Philadelphia Police Department Ranking Officers Denied Overtime Pay for Emergency Work, Class Action Lawsuit Alleges

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A proposed class action lawsuit alleges that Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) ranking officers have been denied overtime pay for certain emergency work for almost a decade.

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The 19-page case says that, historically, ranking officers in the PPD were only eligible for extra pay for working over 40 hours a week on a few specific occasions each year, such as the city’s annual Puerto Rican Day parade or Independence Day celebration.

According to the filing, this policy changed in September 2013 when the city introduced Civil Service Regulation (CSR) 31.06, which stipulates that ranking officers in both the police and fire departments can receive additional compensation for any hours worked beyond the standard 40-hour week, provided the work was authorized by their respective commissioners and “during a period of emergency nature.”

The Philadelphia Police Department overtime lawsuit claims several city officials have cheated ranking officers of thousands of hours of required overtime compensation by neglecting to implement the regulation at any point since September 2013.

Named as defendants in the case are PPD Commissioner Kevin Bethel and former commissioners Danielle Outlaw, Richard Ross, Jr. and Charles Ramsey. Michael Zaccagni, the current director of the Philadelphia Office of Human Resources, and two former directors, Pedro Rodriguez and Albert D’Attilio, are also listed as defendants.

The complaint accuses the defendants of allegedly failing to notify PPD ranking officers of their entitlement to additional wages for authorized emergency work and failing to ensure that their emergency work was properly authorized, tracked and paid.

Per the suit, PPD ranking officers only learned of the existence of CSR 31.06 around February 2023, when several members of the proposed class conducted research to support their complaints regarding unpaid overtime wages.

The case contends that the defendants have yet to effectuate CSR 31.06 despite numerous requests from PPD ranking officers and despite providing overtime pay to Philadelphia Fire Department ranking officers pursuant to the regulation for years. 

The lawsuit looks to represent any Philadelphia police captains, staff inspectors, inspectors or chief inspectors who, at any time since September 23, 2013, performed authorized overtime work during an emergency within the meaning of CSR 31.06 and were not paid all wages owed for this work.

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