Wildland Firefighter Entry Level Pay

General Discussion
#837

Looking for clarification on verbiage regarding overtime pay for the stipend. According to the FAQs release from USDA/DOI/OPM it states:

  1. Will the hourly supplement affect my FLSA overtime rate?
    Yes. The hourly supplement will be used in computing FLSA overtime pay for nonexempt employees since FLSA law and regulations base the overtime pay computation on an employee’s total remuneration.

If exempt employees do not receive the adjusted overtime rate GS8s will be getting paid less than the GS7s and GS6s they supervise. Will this be the reality we can expect until the long term solution is implemented?

1 Like
#838

This is currently being worked out. GS8-9’s should have never been in that category. I can’t really comment more than that at the moment.

2 Likes
#841

If it works out that way it sucks, but this is a temporary holdover to a potential better solution. The exempt/ non exempt wording and implementation is bogus, agreed. I’m not going to complain about my people making extra dollars so I’ll suck it up and deal.

2 Likes
#842

Nobody has dropped the hammer on me yet, but I am getting annoyed with them running everybody off also. I know we are supposed to stay on topic but a little banter in the Q&D threads keeps the traffic up and keeps threads alive, otherwise the site is very low traffic and does not reach critical mass. Even though I disagreed with your complaint, for the record I did not have any problem with it.

3 Likes
#843

I’d cut line with you! Thanks for that. Respect, stay safe brother

1 Like
#844

So sad people are finally getting their back pay and between federal/state/social security taxes, they are paying about 35-40 percent tax rate. I can say I had over 7000 dollars in taxes taken out. It was just depressing to see that.

3 Likes
#845

Lump sum payments unfortunately get treated in a similar fashion to OT. The income taxes get calculated at a higher rate for both State & Federal.
38% combined State & Fed(California) taxes
6.5% FICA(Social Security)
2% combined unemployment and disability

So approximately 45% give/take gets taken away. The deferred comp(401k or 457) is the only way you’ll keep more of what you male. The government is gunna take it either way. Might as well invest in yourself and your future retirement.

4 Likes
#846

Although it does not help you now, realize when you file your taxes next year, you’ll get a good chunk of that back. Most of us probably only pay a 15%-20% total Fed/State tax on earnings so if $7k was deducted, you get close to $3500 back next April. Again, doesn’t help now…

Agree with Ehoss, if you have the ability to squirrel away into a deferred comp, max it to your ability. Usually an instant 20% return in money that is yours. When I was working for the state, my monthly take home for my salary check was less than $1000. I maxed out both my 401k and 457.

5 Likes
#847

Spot on @tumbleweed . My 401k/457 is darn near maxed out and ZERO taxes are taken from base check. The OT check on the other hand gets hammered. My goal is a zero tax return and always end up getting money back due to the amount of OT earned/taxed

6 Likes
#848

I’ve been trying to figure out the overtime piece of the supplemental payment for a few weeks now. No one could explain it, finally gave up.

Thanks grassroots, thanks NFFE, thanks to the legislative and executive branches of government for making this happen.

Onward to the timhartact, new salary scale, new position descriptions and portal to portal.

6 Likes
#849

Edited to update as of 7-20-22

One more co-sponsors :white_check_mark:

H.R.5631 - Tim Hart Wildland Firefighter Classification and Pay Parity Act (117th Congress)
Sponsor: Rep. Neguse, Joe [D-CO-2] (Introduced 10/19/2021)

Has changes in:

New Cosponsors (1 new, 26 total)
Cosponsor: Rep. Peters, Scott H. [D-CA-52 - ]07/19/2022

Is your Rep on this list? (Latest in bold)

California
Cosponsor: 07/19/2022: Rep. Peters, Scott H. [D-CA-52]
Rep. Brownley, Julia [D-CA-26] - 07/13/2022
Rep. Harder, Josh [D-CA-10] | - 06/21/2022
Rep. Panetta, Jimmy [D-CA-20] - 06/17/2022
Rep. Khanna, Ro [D-CA-17] - 03/30/2022
Rep. Eshoo, Anna G. [D-CA-18] - 11/15/2021
Rep. O’Halleran, Tom [D-AZ-1] - 11/15/2021
Rep. Huffman, Jared [D-CA-2] - 10/26/2021
Rep. Carbajal, Salud O. [D-CA-24] - 10/19/2021
Rep. Porter, Katie [D-CA-45] - 10/19/2021

Colorado
[Rep. Neguse, Joe [D-CO-2]] - He is the sponsor

Illinois
Rep. Bustos, Cheri [D-IL-17] - 07/13/2022

New Mexico
Rep. Stansbury, Melanie Ann [D-NM-1] - 7/05/2022

Oregon
Rep. DeFazio, Peter A. [D-OR-4] - 07/13/2022
Rep. Bonamici, Suzanne [D-OR-1] - 02/08/2022

Texas
Rep. Escobar, Veronica [D-TX-16] - 07/13/2022
Rep. Garcia, Sylvia R. [D-TX-29] - 07/05/2022

Virginia
Rep. Spanberger, Abigail Davis [D-VA-7] - 02/28/2022

Washington State
Rep. Smith, Adam [D-WA-9] - 05/10/2022
Rep. DelBene, Suzan K. [D-WA-1] - 05/10/2022
Rep. Strickland, Marilyn [D-WA-10] - 03/28/2022
Rep. Schrier, Kim [D-WA-8] - 01/28/2022

Wyoming
Rep. Cheney, Liz [R-WY-At Large] - 10/19/2021

2 Likes
#850

My Congressman, who represents the District which is burning, is not on the list. He has described Fire Fighters as “Unskilled” workers.

1 Like
#851

I have emailed and called his office several times about this fact when fires(Big Fires) were burning in the District he represents. I received a generic email back but never a call.

4 Likes
#852

If your representative doesn’t care to respond and talk to you, then VOTE them OUT!
:-1:t4::-1:t4:

8 Likes
#853

Easier said than done in this State. You know that…

1 Like
#854

Love to see McClintock unceremoniously unemployed.

9 Likes
#855

We (NFFE) met with Julia Brownley when I was out in DC. Huge that she signed on as a Co-sponser. Started to cry when we spoke.

4 Likes
#856

Retirement related

7 Likes
#857

Awesome, at least I would be able to retire a few years earlier. I would gladly stick around but the Wage Grade Fire Operators are now being told we WON’T be included in the new series.

#858

Who told you that? As of right now, a lot of Positions are up for grabs and the PDs are being worked on as we speak. Are you 6c retirement?

1 Like