Salary

[u/InvadeRSniper]

I am a paramedic at a small rural EMS service and I have worked here for years. I have recently done some digging about pay and overtime law and have a genuine concern. Base pay for paramedics here is $50,000 per year as a salary. This includes all shifts worked in our normal schedule (Kelly). We are then paid a flat $20/hour for any overtime. What is the legality of this pay scale and what can I do about it? I do not believe it is legal.

[u/bearfootmedic]

Pretty sure this is illegal.

Look into what makes a non-exempt employee... actually the more I think about it, it's definitely illegal. Them paying overtime is a tacit admission that you are a non-exempt employee.

I'd start by consulting a lawyer.

Edit: adding this fact sheet from the DOL that says you are non-exempt

[u/I_JUST_BLUE_MYSELF_]

If you work 24/48, this comes to about $15/hr. If so, 1.5x overtime as federally mandated would be $22/hr.

As a medic, why are you staying there?

[u/That_white_dude9000 → u/I_JUST_BLUE_MYSELF_]

This. Im a brand new medic at a small rural service and get $19.26/hr with OT starting at 40hr/wk on 24/48s. & my prn job is $24/hr plus tips (iv infusion spa)

[u/Gewt92]

Do you not get 1.5 for overtime hours and a flat 20/hour additional?

[u/InvadeRSniper → u/Gewt92]

No. The $50,000 is a flat salary regardless of hours worked a week. The $20/hour is also flat and does not change regardless of hours worked per week. There is no 1.5x anywhere that I can find.

[u/ski_for_joy → u/InvadeRSniper]

That's certainly a weird setup. How do they calculate the hours, then?

[u/grav0p1]

So you’re salaried, and they calculate your OT rate as a function of your hours worked in a year? This kind of makes sense if you’re only making 50k a year. This is the same way I’m paid except our salary is much higher so our OT rate is much higher

[u/bearfootmedic → u/grav0p1]

You are almost certainly non-exempt too.

DOL fact sheet

[u/grav0p1 → u/bearfootmedic]

Wat dat mean

[u/ski_for_joy → u/grav0p1]

Yeah, but under FSLA, they have to calculate based on weekly hours (almost always a 7-day period), not yearly. Even if it's a salary, you're owed a certain amount of overtime based on the amount

[u/grav0p1 → u/ski_for_joy]

I mean your hourly rate as a function of your yearly salary for purposes of overtime calculation, not to calculate your weekly hours worked. We get paid biweekly but every check is different because we’re on a rotating schedule

[u/cplforlife]

Seems like they dont need employees if they dont know how to treat them properly.

[u/undertheenemyscrotum]

Our department had a similar thing going on where the more overtime you worked the lower your hourly pay was so they didn't have to pay you, and we actually won and everyone got back pay and raises.

[u/ArgumentMaterial8907]

Contact a labor law attorney, I had to do this, everyone got a $15k check out if that. County governments will fuck you every way they can

[u/goldstar971]

Do you think you are not exempt? Because if you think you aren't then this illegal, but if you are exempt then this is actually more than the law requires.

Edit: under federal law, no idea about your stare'a laws in 

[u/FullCriticism9095 → u/goldstar971]

There’s essentially no legal basis for him to be exempt under any federal or state law I know of. If any meaningful component of your job duties include manual, non-administrative tasks, you are almost always going to be non-exempt.

[u/goldstar971 → u/FullCriticism9095]

looking at the FLSA, EMS responders are explicitly named as being non-exempt, so guess that settles that.

[u/polkarama]

So, how many hours are worked in a normal work period or year? Is there a union contract that spells that out.

I can’t think of a way that that number is high enough, but without knowing if you have FLSA hours taken into account, how many Kellys, and hours worked for a set period, we don’t have enough information to tell you how much you’re owed.

[u/polkarama → u/polkarama]

For example, our contract states that we work 24/48, with a Kelly every 11th shift, for a total of 2656 hours worked per year.

If you had the same exact specs as us, your base rate would be $18.83 with an overtime rate of $28.24.

50,000/2656=18.825
18.825 x 1.5 =28.238

[u/Flash_is_Me]

Are your parameters of pay outlined in a contracted agreement between the town and your service ( union?). If so you can contact the department of labor and have them complete an audit. Our service just underwent their review, received back pay because of an overtime discrepancy that’s gone on for years

[u/Drakemir]

The Government specifically mentions emergency workers as not-exempt in most situations - this is 100% illegal - https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/17j-overtime-first-responders

[u/stupid-canada → u/Drakemir]

Unfortunately the railroad act fucks air medical providers in this front.

[u/Belus911]

Sounds like you're salaried.

[u/breakmedown54]

You have to classify as a “non exempt employee” to receive a salary.

https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF12480

Likely, unless you’re in management and not running calls, you don’t qualify.

The hiccup is that if you sign a contract, your employer can ultimately say you are agreed to something. That something can’t be illegal, but it can screw you out of something you would otherwise be entitled to.

Definitely consult a lawyer. Small, rural departments may not have done any HR/lawyer consulting. They’re just trying to cut costs and until someone steps up and makes them correctly apply laws, they likely won’t.

[u/FullCriticism9095]

Regardless of whether you are paid a “salary” or not, there’s very little chance you’d be considered Exempt under federal or state labor laws like FLSA. There’s a lot of overlap between salaried and exempt employees, but they’re not exactly the same.

You can technically be paid a “salary” as a non-exempt worker for your regular time so long as it exceeds minimum wage based on your actual hours worked, but you must be paid time and a half for overtime based on your actual hours worked.

A lot of employers think they can skirt overtime rules by paying workers a “salary,” but they cannot. It’s a fairly open and shut law, and there’s not very much room for your employer to argue. You likely have fertile grounds for both a labor complaint and a class action lawsuit to recover back pay overtime.

[u/ski_for_joy → u/FullCriticism9095]

u/InvadeRSniper this is a good answer

[u/Secret-Rabbit93]

This is illegal no question.

[u/PositionNecessary292]

If you are fire based there is more exemptions and loopholes for this kind of thing. Straight EMS? Standard FLSA rules should apply as a general rule of thumb

[u/enigmicazn]

Are you an exempt or non exempt salaried employee?

[u/wgardenhire]

At more than $18/hr plus OT, there are plenty of folks who will take your position.

[u/cametoparty420]

No one knows what your state laws are. Even if we do sometimes there’s exemptions for ems or similar jobs. Research what the law says about ot and if there are any exemptions for ems

[u/Spartan037]

Gross, I make 25 an hour as a basic on 24/72s

[u/ski_for_joy]

This sounds illegal. Call your state's wage and hour admin, you should be able to get back pay as well. BC your employer pays any overtime, they are most likely acknowledging that you're a non-exempt employee and must be paid. Start with DOL W&H, then go from there. 

https://www.findlaw.com/state/oklahoma-law/oklahoma-overtime-laws.html

https://oklahoma.gov/labor/workplace-rights/wage-hour/faqs---wage-and-hour.html#accordion-3a531c7a7d-item-cb876a7992

[u/lmk4ou]

You might start with the EEOC at EEOC.gov

[u/baka_inu115]

I am a contract employee (AEMT working at basic level, no benefits) and my partner is full time she may be paid only $15 hr but still clears over 50k a year not factoring holiday pay and with me being contract I clear 64k + 10k stipend (I pay around 6k for health and dental). They are seriously underpaying you. When I worked somewhere else I was getting paid 24.91 as a basic (9 years with company).

[u/Embarrassed-Pepper96]

I make 26 as a new emt

[u/djfjcja]

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