Police officers are appealing the ruling on their lawsuit alleging the town is stiffing them on overtime to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

A hearing is scheduled for Feb. 4 in Boston.

The plaintiffs, about 100 Framingham Police officers, are seeking overtime pay for hours that passed the 40-hours-per-week threshold during a three-year stretch.

District court has already ruled in favor of the town, but the police officers are appealing that decision.

The original complaint was filed April 13, 2005.

The complaint states officers were not paid accordingly in some weeks when they worked overtime.

The police say the town did not calculate their wages correctly, failing to include shift differential, holiday differential, hazardous duty pay, fingerprint, photography and Breathalyzer pay, among others.

The town disagrees, saying a 24-day work cycle established in 1986 means police have to work 147 hours during that time before overtime kicks in.

That makes it tougher for police to accrue OT pay.

Under the previous cycle, police "are much more likely to work five, six, seven days in a row," to surpass the time-and-a-half threshold, Town Counsel Chris Petrini has said in the past.
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