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UNC T� Coates' Canons NO Local Government Law Ul^V' f SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT https://canons.sog.unc.edu Coates' Canons Blog: The FLSA's Overtime Pay Provisions for Law Enforcement and Firefighting Employees By Diane Juffras Article: https:llcanons.sog.unc.edu/the-flsas-overtime-pay-provisions-for-law-enforcement-and-firefighting- employees/ This entry was posted on March 18, 2015 and is filed under Compensation 3 Benefits, Fair Labor Standards Act, General Local Government (Miscellanea..) The Fair Labor Standards Act has two exceptions from its overtime pay rules for nonexempt employees who work different numbers of hours from week to week: the fluctuating workweek method and the section 207(k) exemption for law enforcement officers and firefighters. Look here for a post I wrote about the fluctuating workweek method, which can be used for any employee whose hours fluctuate. This post discusses the 207(k) exception, which is limited to law enforcement officers and firefighters. It is called the 207(k) exemption because it is found at 29 U.S.C. 6 207(kl (it is sometimes called the 7(k) exemption after its location in the original bill). The 207(k) exemption is well -liked by law enforcement agencies and fire departments because it makes calculating the overtime of their employees more efficient and because it reduces overtime costs in a small, but real, way. Background The FLSA requires employers to pay employees at a rate of one -and -one-half limes their regular rate of pay for each hour worked over 40 in a week (unless they are exempt). Law enforcement officers and firefighters present a bookkeeping and payroll challenge because they frequently work shifts of 12- or 24 -hours and may be scheduled to work these shifts several days in a row, piling up a lot of hours quickly. In that sense, law enforcement officers and firefighters work the ultimate fluctuating workweek. How the 207(k) Exemption Works The 207(k) exemption allows public employers to figure overtime Compensation for law enforcement and fire employees on the basis of work periods longer than the ane -week work periods that apply to all other employees. The work period can be as long as 28 days. The employer still maintains whatever payroll schedule that it prefers — weekly, bi-weekiy or monthly — and law enforcement officers and firefighters still get paid on that schedule. But overtime premium pay for law enforcement officers and firefighters is determined and paid out at the end of the 207(k) work period. When a law enforcement agency adopts the longest possible work period — 28 consecutive days —officers earn time -and - one -half overtime pay only after they have worked 171 hours within that 28 -day work period. For firefighters on a 28 -day work schedule, overtime is earned only after 212 hours. The FLSA regulations allow law enforcement and fire departments to use the 207(k) exemption for work periods of any length between seven and 28 days, and to prorate accordingly the number of hours that must be worked before overtime kicks in. Most departments use work periods that are multiples of seven. Those multiples work out this way: Law Enforcement Fire Protection 28 days 171 hrs. 212 hrs. 14 days 86 hrs. 106 hrs. 7 days 43 hrs. 53 hrs. con"01 a 20"b 1.,&c dWve .al ve urw&Iy W Non GMna. NI rgMs reswtl. Attachment number 2 \n Page F-2 Page 33