New police recruits in New Hampshire get paid by their towns to attend a 16-week police academy run by the state. New officers stay at the training facility during the week, and return home during weekends.
Now, two officers are suing their employers, alleging they were underpaid while attending the academy.
Former Bristol police officer Jon Francis says the police academy required 71 hours of work a week. But, he alleges in a court filing, the town of Bristol paid him for 40 hour weeks. He’s suing for overtime pay.
His attorney, David Slawsky, says lawsuits over officer pay at police academies pop up frequently in New Hampshire and across the country. Usually, he says, towns settle.
When they do go to trial as they have in other states, Slawsky says “usually it comes out in favor of the police officer against the municipality but typically not for as much overtime as the officer initially claimed.”
Another officer who worked for the town of Pittsburg may be due an even steeper sum. He claims he was paid only $750 for three months of more-than-fulltime work.
Both cases reference the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act and were filed at the US District Court in Concord.
