Advanced FLSA: Calculating the Regular Rate for Firefighters and other First Responders

Class Materials: Advanced Regular Rate Exercise 2026Download Advanced Regular Rate Rev. 1.26Download Opinion Letter Regular Rate Benefits-Sick-Holiday-Pay -2001_02_14_3_FLSADownload Opinion letter Reg Rate Holiday Pay Sep 28 1999 FLSADownload Opinion Letter Regular Rate Bonus 2001_02_14_6_FLSADownload Opinion Letter Non Discretionary Lump Sum Bonus_2020_01_07_01_FLSADownload Opinion Letter Healthcare 2003_07_02_4_FLSADownload Opinion Letter Discretionary Bonus 2008_12_01_12_FLSADownload DOL Fact Sheet 56c-BonusesDownload 2009_01_15_02NA_FLSADownload Chavez v. City of Albuquerque ...

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AL City Settles Unpaid Overtime Lawsuit with Two Former City K9 Officers

The City of Gulf Shores has reached a court approved settlement with two former police officers following their November 2025 lawsuit that contained allegations the city failed to properly compensate the officers for off-the-clock work related to the care and maintenance of their assigned K9s. Former officers Shawn Andrews and Stacy McElroy filed the complaint in the U.S. District Court ...

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CT Firefighters File FLSA Lawsuit Against the Town of East Hartford

A group of more than one hundred current and former employees of the East Hartford Fire Department have filed a federal lawsuit against the Town of East Hartford, Connecticut, alleging violations of the FLSA. The plaintiffs (firefighters) make two basic claims. First, that the Town failed to calculate the firefighters’ regular rate correctly and as a result shorted the firefighters’ ...

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Vermont and Maryland Legislators Propose Overtime Pay after 42 Hours per Week for Firefighters

State legislators in Vermont and Maryland have proposed new legislation that would mandate firefighter overtime be based on a 42-hour average workweek as opposed to the FLSA’s standard overtime requirements. In recent years, firefighters from across the country have been advocating for a reduction in the number of hours they are traditionally scheduled to work. Key to this effort is ...

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Punctuality, Attendance, and Safety Bonuses and the DOL’s Latest Opinion Letter

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Wage and Hour Division, kicked off the new year with a new opinion letter addressing whether certain employer sponsored incentive bonuses can be excluded from an employee’s “regular rate of pay” when calculating overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The opinion letter responds to a request from an overtime eligible employee that ...

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Illinois Paramedic Alleges City Denied Him Overtime for Years

An Illinois paramedic has filed a lawsuit in federal court against his former employer, the City of O’Fallon, claiming the city’s pay practices violate both federal and state wage and hour laws. The crux the lone paramedic’s complaint alleges that the city misclassified him as overtime exempt in violation of the FLSA and the Illinois Minimum Wage law.  Additionally, the ...

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