A group of Vancouver Fire Department battalion chiefs is suing the city for allegedly not paying them overtime they were owed.
The suit claims the city of Vancouver violated the Fair Labor Standards Act, a federal law establishing overtime pay requirements.
For workers who earn an hourly wage and work more than 40 hours in a 7-day work week, they must be paid overtime, according to the Washington state Labor and Industries website.
“When paying overtime, a business must pay at least one and one-half times the worker’s regular hourly rate,” the website reads.
The fire chiefs state they were paid at the rate of time-and-one-quarter (1.25) rather than time-and-one-half (1.5). The employees repeatedly alerted the city they were being unlawfully compensated, the suit alleges.