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Personnel committee approves changing overtime threshold for paid-on-call firefighters to 48 hours
Summary
Fitchburg’s personnel committee approved updating the city overtime policy to use a 48-hour threshold for paid-on-call firefighters, citing Section 7(k) of the Fair Labor Standards Act and staff goals to reduce department overtime costs while remaining above the federal minimum. The change affects how overtime is calculated for on-call personnel and does not apply to full-time firefighters.
The Fitchburg Personnel Committee on Aug. 5 approved an update to the city’s overtime policy to calculate overtime for paid-on-call firefighters under the Section 7(k) provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, raising the local threshold for overtime from 40 hours to 48 hours for those employees.
Sarah, a city staff member presenting the proposal, said the change reflects how fire-service overtime is measured in extended work periods and is intended to reduce the department’s overtime costs. “So what this means is that even though we're increasing the number of hours that someone needs to work to receive overtime pay … we're still providing overtime benefits that exceed the federal minimum requirements,” she said. Staff noted the federal standard would require overtime pay past 53 hours in a seven-day period or 212 hours in a 28‑day period under certain classifications.
Alderman Maldonado asked whether the union had raised concerns; staff responded that paid-on-call firefighters are not represented by the union and that while the union was consulted it did not register formal objections. The committee moved the update forward and treated the motion as approved during the meeting; no roll-call vote or detailed tally was recorded in the transcript.
The policy change, as discussed, applies only to paid-on-call firefighters; full-time fire personnel remain subject to overtime calculations based on regular scheduling. The committee did not specify an implementation date or additional administrative steps in the meeting record.
The committee meeting began at 5:45 p.m. and adjourned at 5:52 p.m. The chair listed the item as approved and moved on to the next agenda items.
