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FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) and the K-9 Handler By Terry Fleck There are three areas where we are either losing canine units throughout the United States, or they are being reduced in size. These areas are the demise of police canine: 1. Deployment Issues: The issue of not deploying the dog properly, which led to litigation, which resulted in either a settlement or a jury verdict against the agency. 2. Accidental Bites: Either civilians or other officers have been accidentally bit by a police service dog or contraband detector dog. This led to agency liability for that accidental bite. Unfortunately, numerous police dogs have been shot and killed by fellow officers while they were being accidentally bit by a police dog. 3. Handier Compensation Issues: The United States Department of Labor (DOL) mandates the handler compensation of"at-home care" of police dogs under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). An agency's failure to compensate a handler has resulted in litigation where the agency was found liable for 2-3 years of back pay for each canine handler. This article will focus on the largest demise of police canine, FLSA handler compensation for at-home care. The FLSA handler compensation issue started in 1985 when this case, Garcia v San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority, stated that the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) was applicable to the pubic sector government. Since then, the Federal court system has addressed the Garcia decision and what it meant to canine handlers. The courts are in total agreement that only one issue is compensable to a canine handler, the at-home care of his dog: At-home Care: This issue arises if the agency does not kennel the dog at the police station or some other fixed work place site. The norm is for the handler to kennel and care for the dog at the handler's home. The Department of Labor (DOL) has consistently held that time spent in the at-home care of police dogs is