Hazard Pay Law and Legal Definition
Hazard pay means additional pay for performing hazardous duty or work involving physical hardship. Physical hardship means duty involving physical hardship which may not in itself be hazardous but which causes extreme physical discomfort and distress and which is not adequately alleviated by protective or mechanical devices; e.g., duty requiring exposure to extreme temperatures for a long period of time; duty involving arduous physical exertion when it is performed in cramped conditions; and duty involving exposure to fumes, dust, or noise which causes nausea or skin, eye, ear, or nose irritation.
Hazardous duty means duty performed under circumstances in which an accident could result in serious injury or death, such as a duty performed on a high structure where protective facilities are not used, or on an open structure where adverse conditions such as darkness, lightning, steady rain, or high wind velocity exist
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not address the subject of hazard pay, except to require that it be included as part of a federal employee's regular rate of pay in computing the employee's overtime pay. Hazard pay may be paid for work done under hazardous conditions or imposing a physical hardship.
