated the regular rate of pay and failed to pay overtime for all hours worked each work period. Properly calculating the regular rate is critical since FLSA ...

Today’s FLSA Question: I am a deputy fire chief in charge of administration and personnel. Our firefighters work a 24/48 schedule with a 21-day work period and an assigned Kelly day every third week. We recently suspended (without pay) a firefighter for two 24-hours shifts following a serious disciplinary matter. Instead of serving the suspension as planned, the firefighter has ...

For the second time in three years current and former Augusta-Richmond County firefighters have filed a federal lawsuit in the Southern District of Georgia claiming the county violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The firefighters claim the county failed to include EMT stipends in firefighter’s regular rate of pay. Determining the proper regular rate can be challenging at times ...