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 can 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 can 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 one month.
   
   
5. If compensatory time is not taken during the pay period, then the employer is obligated to pay the employee overtime.
   
   
6. 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.
   
   
7. It is the employee's choice to take overtime as paid time or compensatory time.   Michigan Extension prefers that overtime is taken as compensatory time.
   
   

1. 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 Program Associate Time Sheet (in Adobe Acrobat format), along with the Hours Worked Record (also in Acrobat format), 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.

In such situations, two considerations are made: how much travel is work time; how much time at the event is work time. Both considerations have implications for overtime and compensation time.

Travel:   Two situations are addressed:   travel that keeps an employee away overnight and travel for a special one-day assignment outside of an employee’s work territory.

When an employee is kept away from home overnight, travel is considered work time only to the extent that it cuts across an employee’s regular work hours. For example, a PA II from Berrien is to attend a noon to noon training at MSU. The training is from noon Thursday to noon Friday. The PA II normally does not work Friday afternoons (90% FTE). The PA II leaves Berrien at 9:30 a.m. Thursday and returns at 3:30 p.m. Friday. The training is from noon - 5 p.m. Thursday and 8 a.m. - noon on Friday. Assuming the PA begins work at 8 a.m. Thursday, the PA II worked 8 hours on Thursday and 6 ½ on Friday. Even though the PA II is not normally scheduled to work Friday afternoons, the travel must be considered hours worked because an overnight was involved. While there are 2 ½ hours travel time which must be paid on Friday, overtime would not be incurred because 40 hours would not be worked in the week.

Following is an example of a one day work assignment (not overnight) outside an employee’s regular work territory. A Program Associate I from Saginaw County is asked to make a presentation on campus, beginning at 8 a.m. The PA I’s regular work schedule is 8-5. The PA I must leave at 6 a.m. to be timely for the meeting. The PA I returns to Saginaw after the meeting and works the balance of the day (until 5 p.m.). The travel time beginning at 6 a.m. is work time. The PA I worked 10 hours on that day. An alternative for the PA I’s supervisor would be to allow the PA I to end the work day at 3 p.m. (8 hours worked) or adjust hours for the remaining days in the work week so that only 40 hours are worked.

Worktime at the Event:   A work schedule should be developed for the non-exempt employee during the time of an event. Obviously, any part of the event which requires the presence of a non-exempt employee to carry out job responsibilities is considered work and must be compensated. Where possible, however, work time should be limited so that no overtime occurs.

For periods of time outside the work schedule when responsibilities cannot be assumed by exempt employees or volunteers, a stand-by status is available for non-exempt employees. Stand-by status should be scheduled with the non-exempt employee just as the work schedule is set up. On stand-by, a non-exempt employee is compensated one hour on a straight time basis for every 8 hours scheduled stand-by. If the non-exempt employee is required to work during the stand-by period, the employee is compensated on a straight time basis. 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.