§ 160A-295.1. (Contingent effective date - see Editor's note) Municipal firefighters; hours of labor; overtime pay.
§ 160A‑295.1. (Contingent effective date see Editor's note) Municipal firefighters; hoursof labor; overtime pay.
(a) A firefighter or amember of a fire department who provides emergency medical services, other thansupervisory personnel, and who is required or permitted to work, on average,more than 53 hours in a seven‑day work period or up to the number ofhours that bears the same ratio to 212 hours as the number of days in the workperiod bears to 28 days is considered to have worked overtime. A personincluded under this subsection is entitled to be compensated for the overtimeas provided by subsection (d) of this section.
(b) A member of a firedepartment, other than supervisory personnel, who does not fight fires orprovide emergency medical services, including a mechanic, clerk, investigator,inspector, fire marshal, fire alarm dispatcher, or maintenance worker, and whois required or permitted to average more hours in a week than the number ofhours in a normal workweek of the majority of the employees of the municipalityother than firefighters, emergency medical service personnel, and policeofficers, is considered to have worked overtime. A person included under thissubsection is entitled to be compensated for the overtime as provided by subsection(d) of this section.
(c) In computing thehours worked in a workweek or the average number of hours worked in a workweekduring a work cycle of a firefighter or other member of a fire departmentcovered by this section, all hours are counted during which the firefighter orother member of a fire department is required to remain on call on theemployer's premises or so close to the employer's premises that the personcannot use those hours effectively for that person's own purposes. Hours inwhich the firefighter or other member of a fire department is required only toleave a telephone number at which that person may be reached or to remainaccessible by radio or pager are not to be used in computing the hours worked.In computing the hours in a workweek or the average number of hours in aworkweek during a work cycle of a firefighter or a member of a fire departmentwho provides emergency medical services, vacation, sick time, holidays, time inlieu of holidays, compensatory time, or trade time may be excluded as hoursworked.
(d) A firefighter orother member of a fire department may be required or permitted to workovertime. A firefighter, other than supervisory personnel, who is required orpermitted to work overtime as provided by subsection (a) of this section isentitled to be paid overtime for the excess hours worked without regard to thenumber of hours worked in any one week of the work cycle. Overtime hours ascomputed under this Article are to be paid at a rate equal to one and one‑halftimes the compensation paid to the firefighter or member of the fire departmentfor regular hours. To the extent that the municipality complies with therequirements of section 7(o) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. §207(o)), it may compensate firefighters for their overtime hours withcompensatory time in lieu of pay. A member of a fire department included undersubsection (b) of this section shall be paid overtime in the same manner asother employees of the municipality entitled to overtime pay, excludingfirefighters. (2008‑151,s. 1.)