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

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 ...

The City of West Des Moines, Iowa has agreed to pay nearly $350,000 to settle a federal lawsuit brought by current and former fire officers who alleged they were denied overtime pay in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). According to The Des Moines Register, the lawsuit was filed by 15 current and former fire officers who claimed ...

According to a complaint filed January 21, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, an EMT employed by the City of Batesville alleges that the city denied him and other similarly situated EMTs overtime and later retaliated against him after he complained. The lawsuit was filed by Jacob Michael King, a former EMT for Batesville ...

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 ...

The City of New York has reached a $7.3 million settlement with a class of more than 3,000 current and former EMTs and paramedics following a 2023 FLSA lawsuit. The main allegations advanced by the EMTs and medics revolved around unpaid pre-and-post shift work activities, an automatic deduction of a 30-minute meal period even for work shifts in which work ...

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 ...

On December 31, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld a lower court’s ruling that found a group of current and former Alexandria battalion chiefs were ineligible for FLSA overtime. The chiefs had challenged the City of Alexandria’s pay practices as unlawful under both federal and state wage and hour laws. In 2023, a federal district ...

After months of tough and at times contentious labor negotiations, the Austin Firefighters Association (AFA) and the City of Austin have finalized a new four-year labor contract that not only strengthens wages and staffing but also modifies firefighter work schedules with an eye towards improving firefighter wellness and recruitment. The agreement, unanimously approved by City Council and overwhelmingly ratified by ...

West Metro Fire Rescue in Lakewood, Colorado is changing its daily work schedule to allow firefighters more opportunity for rest between calls. This change follows a sleep study conducted by the department which found that early morning start times were limiting the amount of sleep crews were getting while both on and off duty. West Metro Fire Rescue operates on ...

A group of over 30 firefighters at Madison Fire & Rescue have filed a lawsuit against the city, alleging serious errors in the implementation of the department’s pay scale — errors that they say have resulted in “major financial losses” for firefighters. According to the lawsuit, the ordinance that established the new pay scale created a structure under which many ...