Bloomington Firefighters to Receive Backlogged Overtime Pay

According to the city, recent federal guidelines have indicated that the Bloomington fire department does not meet the criteria for fluctuating workweek overtime. City corporation counsel, Philippa Guthrie, says the city will be compensating firefighters as well as changing the way overtime is calculated.

Guthrie said, “The Bloomington Fire Department does not meet the requirements for a department that may use the fluctuating workweek calculation method, and has therefore changed its overtime payment structure to bring the city into compliance with proper accounting and payment of its overtime to firefighters. The city will be adjusting overtime wages paid to numerous individual firefighters in the last 2 years in the amount of $235, 000. The controller’s office and the legal department have also ensured that the city’s system for computing overtime will use the correct calculation method going forward.”

The adjustment goes back two years in accordance with the law. Payments to firefighters will depend on how much overtime was worked during that period, and 112 firefighters are currently slated to receive payments ranging from $85 to $5,000. Some recent retirees who worked during that timeframe are among the recipients. Two firefighters were paid more than they would have been under the new overtime system, but the city has said they will not be required to return any pay.