I''m a police officer in Fl and our management is putting us on 80 hour pay periods to prevent us from getting overtim. Is this legal?

There is a special provision in the Fair Labor Standards Act which applies to police departments that allows police employers to use a pay period of up to 28 days for purposes of calculating overtime pay entitlement for law enforcement officers. If the employer uses a 28 day pay period, the employer need not pay overtime until the police officer has worked 171 hours.  If the employer uses a shorter pay period, the number of hours that an officer must work before becoming entitled to overtime pay is reduced proportionately.   Michael A. Caldwell  404-979-3150