Tag Archives: overtime

Today’s burning question: Do fire departments/EMS organizations have to pay personnel for the time spent attending training for EMT and paramedic while off-duty? Answer: There are several important issues that arise including what is the agreement between the parties, are the employees public employees, and does the training fit into an exception under the FLSA.

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The Southern Marin Fire Protection District has settled an overtime compensation lawsuit filed earlier this year by forty-four firefighters. The firefighters sued in February claiming the district incorrectly calculated their regular rate, which is the rate that is to be used to determine the overtime rate.

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Today’s burning question: I am a career firefighter plus I work part time for my city as a bus driver. Can the city pay me different rates of pay and does the city have to include the hours from my bus driving job when calculating overtime for my fire department job?

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Today’s burning question: My department pays us every other week, but calculates overtime based on four-week intervals. Since they pay us every two weeks shouldn’t they calculate overtime based on two week periods, not four?

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Today’s burning question: I heard a rumor that there are some new overtime rules coming out soon. Will these new rules have an impact on fire departments? Answer: That is a great question, and one I get asked a lot these days.

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Forty-four current and former firefighters from Southern Marin Fire Protection District have filed suit in federal court alleging overtime compensation violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

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A federal court in Chicago handed down an important ruling on overtime in the digital age earlier this month. While the case involved the off-duty use of a smartphone by a Chicago police officer, the facts could apply to virtually any profession including firefighters.

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The US District Court for the District of South Carolina handed down a ruling today finding that the City of Charleston violated the Fair Labor Standards Act in the manner in which it compensated its firefighters for overtime. The class action suit was filed by six Charleston firefighters in 2013 who alleged a variety of FLSA violations.

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A contentious overtime battle in the Nation’s Capital that goes back to the 1990s has finally been settled… this time for real!!! Last January DC agreed to settle a suit brought by firefighters over the payment of overtime for $47 million. However, it wasn’t until yesterday that the parties finally worked out all the details and signed the agreement bringing the matter to an end.

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Today’s burning question: Our attorney is claiming we are wrong to pay overtime to firefighters unless they physically work 212 hours in a 28-day period. We have always paid overtime to our personnel for all hours over and above a firefighter’s assigned work schedule. Is he right?

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Today’s burning question: Your book says that officers assigned to a shift are considered hourly employees. I heard the 11th Circuit recently decided a case that says they are not. What gives? Answer: Would you believe my book is right and the 11th Circuit is wrong?

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The San Francisco Fire Department is taking disciplinary action against a firefighter who was ordered to work an extra 24 hour shift, missed a run while working that shift, and was then discovered to be intoxicated. The strange story gets even stranger...

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In this episode, firefighter-attorney Bill Maccarone explains a recent decision by the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in an overtime case brought by 82 firefighters from the Menlo Park Fire Protection District who alleged their overtime wages were not properly calculated. Listen as Curt and Bill discuss why the court ruled against the firefighters.

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A ruling by the US District Court in South Carolina is permitting an FLSA suit against the City of Charleston to proceed. The suit filed in 2013 by six Charleston firefighters alleges that the city’s application of the “fluctuating workweek” concept violates the FLSA in a number of ways, including the failure to properly compensate them for overtime and in certain cases paying them less than the federal minimum wage

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