COLLECTIVE BARGAINING REPORT
Timely payment for jobs-in-blue
Back in 2000, the NJ Department of Communi-
ty Affairs, Division of Local Government Services
addressed inquiries about outside employment of
police officers (Local Finance Notice CFO 2000-14).
These are sometimes called side jobs, extra-duty as-
signments or jobs-in-blue.
More than 18 years later, many of these inquiries
remain unresolved by municipalities. While the no-
tice is not the same as a law directly addressing the
MICHAEL issue, it did provide recommendations to ensure
FREEMAN compliance with the opinion of the attorney gener-
al’s office, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and
statutory law. In short, a police officer cannot act as
a police officer unless he or she is being paid directly by the munic-
ipality through the payroll system.
Most municipalities have internal administrative systems to col-
lect fees from the entity that is requesting a police officer for traffic
control or security. Many also contract with service providers that
charge fees to administer the program. Often, this includes a fee for
a marked police car at the site. The fee can be a fixed amount or a
percentage of hourly salary to cover the municipality’s expense in
administering the program. The entities are billed for the officer’s
time and fees after the work is done, and payment is made after-
ward — which may cause a delay in overtime compensation. FLSA
says that employers are required to pay overtime compensation as
soon after the regular pay period as is practicable.
This can have a negative impact on police officers and was the
subject of a federal lawsuit (Cahill v. City of New Brunswick) that
cited a U.S. Department of Labor bulletin which states that as a
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NEW JERSEY COPS
■ MARCH 2019
general rule, overtime compensation earned in a particular work-
week must be paid on the regular payday for the period in which
the workweek ends. Payment may not be delayed for a period lon-
ger than is reasonably necessary for the employer to compute and
arrange for the payment of the amount due, and in no event may
the payment be delayed beyond the next payday after such compu-
tation can be made.
The municipality is constrained by state law and regulations re-
garding the use of public funds, anticipation of revenue, purpose
of expenditures and disclosure of financial activities. To resolve the
issue, the Division recommended that each municipality adopt a
formal policy for off-duty employment of its police officers, setting
wage rates and administration fees. The rates and fees cannot be
onerous and must be tied directly to the cost of administration or
result in using the program as a revenue-generating device.
To address the issue of timely payment, the Division recom-
mended that the municipality require those requesting police ser-
vices to submit advance payment based on estimates of work to be
done. The municipality would put the money into an escrow fund
to ensure timely payment. If continuous service is required, the en-
tity would maintain a minimum balance in an amount equal to the
average amount paid within a specified time.
The policy is generally covered by ordinance but should also be
outlined in the PBA’s agreement with the municipality. This infor-
mation can be downloaded in its entirety from the Local Finance
Notice section of the Division of Local Government Services web-
site at www.state.nj.us/dca/lgs. Any concerns should be addressed
to the Local’s attorney to ensure that your specific needs are met.