Iowa State University
Extension
County Staff Overtime and Compensatory Time
Overtime and Compensatory Time
Overview
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All County Paid Staff are covered under the provisions of the Fair Labor
Standards Act.
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Explanation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
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Definitions of terms to gain an understanding of overtime and compensatory
time.
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Examples of hypothetical situations and the handling of the situations.
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Recommendations to utilize this information to develop a plan to conform.
Overtime and Compensatory Time
Summary of Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
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Government and or Educational Institutions are covered by FLSA.
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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)
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Field Specialists fit under the “Professional” exemption.
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County Office Assistants, Youth Coordinators, and Program
Assistants do not. The reasons for not falling into the professional
category of exemption is:
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The positions do not normally require a degree in a specific subject.
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The positions do not “require consistent exercise of discretion and judgment, and
predominantly intellectual and varied in nature.”
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An example used in the guidelines is “highly skilled technicians do not qualify for
this exemption.”
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This is not to suggest that OA’s, CYC’s, and PA’s do not do excellent and much
needed work.
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If you exempt them from overtime, you may be accumulating a major liability.
Overtime and Compensatory Time
Vocabulary
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Exempt Employee – Professional staff. As defined by those that
determine and control their work content.
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Overtime – Any hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a week (168
consecutive hours constitute a week – 24 hrs x 7 days).
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Overtime Compensation – One and a half times the hourly rate.
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Hourly Rate – The hourly rate paid. For salaried positions, divide
the annual salary by 2,080 for the hourly rate.
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Pay Period – The timeline in which pay is calculated. Examples:
Monthly, Weekly, Bi-Weekly, etc.
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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)
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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.
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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)
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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 employee’s 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)
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Time Sheet – A form that is submitted each pay period showing the
hours worked each day. This is the employee’s “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.
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Personnel Handbook – A handbook of all County policies relating
to a person’s 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.
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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
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Mary is an Office Assistant in a County Extension Office.
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Mary works eight hours a day Monday through Thursday, then
works ten hours on Friday.
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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)
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Joan is a Program Assistant in a County Extension Office.
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A special project comes up and Joan works ten hours on Monday.
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She would like to take the two extra hours worked on Monday and
take it off on Friday to see her daughter’s play at school. The
supervisor approves this.
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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
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Plan ahead for anticipated overtime needs.
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Use volunteers and recruit additional volunteers as needed.
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Hire additional staff at straight time to cover specific times.
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Ask part time staff to increase hours during busy times.
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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.
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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.)