Police and Fire Fighter Issues
Atlanta, Georgia attorneys know which FLSA exemptions apply
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime provisions apply to most workers after they work more than 40 hours in a week. However, two exceptions are police officers and fire fighters. Atlanta attorneys Billips & Benjamin represent police officers and fire fighters throughout the United States on these important issues.
Rules governing overtime
While many professional, executive, and administrative FLSA exemptions are relevant to police officers and fire fighters, the provisions for overtime based on a 40-hour workweek do not apply. Generally, police and fire fighters are not entitled to overtime until they work more than 216 hours in a 28-day work period.
When compensatory time is appropriate
The most common violations of FLSA rules for police officers concern working off-the-clock. Police officers investigating crimes must often perform duties when they are not on shift. Examples of such off-the-clock work include telephone calls, depositions, and court appearances with witnesses, defense attorneys, prosecutors, and other police officers that occur while an officer is not on shift. This is simply the nature of police work. However, it is still work for which the employee must be paid.
It is common for police officers to work several hours of every pay period off-the-clock. If a police officer actually works more than 216 hours with combined on– and off-the-clock work time in a 28-day pay period, the officer is entitled to overtime of 1.5 times the regular hourly wage.
Billips & Benjamin's victory for police officers
Recently, the attorneys at Billips & Benjamin settled a collective action for more than 600 police officers in the City of Atlanta for $7,500,000 based on the allegation that they did not receive proper comp time or compensation for work performed off the clock.
