After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), the City of Tipton, Indiana, paid $91,924 in back wages to 15 firefighters for violations of the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
The WHD investigation found the City of Tipton failed to pay overtime to firefighters who worked more than 106 hours in their two-week pay period.
The FLSA provides an exemption that allows employers to pay fire protection or law enforcement employees overtime on a “work period” basis, instead of a standard 7-day workweek, with a work period ranging from seven to 28 consecutive days. Fire protection personnel are due overtime after 106 hours worked during a 14-day work period. In this case, the City of Tipton failed to pay overtime when firefighters worked more than 106 hours. Additional information about FLSA requirements that apply to law enforcement and fire protection employees is available on WHD’s website.
“Employers must pay their employees all the wages they have legally earned and must understand the laws that apply to specific employment situations, such as those that govern pay for public safety employees,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Patricia Lewis in Indianapolis, Indiana. “Employers should review their pay practices to ensure they comply with the law. We encourage employers to contact the Wage and Hour Division to better understand their responsibilities.”
The Department offers numerous resources to ensure employers have the tools they need to understand their responsibilities and to comply with federal law, such as online videos and confidential calls to local WHD offices.
For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Employers who discover overtime or minimum wage violations may self-report and resolve those violations without litigation through the PAID program. Information is also available at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd.
WHD’s mission is to promote and achieve compliance with labor standards to protect and enhance the welfare of the nation’s workforce. WHD enforces federal minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping and child labor requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. WHD also enforces the paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave requirements of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, the Employee Polygraph Protection Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, wage garnishment provisions of the Consumer Credit Protection Act and a number of employment standards and worker protections as provided in several immigration related statutes. Additionally, WHD administers and enforces the prevailing wage requirements of the Davis Bacon Act and the Service Contract Act and other statutes applicable to federal contracts for construction and for the provision of goods and services.
The mission of the Department of Labor is to foster, promote and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.