MSUE Administrative Handbook: Human Resources
  
SUBJECT: OVERTIME/COMPENSATORY TIME
 
POLICY: The Fair Labor Standards Act(FLSA) specifies that non-exempt employees will be compensated on a time and one half basis for hours worked beyond 40 in any week. In lieu of overtime pay, compensatory time may be used, by employee request only and with prior approval.
 
APPLIES TO:

Non-exempt MSUE non-academic employees (i.e. Program Associate I, Program Associate II) and off-campus secretaries employed by Michigan State University. The Program Associate III is an FLSA exempt position and those employees are not subject to these overtime/compensatory time provisions.
 
PROVISIONS/RESTRICTIONS:
 
1. Overtime hours occur on a work week basis. The work week is defined as Sunday through Saturday. In other words, if a non-exempt employee works more than 40 hours from Sunday through Saturday, then that individual must be compensated at time and one-half for hours over 40.

2. Within the work week, hours may be adjusted on an hour for hour basis to avoid overtime. If a non-exempt employee works 9 hours on a Monday, no overtime is credited if the employee does not work more than 31 hours the balance of the week.

3. Overtime may be dissipated by giving compensatory time. Compensatory time is paid time off the job on a time and one-half basis equivalent to an overtime accumulation. If 4 hours of overtime have been accumulated in a work week, 6 hours (1 1/2 x 4) of compensatory time can be given.

4. If compensatory time is taken for overtime, the compensatory time must be taken during the pay period in which the overtime occurs. The pay period for Program Associates I and II is the calendar month.

5. It is the employee’s choice to take overtime as paid time or compensatory time.  MSU Extension prefers that overtime is taken as compensatory time due to funding arrangements.  For the form requesting use of compensatory time, click here.

6. If compensatory time is not taken during the pay period, then the employer is obligated to pay the employee overtime.

7. Overtime occurs only for hours worked over 40 in a week. "Hours worked" includes paid time off the job such as sick, annual or personal leave. Compensatory time is also included because it is considered the equivalent of working. For example, if a non-exempt employee works 9 hours on Monday and is ill Tuesday through Friday (paid sick leave), one (1) hour of overtime is accrued.

PROCEDURES:
 

The immediate supervisor actively manages the work schedule of an off-campus MSUE non-academic employee to comply with this policy and must authorize all overtime work prior to the performance of work. Employees may not authorize their own overtime.

2. If overtime is worked by the employee, the employee can request that the overtime be compensated by using compensatory time. This request must be in writing to his/her supervisor. An employee may submit a written request: 1) for overtime worked on a specific date(s); or 2) to cover all overtime worked.

3. The Non-Academic Time Log/Certificate of Service form is used to record the time of an off-campus MSUE non-academic employee.

4. The local county office is responsible for the payment of any overtime or overtime penalties associated with Fair Labor Standards Act violations for which it is responsible.
SPECIAL SITUATIONS:
 
If work hours plus hours worked in stand-by are greater than 40 in a week, then overtime is earned and is credited at time and one-half. The stand-by remuneration is paid whether or not an individual works during standby, but in itself is not considered hours worked.

Two examples will help to clarify the preceding paragraphs.

The first situation involves a training session at Kettunen Center. The conference is scheduled for Saturday at 1 pm with an evening class that day, then Sunday from 1-4 pm. Assume a program associate worked 40 hours the previous Monday through Friday. Travel time to and from the conference is 4 hours each way during what are considered normal work hours. The training session is from 1-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and from 7-9 p.m. on Saturday. A written work schedule should be developed prior to the training session and agreed to by the supervising agent and program associate. Both should sign the document.

In this situation, the program associate accumulates 4 hours travel time and 5 hours conference time on Saturday. Because Saturday is the last day of the work week in which 40 hours have already been worked, the 9 hours of overtime are compensated at time and one- half. An acceptable alternative would have been, knowing that 9 hours (4 hours travel time and 5 hours conference time) is committed for Saturday of the work week, to schedule only 31 other work hours for the week.

Now, Sunday is considered the first day of the next work week. Consequently, the 4 hours travel time and 3 hours training time are straight time. No overtime would be forthcoming this week as long as no more than 33 additional hours are worked. If the 9 hours of overtime from the previous week are taken during this week, the 33 hours worked is reduced to 19.5 (33 - (9 x 1.5).
Suppose Exploration Days begins at noon on a Wednesday and ends at noon on the following Friday. Travel time is 4 hours to Exploration Days and 4 hours from Exploration Days. The work schedule to which the supervisor and the program associate have agreed is 1-4 pm on Wednesday, standby from 11 pm Wednesday to 7 am Thursday, work from 8 am to noon and 1-5 pm on Thursday, stand-by from 11 pm to 7 am Friday, and work from 8 am to noon Friday. Suppose further that during Thursday night, a child became ill and the program associate spent two hours dealing with the situation. Following is a tabulation of the program associate's accumulated hours for Exploration Days.
Wednesday -  4 hours travel

 3 hours work

 1 hour stand-by
Thursday - 10 hours work (8 during the day, 2 at night)

 1 hour stand-by
+Friday -  4 hours work

 4 hours travel

27 hours worked

If no more than 13 additional hours were worked that work week, no overtime would be accrued.
DATE:    April, 2009