Compensable Time and Time Reporting Office of Human Resources

Compensable Time and Time Reporting Please come to the front to sign in

FLSA The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, is a federal labor law. The FLSA provides criteria for employers to classify their employees as exempt from overtime or nonexempt and eligible for overtime. Exempt jobs primarily involve executive, administrative or professional duties as defined in the FLSA regulations. Exempt employees are paid a predetermined and fixed salary that is not subject to reduction due to variations in the quality or quantity of work. The amount of salary paid must meet a minimum specified amount.

FLSA An employer who requires or permits a nonexempt employee to work overtime is required to pay the employee for overtime work. ‘suffers or permits’ The employer knew or should have known that the employee was working. Work that was not requested but suffered or permitted to be performed is work time that must be paid for by the employer. Requires the nonexempt employee’s commitment to accurately report all hours worked and to inform their supervisor of any additional time worked beyond their regularly scheduled work hours. Nonexempt employees must receive overtime pay for hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek at a rate not less than time and one-half their regular rates of pay. The University pays overtime as one hour of pay and banks 30 minutes of compensatory time for each hour of overtime worked.

University Workweek Employee Handbook Section 4.5 Workweek and Work Hours The University workweek is defined as a seven-day period that begins at 12:01 a.m. Monday and ends at 12:00 midnight Sunday. The work schedule can be adjusted within the same workweek to remain at 40 hours with the supervisor’s permission (flexing the work schedule). Example: a nonexempt employee worked 10 minutes past scheduled lunch break due to a customer leaving late; with the supervisor’s permission, the employee could leave 10 minutes earlier on that day or another day in the same workweek or come to work 10 minutes later in the same workweek.

Overtime and Compensatory Time Working overtime requires the supervisor’s permission ahead of time; exceptions could occur in situations involving emergencies. If a nonexempt employee works more than 8 hours in a day, the supervisor should be notified within 24 hours and arrange for compensatory time off within the same workweek (flexing the work schedule). If the supervisor is unable to schedule compensatory time off in the same workweek, all hours worked must be reported and the nonexempt employee will be paid overtime as one hour of straight time and 30 minutes of compensatory time earned.

Overtime and Compensatory Time Compensatory time earned can be used for planned time off, similar to vacation leave. Banked compensatory time should be taken as time off within 12 months of earning it. Banked compensatory time will be paid upon termination of employment. The maximum accrual of compensatory time is 240 hours; at that point, compensatory time is paid out in an amount to maintain a 240 hour balance. Supervisory approval is required to pay out banked compensatory time on subsequent paychecks.

Rounding Up and Down Rounding Up and Down and Adjusting Time Worked within the Same Workweek Time worked is reported in 15 minute or quarter-hour increments. If a nonexempt employee works 8 hours and 7 minutes one day, 8 hours worked is reported on the timesheet. If a nonexempt employee works 8 hours and 8 minutes one day, 8.25 hours worked is reported on the timesheet. If the supervisor adjusts the nonexempt employee’s schedule later in the workweek to offset the ¼ hour by having the employee work only 7 hours and 45 minutes on a subsequent day, 7.75 hours should be entered on that day.

What is Work time? Lunch breaks of at least thirty minutes, free and clear of work, are unpaid time. If a nonexempt employee’s unpaid lunch break is interrupted by work duties, any work in excess of 8 minutes is reported as time worked; if work in excess of 8 minutes occurs during the lunch break, inform the supervisor so an offsetting scheduling adjustment can be made. The best practice is for nonexempt employees to take lunch breaks away from their work stations to avoid getting involved in work duties. Breaks of 15 minutes or less, if taken, are considered work time and are reported as time worked. Activities done to prepare for work and clean up time after closing are time worked.

