THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT

SAN MATEO COUNTY DEPUTIES OBTAIN $180,000.00 FOR FLSA VIOLATIONS

By Will M. Yamada and James R. Traber

Members of the San Mateo County Deputy Sheriffs’ Association brought suit last year against the County of San Mateo for ongoing violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The County had a practice of miscalculating deputies’ overtime rate by failing to include non-discretionary incentives in the deputies’ “regular rate” of compensation. This practice resulted in underpayment for hours of overtime worked. David E. Mastagni and Will Yamada, lead attorneys for the deputies, obtained an aggregate settlement of $180,000.00 for 97 deputies who participated in the lawsuit.

Public employees who work more than 40 hours in a workweek are entitled to receive overtime compensation at one and one-half times their “regular rate” of pay. (29 U.S.C. § 207(a).) All remunerations must be included in an employee’s “regular rate of pay” for overtime purposes. 29 USC § 207(e). Non-discretionary incentives, bonuses, and special pays must be included in overtime calculations, notwithstanding collective bargaining agreement provisions to the contrary.

Deputies’ Overtime Rate Did not Include All Required Incentives

Most collective bargaining agreements for peace officers include non-discretionary incentives such as education pay, POST pay, shift differential pay, out of class pay, field training officer pay, and bilingual pay. These incentive pays must be incorporated into an officer’s overtime rate of pay.

In this case, the San Mateo County deputies’ overtime rate was being calculated at one and one-half times their “base rate” of pay rather than the “regular rate” of pay required by FLSA. The County was improperly excluding certain non-discretionary incentives from the overtime rate. The County was failing to include in qualifying deputies’ overtime pay such incentives as longevity pay, training officer pay, bilingual pay, night shift differential, out-of-class pay, K-9 premium pay, and holiday-in-lieu pay.

We sued on behalf of the affected deputies to compel San Mateo County to reimburse our clients for years of lost overtime pay and other damages. Attorneys for the county initiated negotiations to avoid lengthy litigation and reach a comprehensive settlement. While the county engaged in repeated delays in settlement discussions, the deputies ultimately prevailed.

The county agreed to pay $180,000.00 to the plaintiffs for lost overtime wages, liquidated (penalty) damages, and attorney fees. The county also agreed to correct the violations in the future, not only for the affected deputies but for all San Mateo County employees. The deputies who put their names on the lawsuit are directly responsible for obtaining this result.

David E. Mastagni, Will Yamada and James Traber have successfully litigated several Fair Labor Standards Act cases throughout California.

Mastagni, Holstedt, Amick, Miller, Johnsen & Uhrhammer is a recognized leader in Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) litigation on behalf of public and private sector employees. Our FLSA team is led by David E. Mastagni and Willy M. Yamada.

Should you have questions regarding your employer’s compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act, please contact one of our FLSA attorneys.