How did Louisiana count vacation days for Lake Charles firefighters working shifts of different lengths?

Plain-English summary

Lake Charles’s mayor asked how the city should count firefighters’ vacation leave. In 2006, the Attorney General read R.S. 33:1996 to give covered firefighters 18 paid days after one year of service. It said “day” meant a 24-hour calendar day, regardless of the length of a firefighter’s work shift.

The AG cited Louisiana court decisions treating vacation days as calendar days rather than shifts. It then explained that, for an average 40-hour workweek, 18 eight-hour calendar days amounted to 144 hours of annual leave under the statute’s minimum. The statute quoted in the opinion also increased vacation by one day for each year of service over ten years, up to 30 days, and preserved systems offering greater benefits.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2006. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Did one vacation day equal a firefighter’s whole work shift?

No. The AG said the statutory “day” was a calendar day of 24 hours, regardless of how hours were distributed in a shift.

What annual minimum did the AG identify after a year of service?

It identified 18 paid vacation days for covered municipal firefighters. For an average 40-hour workweek, the opinion expressed that minimum as 144 hours.

Did the statute quoted by the AG cap longer-serving firefighters at 18 days?

No. The quoted text added one day for each year of service after ten years, up to 30 days. It also said an existing system granting greater benefits continued.

Background and statutory framework

R.S. 33:1996 provided the annual vacation benefit analyzed in the opinion. The AG relied on New Orleans Firefighters Association Local, 632 v. City of New Orleans and two other Louisiana appellate decisions for the calendar-day reading. It applied that reading to shifts of different lengths and illustrated the minimum with an average 40-hour workweek.

Citations

• R.S. 33:1996 (vacation benefit and calendar-day issue).
• New Orleans Firefighters Association Local, 632 v. City of New Orleans, 260 So.2d 779 (La. App. 4th Cir. 1972) (calendar-day construction).
• Authement v. Davidson, 366 So.2d 986 (La. App 1st Cir. 1978) (similar construction).
• Kenner Firefighters Association v. City of Kenner, 742 So.2d 989 (La. App. 5th Cir. 1999) (calendar-day construction).

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/05-0356

Original opinion text

January 27, 2006
OPINION 05-0356

71-1-1 Municipal Fire & Police Civil Service
Honorable Randy Roach
R.S. 33:1996
Mayor
Municipal firemen are entitled to annual vacation of eighteen days
after having served one year. For purposes of leave, “day” is a
326 Pujo Street
twenty-four hour calendar day, regardless of how the actual hours
P. O. Box 900
worked are distributed in a given day.
Lake Charles, LA 70602

Dear Mayor Roach:

You ask this office to advise you of the statutory rules governing vacation leave for firefighters employed by the City of Lake Charles.

Pertinent to this discussion is R.S. 33:1996, which addresses the annual vacation leave of firemen, and provides:

§1996. Annual vacation

Firemen in municipalities, parishes and fire protection districts to which this Subpart applies, after having served one year, shall be entitled to an annual vacation of eighteen days with full pay. This vacation period shall be increased one day for each year of service over ten years, up to a maximum vacation period of thirty days, all of which shall be with full pay.
The vacation privileges herein provided for shall not be forfeited by any member of the department for any cause. Firemen employed on January 6, 1969 shall have their present longevity considered as a factor in the computation of their vacation benefits as provided herein.

The provisions of this section shall in no way be construed to affect in any manner any presently existing system of computing vacation periods under which greater vacation benefits are granted than those provided for herein and the same shall continue in full force and effect.

Under the provisions of R.S. 33:1996 quoted above, after one year’s service, each municipal fireman is entitled to vacation leave equal to eighteen (18) days annually.

The word “day” in R.S. 33:1996 means “calendar days” of twenty-four hours each. Jurisprudence has held the word “days” in statutes governing vacations for police officers and firefighters to mean “calendar days”, not “working days”. In New Orleans

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Honorable Randy Roach
OPINION 05-0356
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Firefighters Association Local, 632 v. City of New Orleans, 260 So.2d 779 (La. App. 4th Cir. 1972); affirmed, 269 So.2d 194 (La. 1972, the court reviewed R.S. 33:1996 and held that, for purposes of annual vacation periods for municipal firemen, “day” means a calendar day and not a work shift. A similar conclusion was reached by the appellate court in Authement v. Davidson, 366 So.2d 986 (La. App 1st Cir. 1978), where the court held that the word “days” in R.S. 33:2583, dealing with vacation days for Houma police, is to be construed as meaning “calendar days”. Finally, see also the case of Kenner Firefighters Association v. City of Kenner, 742 So.2d 989 (La. App. 5th Cir. 1999), writ denied, 750 So.2d 993 (La. 1999), in which the court held that “vacation day” within the meaning and intent of the statute providing for vacation days for firefighters, is a calendar day from midnight to midnight.

Our interpretation of the word “days” concerning work shifts of different lengths remains a twenty-four hour calendar day regardless of the shift length. Here, according to R.S. 33:1996, a fireman would be entitled to eighteen (18) calendar days of leave for days on which the employee would otherwise be required to work, regardless of how the actual hours worked are distributed in a given day. An average 40-hour workweek, would, whatever the length of the shift worked, break down into eighteen eight-hour calendar days. The fireman is then entitled to receive a total vacation period of 144 hours annually (i.e., 8 hours X 18 days = 144 hours), in order to be in compliance with the minimum requirements of R.S. 33:1996. See also Attorney General Opinion 92-60, copy attached.

We hope the foregoing is helpful to you. Should you have further questions, please contact this office.

Very truly yours,

CHARLES C. FOTI, JR.
ATTORNEY GENERAL

BY: _______ KERRY L. KILPATRICK
ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL

KLK:ams

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Honorable Randy Roach
OPINION 05-0356
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OPINION 05-0356

71-1-2 Municipal Fire & Police Civil Service

R.S. 33:1996

Municipal firemen are entitled to annual vacation of eighteen days after having served one year. For purposes of leave, “day” is a twenty-four hour calendar day, regardless of how the actual hours worked are distributed in a given day.

Honorable Randy Roach
Mayor
326 Pujo Street
P. O. Box 900
Lake Charles, LA 70602

Date Received:
Date Released: January 27, 2006

KERRY L. KILPATRICK
ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL