103.2 - Overtime Compensation Policy

University Group Policy #103.2

I. Policy Statement

This policy governs the award of overtime compensation.

II. Guidelines

1. Exempt Employees

No SHRA employee whose position is designated as Exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act from overtime compensatory provisions shall be paid overtime. SHRA Exempt employees shall earn compensatory time for hours worked in excess of forty in a work week on an hour-for-hour basis. Compensatory time may be accumulated to a maximum of 160 straight time hours. Compensatory time shall be taken within twelve months from the date the work is performed. If not taken within 365 days, the time shall be forfeited. SHRA Exempt employees, who transfer to an EHRA position or separate from the University, shall forfeit the remaining balance of compensatory time.

2. Non-Exempt Employees

The payment of premium time and one-half rates is required for hours worked in excess of 40 within a week, with the exception of those considered exempt. University supervisors shall limit hours worked by employees to the university established 40-hour work week standard except in those cases where excessive hours of work are necessary because of weather conditions, necessary seasonal activity or emergencies. Each supervisor is responsible for controlling the use of overtime. Before overtime is approved, the supervisor must be sure that there are sufficient departmental funds to pay the overtime.

The availability of funds must be reviewed and approved by the Budget Department before the overtime is worked. The Winston-Salem State University request for overtime form must be completed and signed before the overtime is worked. Pre-approval may be waived in the event of callbacks or other emergency situations. However, the supervisor must document the reason why pre-approval was waived. See WSSU Budget procedures and steps for approval

The following provisions apply to Overtime Compensatory Time:

Overtime compensatory time shall only be paid as follows (see chart below), with the exception of exceeding maximum balances designated by Office of State Human Resources.

Pay Cycle for Overtime Compensation
Pay Cycle
January
March
May
July
September
November

*Disclaimer: Pay cycles are determined by the annual Smart-time Biweekly Leave calendar. The calendar can be reviewed on WSSU Human Recourses Website under Leave Administration.

Overtime compensatory time may be accumulated up to a maximum of 240 hours (160 hours straight time). Any overtime worked above this amount shall be paid in the employees’ next regular paycheck.
If an employee separates before taking overtime compensatory time, it shall be paid in a lump sum along with unused vacation.
If an employee transfers from an FLSA non-exempt position to an FLSA-exempt position or to another state agency before taking overtime compensatory time, it shall be paid in the current or next regular paycheck by the University.
Overtime compensatory time shall be taken by an employee before any vacation or bonus leave. (Exceptions may be made for retirees who may need to exhaust vacation leave prior to retirement.)
An employee request for overtime compensatory time off cannot be denied unless the compensatory time off will unduly disrupt university operations

3. Salary

The annual and monthly salary rates of an employee are established under current personnel policy for each position. This salary is to represent the employee’s straight-time pay for a standard 40-hour workweek.

4. Compensation

An employee is to receive straight—time pay for a standard 40-hour work week, with the provision that an additional amount equal to time and one-half the employee’s regular rate times the number of hours worked in excess of 40 will be added to the base pay. The University’s policy is, whenever possible, to give compensatory time off, in lieu of monetary compensation for hours worked in excess of 40 hours per week. Supervisors should schedule compensatory time off with reasonable effort made to accommodate the employee’s preference.

An employee will be given compensatory time off on the basis of one and one-half times the amount of time worked beyond 40 hours during a week. An employee will be able to take the compensatory time earned within 12 months from the date the overtime is performed. If not taken within 365 days, the time shall be paid out in the next paycheck.

At the time of hire, each successful candidate for employment in a position subject to hours of work and overtime pay standards must sign a form acknowledging that the policy has been explained to him/her. Agreement to this is a condition of employment with the University; failure or refusal to sign an agreement will prevent employment of that person. This signed form shall be a part of the employee’s personnel file; it must be kept for at least three (3) years following that person’s separation.

Upon termination of employment, an employee will be paid for unused compensatory time off at a rate of compensation not less than either the average regular rate received by such employee during the last three years of the employee’s employment or the final regular rate received by such employee, whichever is higher.

5. Hours Worked

All time during which an employee is required or permitted to be on the university’s premises on duty or at a prescribed work place (except for meals or other periods when the employee is free from duty) is considered as hours worked. This is so even if the duties are pleasurable rather than burdensome and even if no productive work is actually performed.

