Fire department works 24 hour shifts. Also, I don't know about rpd, but the fire department has built in overtime. If we didn't hire a single overtime position, we'd still be paying people "overtime" for 8 hours a pay period (this exact number has recently changed and I can't remember what it now is). However, the built in OT is factored into our salary. If starting pay is 51k, your hourly rate is set so that your straight pay plus built in over time comes out to 51k.