Burning Question: FLSA, Overtime and Consecutive Hours - Fire Law Blog (2024)

FAQs

How is FLSA overtime calculated for firefighters? ›

Typically, if a firefighter picks up an extra 24-hour shift, the first 15 hours is paid at straight time and the second 9 hours is paid at time and one-half. If a firefighter uses sick or vacation leave and picks up an additional shift in the same 21-day work period, the entire extra shift is straight time.

Under Current Workweek, Firefighters Receive Significant Compensation From Both Scheduled and Unplanned Overtime. CalFire employees working a 72‑hour workweek receive overtime pay for all hours worked in excess of 212 hours during the 28‑consecutive‑day workperiod.

Firefighter Overtime Discussing Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for Firefighters, First Responders as well as Human Resource & Finance Professional.

Under the FLSA, overtime pay is determined by multiplying the employee's “straight time rate of pay” by all overtime hours worked PLUS one-half of the employee's “hourly regular rate of pay” times all overtime hours worked. All overtime work that is ordered or approved must be compensated.

FLSA Overtime: Covered nonexempt employees must receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 per workweek (any fixed and regularly recurring period of 168 hours – seven consecutive 24-hour periods) at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate of pay.

The “8 and 80” exception allows employers to pay one and one-half times the employee's regular rate for all hours worked in excess of 8 in a workday and 80 in a fourteen-day period.

Section 13(b)(20) of the FLSA provides an overtime exemption to law enforcement or fire protection employees of a public agency that employs less than five employees during the workweek in law enforcement or fire protection activities.

The 207(k) exemption allows employers to compute overtime for law enforcement and firefighters on the basis of extended work schedule – usually 28 days. Under 207(k), nonexempt law enforcement officers must work 171 hours in 28 days before the employer becomes liable for overtime.

The right to fair pay

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor standards affecting most full-time and part-time workers in the private sector and in federal, state, and local governments.

What are the three major provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act FLSA? ›

(For best printout, see the PDF version (Spanish).) The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor standards affecting full-time and part-time workers in the private sector and in Federal, State, and local governments.

EXCLUDING OFFICERS FROM THE OVERTIME PAY REQUIREMENT—Are fire officers entitled to overtime? Answer: Some are and some are not. The FLSA generally requires that public employers pay time and one-half overtime to fire and rescue personnel when they work more than an average of 53 hours a week.

The federal overtime provisions are contained in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Unless exempt, 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.

Under the FLSA, the regular rate of pay for an employee paid on a piecework basis is obtained by dividing their total weekly earnings by the total number of hours worked in that week. The employee is entitled to an additional 0.5 times this regular rate for each hour over 40, plus the full piecework earnings.

Specifically, the bill adjusts the method of determining the average pay of a federal firefighter by adding one-half of a firefighter's basic hourly rate multiplied by the number of overtime hours included as part of such firefighter's regular tour of duty.