I am a non-exempt employee of a fire department and I work 40 hour weeks. Our city has a large tourism industry, and consequently, we have the option to work security on our loacl river during the summers. My hourly wages are 25.57. The city was issuing 10-99's for the security work, but recently decided to include those hours on our regular paychecks. Does the city have to pay me overtime at my hourly rate or can they pay me the 20.00 per hour they were paying when we received the 10-99's?

Well, it's fortunate for them that they did that because not paying it through payroll was a violation of IRS tax regulations.

Are you a uniformed firefighter or EMT?

Yes, I am a uniformed firefighter. My official position is Suppression Captain in the Training Division of our fire department. I work days now instead of the 24/48's and a standard work week for me is now 40 hours.

They were still paying us via the city, we just got a check for the hours worked on the river and then come tax time they sent out 10-99's with our normal tax information.

Well, they were wrong, and now they're doing it right. ;)

You know why I needed to know what you did, right? Generally speaking, while you were on your rotation, there was an increased number of hours you had to work before you legally had to be paid overtime pay under the FLSA. However, since now that you aren't on rotation and are basically an administrative employee, overtime pay would be due, since you aren't working directly in public safety (although what you do is still very important to the public safety). However, they CAN pay you at the security rate * 1.5 if you agree in advance. The extra work seems to meet all the criteria required (average hourly earnings for the week, more than minimum wage, etc.)

You can confirm with the federal DOL at (866)4-USADOL if you like.