How to pay employees working 24 hour shifts

[pctransport]

I work for an ambulance service in Southern Indiana. We are wanting to start a 24 hour shift to improve our services. We dont want to kill our payroll with crazy OT, so looking for fair ways to compensate our employees.

Have spoke with other services about how they do their compensations. I don't know what is legal and what is not. Some pay their employees for the entire 24 hour shift but deduct 8 hours from OT if they get 8 hours of sleep. So 48 hours would only be paid 48 regular pay.

Another service does not pay their staff for the 8 hours of sleep. So they work 16 hours and don't get compensation for their sleep time.

Does the laws make exceptions for fire/ems on the EXEMPT status. Would be alot easier to have the employees on a salary status. From what I find, their is a $455.00 per week minimum.

Lots of questions and not much knowledge. Can anyone help or have any suggestions.

[Pattymd]

Firefighters and EMS techs don't meet the criteria for exempt status, so you can throw that idea out the window. Putting nonexempt employees on "salary" does not exempt the employer from paying overtime.
http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/regs/comp...responders.pdf


Regarding sleep time, see here:
http://www.dol.gov/dol/allcfr/ESA/Ti...9CFR785.22.htm

[ArmyRetCW3]

Another service does not pay their staff for the 8 hours of sleep. So they work 16 hours and don't get compensation for their sleep time.

As noted to the response above for you to deduct the 8hrs of sleep in the federal rules the tour of duty must be more that 24 hrs.

If as you have indicated

wanting to start a 24 hour shift

you may not be able to deduct the sleep time as you fail "Duty of 24 hours or more" as required under 785.22. The tour of duty must be of more than 24 hrs.

[Pattymd]

It does say 24 hours or more. Not more than 24 hours. There is a difference.