Adair

Thirty-eight current and former police officers (“the officers”) employed by the City of Kirkland (“the City”) sued the City under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The officers claim that the City owes them compensation for ten-minute briefings they are required to attend before their regularly-scheduled shifts.

The officers appeal from the district court’s decision rejecting their FLSA arguments and granting the City’s motion for partial summary judgment. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

I.

The officers work fora- twelve-hour shifts every eight days. The City requires the officers to attend ten-minute briefings before each of these shifts. The briefings cover new policies and procedures, events that occurred on recent shifts, job and vehicle assignments, and similar matters.

The officers are paid a set salary by the City, but the parties disagree over whether the salary includes compensation for the briefings. The terms of the salary are defined by the collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”) entered into by the parties. Versions of the CBA in effect from 1989 to 1997 provide that overtime is due whenever an officer is required to work more than seven minutes…