What is Work Time? Work performed at home is time worked; a nonexempt employee should not perform work duties while at home without the supervisor’s permission; time spent performing work duties at home must be reported on the timesheet. Time spent attending conferences, training, and orientation is reported as time worked; time spent networking, eating meals, relaxing or sleeping in the hotel room, etc. is not work time. Time spent performing work in the hotel room is work time. An employee cannot volunteer on an unpaid basis to perform the same services performed in their regular job or performed by other employees for pay; unauthorized and unapproved work is work and must be reported as time worked. A nonexempt employee who disregards the supervisor’s instructions regarding their work schedule of 40 hours per week will be subject to disciplinary action.

What is work time? Reading and responding to work emails, texts, and phone calls while off work is considered time worked. When the time spent exceeds 8 minutes, this time must be reported as at least .25 (one-fourth) hour on the timesheet. Supervisors should consider using the Delay Delivery feature or saving emails written outside normal office hours to the drafts folder in Outlook and sending them to their nonexempt employees during a regular work day. Nonexempt employees should avoid reading and responding to work-related emails outside of regular office hours, unless they have their supervisor’s permission. Responding to work-related text messages or phone calls is permitted without supervisory approval due the urgent nature of the contact.

Travel Time Home to Work Travel: an employee who travels from home before the regular workday and returns to his/her home at the end of the workday is engaged in ordinary home to work travel, which is not work time. Home to Work on a Special One Day Assignment in Another City: An employee who regularly works at a fixed location in one city is given a special one day assignment in another city and returns home the same day. The time spent in traveling to and returning from the other city is work time, except that the employer may deduct/not count that time the employee would normally spend commuting to the regular work site.

Travel Time Travel That is All in a Day’s Work: Time spent by an employee in travel as part of their principal activity, such as travel from job site to job site during the workday, is work time and must be counted as hours worked. Travel Away from the Home Community: Travel that keeps an employee away from home overnight is travel away from home. Travel away from home is clearly work time when it cuts across the employee’s workday. The time is not only hours worked on regular working days during normal working hours but also during corresponding hours on nonworking days.

Travel Time Time spent in travel away from home outside of regular working hours as a passenger on an airplane, train, boat, bus, or automobile is not considered work time. However, if the passenger prepares for a meeting, reads work-related materials, responds to emails, the passenger is working and must report time worked beyond 8 minutes.

Understand the Work Schedule Limited to 40 hours per workweek. If unexpected events require a nonexempt employee to work more than 8 hours on a particular day, the supervisor must be informed as soon as possible, but within 24 hours. Nonexempt employees should arrive at the scheduled start time and leave at the scheduled ending time. Nonexempt employees should take lunch breaks away from their work station. Nonexempt employees shouldn’t read or answer work-related emails outside scheduled work hours.

Expectations Nonexempt employees will inform their supervisor as soon as possible if they work more than 8 hours in a day. Nonexempt employees will record time worked accurately on the time record. Best practice is to record work time on a daily basis before one’s memory fades.

Consequences Because of the serious consequences to the University if overtime laws are not followed, supervisors have been instructed to initiate disciplinary action for employees who fail to follow the University’s time reporting policies. Inaccurate reporting of hours worked. Falsification of a timesheet. Failure to inform the supervisors of deviations from the scheduled work time within 24 hours of its occurrence. Working overtime not due to an emergency when permission hasn’t been granted.

University Policies Employee Handbook 4.4.1.1 Professional Nonexempt Employees 4.5 Workweek and Work Hours 4.7 Rest Periods 4.8 Overtime Pay 4.9 Compensatory Time 7.1.2 Accrual – Exempt and Professional Non-exempt Employees 9.2 Attendance 9.2.2 Tardiness and Leaving Work Early 9.4 Disciplinary Guidelines for Misconduct

Questions? Concerns? Supervisors and employees with questions or concerns should contact the Office of Human Resources. Concerns can also be reported anonymously by contacting the Ethics Hotline. 1-888-233-8988 or through the internet https://secure.ethicspoint.com/domain/en/report_custom.asp?clientid=17433