Fire Safety Consulting Firm Loses Overtime Violation Appeal (1)

A fire safety investigation company’s payment system violated federal wage law because it shorted some employees on overtime pay, a federal appeals court ruled Feb. 8 in a win for the Labor Department.

Fire & Safety Investigation Consulting Services LLC unlawfully used a blended rate that functioned as the regular hourly rate for all hours worked—both overtime and non-overtime, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit said. The court in Richmond, Va., followed the Second and Fifth Circuits, which found that similar payments schemes violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The Fourth Circuit ruled in favor of the ...