For purposes of overtime payment and keeping time records, how are vacation and sick leave hours handled?
A. State law requires fire district employers to include and count vacation and sick leave hours along with hours actually worked for the purpose of calculating overtime. For example, if a firefighter actually worked 53 hours in a work week and, in addition, was on sick leave for eight hours, the employee must be paid 53 hours at straight time and eight hours must be paid at time and a half. Fire department employers having four or more firefighters may, if the firefighter agrees, pay straight time wages for hours worked in a week when an employee is replacing another on authorized leave or filling a vacancy temporarily, even though the employee has worked more than 53 hours, provided the employee’s decision to fill the vacancy is freely made.