6. Unauthorized Work

Hours worked by an employee without prior approval will not be considered as hours worked. Hours worked by an employee without the employer’s permission or contrary to instructions may or may not be considered as hours worked. Unrecorded hours worked during a workweek by an employee at the job site or at home must be counted as hours worked if the employer knows or has reasons to know of such practice. The employer must enforce the no-work rule and may not unjustly benefit from work performed without knowledge of it.

No supervisor or employee is to record overtime worked or compensatory time taken except on the Employee Electronic Time Record. Any private arrangements for recording overtime worked and compensatory time taken is strictly forbidden.

Compensatory time taken is administered according to guidelines as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act and according to guidelines for overtime and compensatory time as required by State Personnel policies.

7. Training Time

Required attendance at training sessions, workshops and other meetings, whether before, during or after the employee’s regular work schedule, is work time.

A. Home to Work

An employee who travels from home before the regular workday and returns home at the end of the workday is engaged in ordinary home to work travel that is a normal incident of employment. This is true whether the employee works at a fixed location or at different job sites. Normal travel from home to work is not work time.

B. Home to Work on Special One-Day Assignments in another City

When an employee who regularly works at a fixed location in one city is given a special one-day assignment in another city, such travel cannot be regarded as home-to-work travel. For example, an employee who works in Raleigh with regular working hours from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., may be given a special assignment in another city, with instructions to leave Raleigh at 7:00 a.m. The employee arrives at 12 noon, ready for work. The special assignment is completed at 3:00 p.m., and the employee arrives back in Raleigh at 8:00 p.m. Such travel cannot be regarded as ordinary home-to-work travel occasioned merely by the fact of employment. It was performed for the State’s benefit and would, therefore, qualify as an integral part of the “principal” activity that the employee was hired to perform on that particular workday. All the time involved, however, need not be counted as work time. Since, except for the special assignment, the employee would have had to report to the regular work site, the travel between home and the airport, or the usual time required to travel from home to work may be deducted, such time being in the “home-to-work” category. Also, of course, the usual mealtime would be deductible.

C. Travel That Is All in the Day’s Work

Time spent by an employee in travel, as part of the employee’s principal activity, such as travel from job site to job site during the workday, must be counted as hours worked. When an employee is required to report at the employer’s premises, or at a meeting place, to receive instructions or to perform other work there, the travel time for this designated place to the work place is part of the day’s work and must be counted as hours worked. If an employee normally finished work at a particular job site at 5:00 p.m., and is required to go to another job that is finished at 8:00 p.m., and is required to return to the employer’s premises arriving at 9:00 p.m., all of the time is working time. However, if the employee goes home instead of returning to the employer’s premises, the travel after 8:00 p.m. is home-to-work travel and is not hours worked.

D. Travel Away From Home Community

Travel that keeps an employee away from home overnight is travel away from home. Travel time away from home community is work time when it cuts across the employee’s regular scheduled workdays. The time is not only hours worked on regular working days during normal working hours but also during the corresponding hours on nonworking days. Therefore, if an employee regularly works from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., from Monday through Friday, the travel time during these hours is work time on Saturday and Sunday as well as the other days. Regular meal period time is not counted. That time spent in travel away from home outside of regular working hours (8:30 - 5:30) as a passenger on airplane, train, bus, or automobile is not considered as work time. The example below will help explain the accountability for travel time away from home community.

8. Record Keeping

Records of hours worked and wages paid are required to be kept for each employee subject to this policy. The Employee Time Record is the document required for reflection of hours and overtime compensation. Each department head and supervisor is responsible for ensuring the use of this document as well as for the accuracy of the record of hours recorded on this document. No overtime will be granted unless an approved Winston-Salem State University Request for Overtime form is attached to the Employee Time Record.

9. Enforcement

Employees may bring actions in Federal and State courts against their employers to enforce their rights and recover any back wages which may be due under provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The U.S. Department of Labor enforces the FLSA.

III. Applicability

Applies to all SHRA employees of Winston-Salem State University.

Responsible Division: Vice Chancellor and Chief of Staff

Authority: Board of Trustees

History:

Adopted: June 6, 2014
Amended: September 20, 2019