Overtime and Compensatory Time
Overtime and compensatory time are governed by employee classification and College procedure.
Employees should not assume that working additional hours automatically creates compensatory time or an entitlement to use those hours later.
Exempt Employees
College procedure identifies monthly salaried employees as exempt from the overtime and compensatory-time provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Exempt employees are expected to work at least a 40-hour week and do not bank compensatory time or overtime for later use or payment. (DJ-V)
Non-Exempt Employees
Non-exempt employees are eligible for overtime compensation under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
College Administrative Procedure DEAB-I — Compensation for Overtime Work for Non-Exempt Personnel governs overtime and compensatory time.
For non-exempt employees, hours worked in excess of 40 during a workweek may result in compensatory time at one and one-half hours for each overtime hour or overtime pay at one and one-half times the regular rate.
A non-exempt employee working remotely may not accrue overtime or compensatory time without the required advance approval. DJ-V specifically requires overtime approval to be documented before the additional work begins.
Overtime Requires Advance Approval
All work by a non-exempt employee in excess of 40 hours in a workweek must be approved in advance by the appropriate supervisor and Vice President or President.
College procedure states that approved overtime must be essential and critical to operations.
Employees should not independently decide to work overtime in order to finish routine work.
If workload cannot reasonably be completed during scheduled hours, communicate with the manager so priorities, staffing, or deadlines can be adjusted.
Emergencies and Outages
Technology incidents do not always happen during normal working hours.
If an outage, security issue, or other emergency creates a need for additional work, employees should contact their manager as soon as practical so required authorization and staffing decisions can be made.
Regardless of whether additional work was properly authorized, non-exempt employees must accurately report all time actually worked.
Paid Leave and Overtime
For how to count hours worked when determining overtime eligibility, refer to college procedure DEAB-I — Compensation for Overtime Work for Non-Exempt Personnel.
Managers and employees should follow the College procedure rather than attempting to calculate or create compensatory time informally.
Adjusting the Workweek
For non-exempt employees, when overtime can be anticipated, work hours within the same College workweek may be adjusted, with appropriate approval, to maintain a 40-hour workweek. Two separate workweeks may not be averaged together to avoid overtime.
Managers may also adjust an exempt employee's schedule when operationally appropriate, but exempt employees do not accrue overtime or compensatory time.
Using Compensatory Time
For employees who accrue compensatory time, its use should be coordinated with and approved by the manager.
College procedure requires supervisors to maintain appropriate compensatory-time records and specifies that accrued compensatory time is used before accrued vacation leave.
Connection to Our Values
Integrity Matters because employees and managers must accurately account for work and follow compensation requirements.
Communication Matters because extra work should be discussed before it becomes an overtime issue.
People Matter because workload should be managed deliberately rather than routinely relying on employees to work beyond scheduled hours.