Air Methods to pay out $78M in unpaid wages to CA employees

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www.mercurynews.com

Air medical company agrees to $78 million settlement for overtime

An Alameda County Judge agreed to a $78 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit against Air Methods Corporation and flight crew members.
www.mercurynews.com

Holy smokes, Batman! The plaintiffs (employees) will receive “$100,000 each, on average.”
WOWZA! Plus they have to start paying overtime after 8 hours and double time after 12, resulting in a HUGE pay increase.

I am very happy to see this, but I know damn well that AMC is just going to close down a bunch of bases, lay off a bunch of people, and restructure the schedules to do away with 24s.

It’s a win-lose scenario. No company is going to just absorb that much loss and keep on trucking. My advice to any of you medics that get a fat $100k check is to get on over to RN, PA, or Med School.
 
I am glad AMC decided to finally change the sleep interrupt policy and it is unfortunate it took multiple lawsuits to do it however I am a bit torn with the California decision. I agree with the lawsuits and think there should be reasonable compensation, back pay, and changes in future policy if it clearly violated state labor laws however OT after 8 and DT after 12 does not seem like a reasonable or sustainable model for an EMS job. Good for the crews but this will undoubtedly result in large scale base closures. I wouldn't be surprised if AMC gives up on California all together after that.
 
VFlutter said:
I am glad AMC decided to finally change the sleep interrupt policy and it is unfortunate it took multiple lawsuits to do it however I am a bit torn with the California decision. I agree with the lawsuits and think there should be reasonable compensation, back pay, and changes in future policy if it clearly violated state labor laws however OT after 8 and DT after 12 does not seem like a reasonable or sustainable model for an EMS job. Good for the crews but this will undoubtedly result in large scale base closures. I wouldn't be surprised if AMC gives up on California all together after that.
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I don’t think they will give up on CA. CA is one of their most profitable states. We haven’t had any base closures and are in fact adding two new bases in September. The way they are paying us now is the statewide standard that other flight companies and ground ambulances have been utilizing. One thing that we are wondering is if they will be switching up to 12 hour shifts instead of 24s. One of the new bases we are opening is a temporary staffed base during off-roading season and it is only staffed during day time hours.
 
DesertMedic66 said:
I don’t think they will give up on CA. CA is one of their most profitable states. We haven’t had any base closures and are in fact adding two new bases in September. The way they are paying us now is the statewide standard that other flight companies and ground ambulances have been utilizing. One thing that we are wondering is if they will be switching up to 12 hour shifts instead of 24s. One of the new bases we are opening is a temporary staffed base during off-roading season and it is only staffed during day time hours.
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So for a 24hr shift you get 4hrs of OT and 12hrs of DT? That would be like getting paid 38hrs for a 24hr shift. Or am I thinking about that wrong
 
VFlutter said:
So for a 24hr shift you get 4hrs of OT and 12hrs of DT? That would be like getting paid 38hrs for a 24hr shift. Or am I thinking about that wrong
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Typically the clock resets at midnight, at least with the companies I am familiar with. So for my shift I would get 8 hours of normal pay, 4 hours of OT, 5 hours of DT, and then an additional 7 hours of normal pay. However nothing has been set in stone yet as our management are still having meetings so they can explain information to us (for example designated rest periods and mandatory meal breaks).

This next paycheck will be the first one with the new pay on it so we will all find out then.
 
DesertMedic66 said:
I don’t think they will give up on CA. CA is one of their most profitable states. We haven’t had any base closures and are in fact adding two new bases in September. The way they are paying us now is the statewide standard that other flight companies and ground ambulances have been utilizing. One thing that we are wondering is if they will be switching up to 12 hour shifts instead of 24s. One of the new bases we are opening is a temporary staffed base during off-roading season and it is only staffed during day time hours.
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One of those new bases is in the district I work for. It'll be nice to not have to wait so long for an airship. Though I suspect Reach 21 getting 90% of the flights out of here is a major motivator.
 
jgmedic said:
One of those new bases is in the district I work for. It'll be nice to not have to wait so long for an airship. Though I suspect Reach 21 getting 90% of the flights out of here is a major motivator.
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That entire area is a complete cluster. My base is actually the closest to that area and we only have about a 20 minute ETE however since we are an out of county resource we are only to be utilized if no in county resources are available. The closest in county resource is a 30 minute ETE.
 
DesertMedic66 said:
That entire area is a complete cluster. My base is actually the closest to that area and we only have about a 20 minute ETE however since we are an out of county resource we are only to be utilized if no in county resources are available. The closest in county resource is a 30 minute ETE.
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I know it, it happened a few weeks ago, its ridiculous to get a bird from O-side or Carlsbad if you guys or Reach from Imperial are available.
 
Moreno Valley?
 
VFlutter said:
I am glad AMC decided to finally change the sleep interrupt policy and it is unfortunate it took multiple lawsuits to do it however I am a bit torn with the California decision. I agree with the lawsuits and think there should be reasonable compensation, back pay, and changes in future policy if it clearly violated state labor laws however OT after 8 and DT after 12 does not seem like a reasonable or sustainable model for an EMS job. Good for the crews but this will undoubtedly result in large scale base closures. I wouldn't be surprised if AMC gives up on California all together after that.
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When EMS grows up we will be like all other industries. Money is King. The more we can get the better. How we get it does not matter. Its all about money. Thats an Adult Job!
 
Rajd said:
The more we can get the better. How we get it does not matter. Its all about money. Thats an Adult Job!
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Sure, that is one opinion....
 
Sound like REACH/GMR and PHI are next for the lawsuit
 
GMCmedic said:
Theyll pay out or settle before it goes too far. Now that theyve seen the outcome.
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Yep. That is exactly what they are hoping for. After the attorneys got their $20 million cut from the AMC settlement they are out for as much as they can get now since the entire process will be much faster and easier for them.
 
DesertMedic66 said:
Yep. That is exactly what they are hoping for. After the attorneys got their $20 million cut from the AMC settlement they are out for as much as they can get now since the entire process will be much faster and easier for them.
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Depending on the financial hit, with gas prices being down, I wonder if PHI comes out of this intact. I could see the Air medical side being sold off.
 
GMCmedic said:
Depending on the financial hit, with gas prices being down, I wonder if PHI comes out of this intact. I could see the Air medical side being sold off.
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I heard PHI was in the process to buy Rico aviation in NM.
 
I see Companies instituting "Comp Time" to avoid paying more $$$ in OT.

Here a quick FLSA OT Tact Sheet that explains more.
FLSA OT For Public Safety

Here's another AMR Lawsuit for unpaid OT/FLSA time out of Arizona. I don't know the current status of the AZ lawsuit.
Cooley vs Air Methods

FLSA or fair Labor Standards Act mandates an Employer to pay Employees for overtime while conducting Company Business, such as On-Call Time, Unpaid Working Meal Period etc.

Employees have to look at their job classification upon hire/promotion/traqnsfer.

A Non-Exempt Employee is entitled to FLSA pay.

An Exempt Employee, (Supervisor or Manager) is not entitled to FLSA Pay, there are exceptions when a First Line Supervisor is also a "Working Supervisor" part of the time, (i.e. Paramedic Supervisor that actively works Scene and Patients).
 
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They'll just adjust the base pay downward such that actual compensation is mostly unchanged going forward with the new OT/DT. It's pretty simple math.
 
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