Public Employment Law Bulletin #16

Discusses implications of two 1998 Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decisions dealing with the status of emergency medical technicians (EMTs) under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In both cases, the counties relied on Section 7(k) of the FLSA in scheduling their EMTs, and the schedules were held to violate the Act. The Fourth Circuit also rendered a decision upholding the applicability of the fluctuating workweek to EMTs, however, and may have provided an alternative means for North Carolina counties to comply with the FLSA without incurring significant additional costs.