Claimants Allege Overtime for Firefighters Not Tallied Properly

Multiple firefighters have filed a lawsuit against the City of La Verne, Calif., claiming that the city did not properly pay overtime for firefighters.

Ten plaintiffs, all firefighters for the City of La Verne, have filed this lawsuit against the city alleging that some administrative loophole allowed them to be paid less than what they should have been paid in overtime. They are accusing the city of not paying proper overtime for firefighters and have listed the amount of hours for which each one should be paid in the lawsuit.

Apparently, shift workers like the plaintiffs in this lawsuit have an agreement with the city regarding their rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Instead of being paid overtime if they work more than 40 hours a week, the agreement under the FLSA states that they should be paid overtime if they work more than 182 hours in a 24-day work period.

Since firefighters often work shifts of 24 hours that may overlap work weeks differently than a standard “9 to 5” worker, this 24 day work period works to ensure the rights of these firefighter shift workers and that overtime for firefighters is fairly paid.

Fair Labor: Employee Rights

The Fair Labor Standards Act is a federal law that looks out for the fair treatment of U.S. workers.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, “employees covered by the Act must receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a workweek at a rate not less than time and one-half their regular rates of pay. There is no limit in the Act on the number of hours employees aged 16 and older may work in any workweek. The Act does not require overtime pay for work on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, or regular days of rest, unless overtime is worked on such days.”

However, for these firefighters, their overtime work period was 24 work days at a limit of 182 hours. If they worked over 182 hours in 24 days, they argue, they should be paid overtime.

Under the city’s agreement with the workers, they also get paid what is called Holiday in Lieu pay. This pay is paid over the course of the year and is paid at 10 hours a month at a regular rate of pay. This totals 120 hours per year.

The city is supposed to include these hours in the regular rate of pay that are totaled when determining if overtime for firefighters should be paid. Training material recommends that the city include this. However, the firefighters claim these Holiday in Lieu hours were not included in the hours that were tallied to determine overtime for firefighters pay eligibility.

The lawsuit states that the “‘regular rate’ must include all remuneration received by an employee unless it is explicitly excluded.” This, according to the firefighters, includes the Holiday in Lieu hours.

The firefighters believe they should be paid for the overtime they are due according to the FLSA.

This Overtime for Firefighters Lawsuit is Case No. 5:18-cv-003520-PA-SHK in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

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