Human Resources Classified Staff
Policy and Procedures

Policy # 311.0
Effective: 09/88
Revised: 04/02
Section: Compensation
Subject: Overtime/Compensatory Time
Reference: Arizona Board of Regents Policy, Fair Labor Standards Act, as amended

POLICY

Overtime compensation for nonexempt Classified Staff employees is subject to the provisions of this policy and the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), as amended. Overtime work shall be the exception rather than the rule. Overtime shall be used after other alternatives have been fully explored, such as rescheduling of priorities, balancing workload peaks, offsetting excess hours with reduced hours later in the work week, and revising the work period week so that weekend work can be performed at straight time. 

ELIGIBILITY

Full-time nonexempt staff employees shall receive overtime pay or compensatory time off for hours worked in excess of 40 within their work period week. Part-time nonexempt staff employees shall receive overtime pay or compensatory time off for hours worked in excess of their established full-time equivalency (FTE).

Exempt staff employees are not eligible to receive overtime payment or compensatory time off. There are instances, however, when flexible work hours may be permitted to accommodate, for example, an exempt staff employee who worked an excessive number of hours in a prior work week or who routinely works more than 40 hours in a work week the scheduled FTE. 

APPROVAL

Overtime work shall be approved in advance by the responsible administrator. The responsible administrator shall approve overtime work in advance. The immediate supervisor is responsible for scheduling approved overtime. Employees shall not work overtime unless specifically authorized to do so by their supervisor. Classified Staff employees are expected to work overtime when so requested. Overtime work shall be allocated as evenly as possible among those employees qualified to perform the work. 

OVERTIME COMPENSATION

Full-Time Employees
Eligible full-time Classified Staff employees shall be compensated for overtime work in one of two ways; 1) time and one-half payment of the employee's regular rate of pay for each hours worked over 40 in a work week, or, 2) one and one-half hours of compensatory time off for each hour worked over 40 in the a work week. Generally, compensatory time off will be the means of compensation used for overtime hours worked.

Part-Time Employees

Eligible part-time Classified Staff employees shall be compensated for hours worked in excess of their established FTE, and up to 40 hours in a work week, in one of two ways.

  1. straight time payment of the employee's regular rate of pay for each hour worked up to 40 in a work week, or
  2. straight time compensatory time off for each hour worked up to 40 in a work week.

Eligible part-time Classified Staff employees shall be compensated for hours worked in excess of 40 in a work week in one of two ways.

  1. time and one-half payment of the employee's regular rate of pay for each hour worked over 40 in a work week, or
  2. one and one-half hours of compensatory time off for each hour worked over 40 in a work week.

Generally, compensatory time off will be the means of compensation used for overtime hours worked.

NOTE: Example for Full-Time Employee: Compensatory time shall be accrued and overtime paid at straight time when the full-time employee's paid time exceeds 40 hours in a work period week but hours worked do not. For example, a Classified Staff employee is paid 8 hours for a holiday (or sick leave, etc.) and works 4 hours on a Saturday for a total of 44 hours paid time, only 36 hours of which are hours actually worked: 4 regular 8-hour shifts, one 8-hour shift of holiday pay, plus an extra 4 hour shift. The 4 hours in this example are straight time compensatory time. 

Example for Part-Time Employee: Compensatory time shall be accrued and overtime paid at straight time when the part-time employee's paid time exceeds the established FTE, and hours worked are less than 40 hours in a work week. For example, a part-time Classified Staff employee in a .50 FTE normally works 20 hours in a work week. In a peak business time, the employee is required to work 30 hours. The employee is paid for 20 regular hours and may be given either 10 hours of straight compensatory time or 10 hours of additional cash straight time.

MAXIMUM COMPENSATORY TIME ACCRUAL

After a Classified Staff employee has accrued 120 hours of compensatory time (pro-rated by FTE), all subsequent overtime hours worked shall be compensated for in cash at time and one-half. Exceptions to this rule may be approved by the Assistant Vice President Executive Director for Human Resources in advance, but in no case shall the accrual of compensatory time exceed 240 hours. The payroll system shall provide a warning notice when a compensatory balance exceeds 90 hours. Accurate record keeping of overtime hours worked and compensatory time credited on the Employee Time Record (ETR) or Bi-Weekly Employee Time Record (BETR) is mandatory. Departmental administrators shall be responsible for assuring that compensatory time balances do not become excessive. 

TERMINATION

Any compensatory time up to the maximum balance permitted by this policy shall be paid at the employee's most recent non-exempt rate of pay to the employee at time and one-half upon termination, retirement, or change of status from nonexempt to exempt. 

Policies Table of Contents
March 1, 2005