There is no right to overtime unless one has worked in excess of the required hours of the pay period in question. Section 7(k) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) provides that employees engaged in fire protection or law enforcement may be paid overtime on a “work period” basis. A “work period” may be from 7 consecutive days to 28 consecutive days in length. For example, fire protection personnel, under Federal Law, are due overtime under such a plan after 106 hours worked during a 14-day work period, while law enforcement personnel must receive overtime after 86 hours worked during a 14-day work period.
Pursuant to R.S. 33:2213(O) under state law, this statute provides a special rule for the City of Kenner that allows the city to establish a work period not to exceed fourteen days for police department employees provided they are compensated at the rate of one and one-half times their regular rate of pay, or credited with compensatory time on a one and one-half time basis, for all hours in the work period that exceed an average of forty hours per week. This State law provision is stricter than otherwise required under the FLSA.
Therefore under State Law, the City of Kenner must compensate its law enforcement officers at a rate of time and a half for any hours worked in excess of 80 hours in a 14 day pay period.
There does not appear to be any State or Federal statutory provision that would prohibit the city from limiting the hours officers work during the two week period in order to limit overtime pay.
It would be advisable to also check with the City of Kenner's Fire and Police Department Civil Service Board to determine if any local civil service rules might apply to either scheduling or payment of overtime.
Louisiana Legislative Auditor website: 04/25/2025 09:13:40 PM
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