Fire Rescue News - Ocean City fire official owed $11,000 in overtime, judge rules

From Press staff reports | Posted: Monday, March 1, 2010 | 0 comments

A deputy fire chief who supervised payroll for the Ocean City Fire Department was entitled to the overtime he claimed, a state judge said last week.

Administrative Court Judge W. Todd Miller on Thursday said Deputy Chief Mark McCulley made a mistake in claiming $7,100 in benefits under the Fair Labor Standard Act when he should have been paid $11,000 or more in straight overtime....Continue Reading

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By law, firefighters are eligible for overtime when they work more than 144 hours during an 18-day cycle. But a city audit in 2008 revealed that McCulley, the department's paymaster, was taking overtime even on weeks when he was on vacation. The city sought to discipline McCulley with a 90-day suspension for misconduct and disobedience of the rules and regulations of the department.

But the judge said McCulley was entitled to overtime because he was obligated to come in to prepare the payroll even on his normal days off. The charges were dismissed.

Court papers state the Fire Department also used its overtime accounts to reimburse firefighters for work-related, out-of-pocket expenses such as the purchase of training tools such as smoke cannisters.

Posted in BREAKING | CAPE MAY on Monday, March 1, 2010 6:32 pm