48 hours one week; 32 hours the next
MS HR
186 Posts
Friends,
A clerical person in our police agency is on shift work where she works 48 hours one week and 32 the next.
I know she gets overtime for the first week, but is she entitled to substitute 8 hours of accrued time off the next week to make 40? Or do the two weeks "wash out?"
A clerical person in our police agency is on shift work where she works 48 hours one week and 32 the next.
I know she gets overtime for the first week, but is she entitled to substitute 8 hours of accrued time off the next week to make 40? Or do the two weeks "wash out?"
Comments
I wouldn't allow it.
But let me go further that before I made that decision, why is the schedule set to allow the additional 8 the first week? If the employee has asked for a 6 day then 4 day schedule, then I would not let them used the accrued time. Also, if the company has a standard bi-weekly pay that allows for only 80 hours to be "logged" a pay period, then also I would not let the employee use the acccrued time.
Now that I have talked this out more, I can see that only if the company says that 40 should (must?) be logged each week, then should the accrued time be allowed. A former company that I worked with had a silly rule like that. You would think that if someone wished to take some time off, then they could do it without pay, save the company a little money. But they got into the situation that people were taking unpaid time left and right and still getting their vacation/personal time in. I think that was a supervisory issue of approving the time off unpaid indiscriminately vs making a policy that everyone had to log 40 hours.
Okay, did I just confuse everyone? I think I just confused myself x:-8
Peyton Irby
Editor, Mississippi Employment Law Letter
Watkins Ludlam Winter & Stennis, P.A.
(601) 949-4810
[email]pirby@watkinsludlam.com[/email]
WE RESPOND TO THE NEEDS OF THE EMPLOYEE WITH SUPERVISORY SIGNED APPROVAL!
PORK
you say "police agency"...is this a city government or state goverment agency.
Under FLSA, public sector, non-exempt emplyees, at the enactment of policy by the governmental entity (e.g, city council and mayor) may establish comp time at time and a half for FLSA overtime in lieu of cash. Thus, it is possible that rather than being paid cash for the overtime of 8 hours (equating to 12 hours of pay), the individual is accruing 12 hours of comp time that is then used in the following weeks when less than 40 hours are being worked. Any combination of pay and comp time equating in this case to 12 hours can be done if that is what the governmental entity sets up (of course if there is a union involved, all that has to be negotiated).
We have solved that one by paying everyone their "normally" scheduled daily hours for a holiday. We have some EEs at 6, 8, 10 hours days, and when a company holiday comes up, they get paid for their regular day, no matter what hour. All of our 10 hour people are actually salary-exempt so it really isn't an issue that they are getting "paid more hours" for the same holiday (they all feel that they are putting in more time than the expected 40 hours a week anyway). We even allow holiday pay for regular part-time hourly employees and they get paid the average daily hours calculated from the 60 days prior to the holiday. It seems to have worked out for everyone.
In public sector, comp time is allowed. However, non-sworn personnel, such as police dispatchers, clerks, secretaries, parking enforcement, etc. are entitled to overtime or comp time at one-and-a-half for all hours worked over 40 per week.
Sworn personnel are not entitled to overtime or comp time unless they work greater than 86 hours in a two-week pay period - it's called the "7K" exemption under FLSA.
Your employee is getting 8 hours of overtime but could use it as comp time the following week. You'll still owe her 4 hours at straight time or comp time.
I would not give the employee a PTO day plus the 8 hours overtime.
"Sam"