Iowa State University Extension County Staff Overtime and Compensatory Time

Overtime and Compensatory Time Overview All County Paid Staff are covered under the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Explanation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Definitions of terms to gain an understanding of overtime and compensatory time. Examples of hypothetical situations and the handling of the situations. Recommendations to utilize this information to develop a plan to conform.

Overtime and Compensatory Time Summary of Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Government and or Educational Institutions are covered by FLSA. Payment of a salary does not exempt a person from overtime compensation. There are three basic exemptions: –Executive – Management and supervision. –Administrative – High level of independent judgment and discretion in MATTERS OF SIGNIFICANCE. –Professional – Requires advanced knowledge in a field of science or learning (doctors, lawyers, engineers) or recognized field of artistic endeavor or teaching; consistent exercise of discretion or judgment and predominantly intellectual.

Overtime and Compensatory Time Summary of FLSA (continued) Field Specialists fit under the Professional exemption. County Office Assistants, Youth Coordinators, and Program Assistants do not. The reasons for not falling into the professional category of exemption is: –The positions do not normally require a degree in a specific subject. –The positions do not require consistent exercise of discretion and judgment, and predominantly intellectual and varied in nature. –An example used in the guidelines is highly skilled technicians do not qualify for this exemption. –This is not to suggest that OAs, CYCs, and PAs do not do excellent and much needed work. –If you exempt them from overtime, you may be accumulating a major liability.

Overtime and Compensatory Time Vocabulary Exempt Employee – Professional staff. As defined by those that determine and control their work content. Overtime – Any hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a week (168 consecutive hours constitute a week – 24 hrs x 7 days). Overtime Compensation – One and a half times the hourly rate. Hourly Rate – The hourly rate paid. For salaried positions, divide the annual salary by 2,080 for the hourly rate. Pay Period – The timeline in which pay is calculated. Examples: Monthly, Weekly, Bi-Weekly, etc. Compensatory Time (Comp Time) – Time off in lieu of pay. Employer may offer Comp Time, but the employee is not required to take it and may ask for overtime pay instead.

Overtime and Compensatory Time Vocabulary (continued) Authorized Overtime – Overtime that is authorized by the supervisor. The supervisor decides when an employee may work overtime. A process to request the time, or assign the time should be known by all people involved. Non-Authorized Overtime – Overtime that is not authorized by the supervisor. Non-authorized overtime that the employer is aware of and benefits from must be paid. Example: An Office Assistant comes into work a half hour early every day or stays late periodically. The supervisor is aware of this but says nothing to the employee. If this results in more than 40 hours per week for the employee, it is overtime and should be compensated at time and a half.

Overtime and Compensatory Time Vocabulary (continued) Compensable Work Hour – Anything suffered or permitted, meaning if an employee voluntarily works before or after his/her scheduled work time, either at the work place or at home, the time is considered to be compensable regardless of the reason. In addition, if an employees time is not their own to use as they will (i.e., waiting for business, on-call time, or time spent in travel for the employer), the employer is obligated to compensate the employee for this time. Rest periods of short duration (usually 20 minutes or less) are customarily paid for as working time, and must be counted as hours worked. A rest or meal period where the employee is completely relieved of his/her duties (at least 30 minutes or more) need not be counted as compensable work time. However, if the employee is not relieved of his/her duties whether active or inactive, while eating, then it is considered compensable.

Overtime and Compensatory Time Vocabulary (continued) Time Sheet – A form that is submitted each pay period showing the hours worked each day. This is the employees bill for services. This must accurately display the number of hours worked each day with the supervisor signing the form to verify the time is accurate. Personnel Handbook – A handbook of all County policies relating to a persons employment, including: hiring, evaluations, discipline, grievance process, benefits, leave of absences, EEO, guidelines, hours, breaks, overtime and comp time policies, as well as anything else that should be known to all employees in the County Office. Employee Training – Workshops or In-Services that the Supervisor directs the employee or allows the employee to attend for the benefit of the employer.

Overtime and Compensatory Time Examples of Hypothetical Situations Mary is an Office Assistant in a County Extension Office. Mary works eight hours a day Monday through Thursday, then works ten hours on Friday. OPTIONS: –She may be offered three hours of Comp Time; or –She may be offered three hours of Overtime pay at her hourly rate; –If she is offered the Comp Time, she may decline and ask to be paid the overtime.

Overtime and Compensatory Time Examples of Hypothetical Situations (continued) Joan is a Program Assistant in a County Extension Office. A special project comes up and Joan works ten hours on Monday. She would like to take the two extra hours worked on Monday and take it off on Friday to see her daughters play at school. The supervisor approves this. Tuesday through Thursday she works eight hours a day. –Is there overtime for the week? No, because that is only 34 hours worked for the week. –What if she wants to take the two hours the following week instead? Then overtime must be paid, thus giving her three hours of overtime or three hours of comp time.

Overtime and Compensatory Time Recommendations Plan ahead for anticipated overtime needs. –Use volunteers and recruit additional volunteers as needed. –Hire additional staff at straight time to cover specific times. –Ask part time staff to increase hours during busy times. –Offer Comp Time only for working overtime prior to authorizing the overtime. If the employee does not agree to Comp Time and requests being paid instead, then do not authorize that person to work the overtime. Only allow it for employees that agree to take Comp Time. County policy on overtime and compensatory time. –Have a clear policy in the County Personnel Handbook that states how Comp Time is handled in regard to earned, accrued, and paid out. (ISU pays out all Comp Time in the June paycheck, as it is not allowed to be carried over.)