Nine chiefs with the Topeka Fire Department no longer get overtime and call back pay.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the change took effect Saturday and is an attempt to correct the longtime practice of giving battalion chiefs and shift commanders overtime and callback benefits. Federal labor standards exempt them from the extra pay.

Last year, the 11 employees who filled those roles earned $145,000 in overtime. The issue was reported about three months ago.

City manager Jim Colson has said the three-month extension of the practice was intended to give city employees and their families time to adjust to the pay loss. Colson said Friday that the pay loss is expected to be temporary and that review of the fire department’s pay structure is pending.
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