Three Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, firefighters recently filed a lawsuit against the city to reclaim overtime wages they say they weren't paid. According to the litigation, Captain Edmund Farley, Battalion Chief Robert Cox and Deputy Chief Harry Scherer say they didn't receive the wages they were owed for overtime employee attendance, according to Firefighting News.

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employees are guaranteed higher pay rates (time-and-a-half the standard wage) for working more than 40 hours during a single week. To earn overtime, the firefighters have slightly different requirements. The overtime cut off is calculated based on a 28-day, 212 hour period, which averages to 53 hours in a week.

The lawsuit alleges that the city has been aware of overtime requirements since 2009, and has still failed to pay workers accordingly. A similar suit was filed last year, ultimately requiring the city to pay $900,000 in back wages to employees. If this case moves forward, it could  involve approximately 70 fire captains, the source adds. This might be detrimental to the city, which is currently in a state of economic turmoil.

To avoid these types of overtime violations, employers should invest in robust payroll processing solutions that can accurately track employee attendance and issue the correct wages. 

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