Forest Service Law Enforcement Officers to Receive Back Pay

Washington, DC — Thanks to the diligence of the Forest Service Council and its Law Enforcement and Investigations (LEI) Committee, non-exempt Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs) will now receive paid meal breaks.
 
LEOs represented by NFFE recently brought to the Council’s attention that they were not being paid during their lunch breaks.  The problem was assigned to the Council’s LEI Committee, who researched the issue and found the practice in violation of the law.  The Council approached management with its findings, who then instituted a favorable new policy in compliance with the law.
 
As of October 1, 2006, meals for non-exempt LEOs who receive Administratively Uncontrollable Overtime will be counted toward their hours of duty and will not be considered breaks.  A meal break of 30 consecutive minutes will be allowed as part of a paid, 8 hour day.
 
This policy was implemented in accordance with Title 5, United States Code and the Fair Labor Standards Act, which mandate that an employee’s hours of work do not include meal periods unless the employee is engaged in fire protection or law enforcement work for which the employee receives annual premium pay for standby duty or administratively uncontrollable overtime.
 
Those LEOs eligible for back pay due to the erroneously unpaid meal breaks will receive those funds once processing by the National Finance Center is completed.  The practice had been going on for many years, but back pay can only be granted for the previous two years.  Even so, the approximately 400 eligible LEOs represented by NFFE will each receive a check for an average of 5,000-8,000 dollars.
 
“The LEI Committee, under the leadership of Committee Chair Brian Webb, deserves all of the credit for carrying this issue forward,” said Forest Service Council President Bill Dougan.  “Without their hard work and commitment to ensuring that LEOs are appropriately compensated, this issue would not have been pushed to completion.”