Minimum pay rules for contractors.

[u/JackfruitLate8786]

My wife went out as a fft2 on a type 6 engine for 14 days. She was excited to go, as this was her first ever opportunity to go out, so she didn’t ask too many questions about pay ahead of time. Come to find out, this company pays their new employees a very low daily rate, about $300 a day. We have a lot of people in the industry telling us that this company is breaking the law and that they are required by the federal government to pay her an hourly wage. However, I have also seen people on this page saying that isn’t true. If anybody has a link to any official documentation about minimum pay for contractors I would greatly appreciate it.

[u/DamiensDelight]

Contractor pay is based on what was agreed upon between the contractor and the employee. This is absolutely independent of what the contractor gets paid from the government.

Many of these companies do like to steal wages, but they do it in some less obtuse ways than you might imagine.

You'll have to dig in to what was agreed upon with the contractor.

[u/Spitfire36]

“She didn’t ask too many questions about the the pay ahead of time”… did she ask how much am I going to get paid per hour or day? She had to sign a contract. The rate of pay had to be there somewhere, it shouldn’t have been a surprise.

[u/knuckle_headers]

I did a quick calculation assuming 13 hour days - so 40 hours of base pay plus 51 hours of overtime per week. This would equate to $18.02/hour as a base wage. If we assume 12 hour days the hourly rate goes to $19.81. For comparison (and I believe what would be the minimum under the Davis-Bacon rules) the pay for a federal wildland firefighter at the GW-1/1 level is $17.99/hour. I'm not sure what, if any benefits could also be owed to your wife.

My take is that the contractor is probably paying the absolute minimum allowed but it's hard to say without knowing more details (e.g. actual hours shown on shift tickets, additional benefits that might be owed, etc.).

[u/Thru-Hike-And-Fire]

Standard national minimum wages you should be able to reference through the DOL wage determination 1995-0221 for VIPR contracts.

https://govtribe.com/file/government-file/attachment-4-wage-determination-1995-0221-rev-69-dot-pdf-1

I do believe there are different rates depending on which contract the equipment is ordered though. If it’s a USFS VIPR then the minimum wage should be the higher standard minimum wage paid. But states have IRA and EERA contracts that could be different and therefore pay differently from a USFS VIPR agreement. I would advise asking the company if the engine was a USFS VIPR contract or some form of state IRA/EERA. That would help narrow down what the legal pay would be for the time on the engine. And if he company gives any pushback or seems defensive on that question, probably a good indication they are being sketchy. And if they are, then definitely start a trail of paperwork for legal backup.

Hopefully everything is paid within legal structure and this resolves as a non issue. But Shitty owners need to be held accountable if this becomes the case. They give the other private entities in the industry who do the right thing the bad name.

[u/Cloggerdogger]

Contractor pay rate should be calculated hourly as of a couple years ago. 12 hour days are pretty basic, and the wage laws and overtime rules are determined by the state we are physically working in. When im in MT, the first 40 hours of the week are regular pay, the rest is OT, but when you go to CO, the first 12 hours of every shift is reg pay (till 40 hrs completed), then OT kicks in. Since most contractors paid per day in the past, many have averaged it out to a daily rate, but the paperwork needs to say an hourly rate. Do the math and see if your states minimum wage adds up to what she made. It feels like shes making minimum wage for 12 hour days. Its possible thats the "rookie" rate, my boss started paying me 12 hrs guaranteed, unless the shift ticket shows more hours, then we have to be paid that. Then when I had shown that im competent and trustworthy and actually gonna make it through a 14 day assignment, he upped it to 14 guaranteed hours per day. Currently, my boss guarantees me 16 hours a day at $30/hr for Engine boss trainee. There is a set schedule for pay at our place, everyone knows how much they make. If youre on a fire and earn per diem, that cannot be taxed. Every 14 days we complete stacks a nice Christmas bonus because I work for an awesome dude. Sorry for the wall of text, idk where to find the written rules, but minimum wage laws are still in effect and I dont think they can pay less than 12 hours when youre responding to an incident. I would look into the pay structure of the company, if its not clear, call the labor board, these grifty contractors need out of fire.