Policy Manual

The following policies apply to staff members who are eligible for overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This includes all merit staff, as well as non-exempt professional and scientific staff. Faculty and exempt professional and scientific staff members are excluded, as are staff nurses and allied health professionals whose terms of employment are established in the UI Health Care Employee Manual (available through The Point or a local Human Resource Representative). 

1. Hours. The basic work schedule for FLSA-covered staff members is a 40-hour workweek. For the majority of staff members, this involves work from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon and 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. However, because of the demands of the University's varied operations, many staff members work other time schedules as set by their departments. FLSA-covered staff are paid for the hours they work. Exceptions for extra hours or undertime must be recorded on the employee payroll record to be paid accordingly. If the total hours worked in a workweek exceed 40, the individual will be eligible for overtime. Consistent with FLSA, holiday or special event hours paid at a premium rate will be converted to overtime hours and paid at the appropriate FLSA overtime rate. There shall be no duplication or pyramiding of any premium pay in a week for the same hours worked.
2. Overtime.
   1. Merit staff members who are eligible will receive overtime compensation for hours in excess of 40 in any workweek. The basic workweek is defined as 168 consecutive hours running from the first shift beginning on or after 12:00 a.m. Sunday through the first shift beginning before 12:00 midnight the following Saturday. Alternate workweeks may be established based on a critical business need for a defined group of employees and must be approved by university leadership.  Only hours worked are used for the calculation of overtime.  Adjustments for overtime and undertime are made on the basis of Monthly Leave and Pay Adjustment Records or electronic data files submitted by the departments. The Monthly Leave and Pay Adjustment Record must include the staff member and supervisor signature as approval of the submitted hours. If signatures are not provided on the time records submitted to University Payroll, documentation containing the appropriate signatures must be maintained by the employing department.
      
      Compensation for overtime hours, as defined above, can be in the form of cash (at 1 1/2 times the staff member's base rate of pay) or compensatory time off sometime before the close of the current fiscal year in which it was earned. Such compensatory time is earned at the rate of 1 1/2 times the actual overtime hours. Compensatory hours can be accumulated and carried over each month up to a maximum of 160 hours. Any hours over 160 will be paid out to the staff member on the next monthly payroll. Accumulated and unused compensatory time at the end of the fiscal year must be paid in cash and cannot be carried over into a new fiscal year.
      
      The appropriate departmental authority is charged with the final responsibility for deciding the method of compensating the staff member. The staff member's wishes regarding their preference for taking time off will be considered in light of departmental scheduling and staffing needs. The final decision on when time is to be taken rests with the appropriate departmental authority.
   2. Professional and scientific staff members who are non-exempt from FLSA and eligible will receive overtime compensation for hours worked in excess of 40 in any workweek. The basic workweek is defined as 168 consecutive hours running from the first shift beginning on or after 12:00 a.m. Sunday through the first shift beginning before 12:00 midnight the following Saturday. Alternate workweeks may be established based on a critical business need for a defined group of employees and must be approved by University leadership. Only hours worked are used for the calculation of overtime. Adjustments for overtime and undertime are made on the basis of Monthly Leave and Pay Adjustment Records or electronic data files submitted by the departments. The Monthly Leave and Pay Adjustment Record must include the staff member and supervisor signature as approval of the submitted hours. If signatures are not provided on the time record submitted to University Payroll, documentation containing the appropriate signatures must be maintained by the employing department.
      
      Compensation for overtime hours, as defined above, can be in the form of cash (at 1 1/2 times the staff member's base rate of pay) or compensatory time off sometime before the close of the current fiscal year in which it was earned. Such compensatory time is earned at the rate of 1 1/2 times the actual overtime hours. Compensatory hours can be accumulated and carried over each month up to a maximum of 160 hours. Any hours over 160 will be paid out to the staff member on the next monthly payroll. Accumulated and unused compensatory time at the end of the fiscal year must be paid in cash and cannot be carried over into a new fiscal year.
      
      The appropriate departmental authority is charged with the final responsibility for deciding the method of compensating the staff member. The staff member's wishes regarding their preference for cash or taking time off will be considered in light of departmental budgetary, scheduling, and staffing needs. The appropriate departmental authority will schedule or designate the use of accrued compensatory time.
3. Call Back. A full-time merit staff member who is called back to work after regularly scheduled hours receives a minimum of three hours pay for such work. This provision does not apply in cases where the additional work time is immediately preceding or immediately following regularly scheduled work.
   
   Full-time merit system staff members of one University department may not be hired by other University departments except on a temporary basis to render special services in cases of emergency, and only with approval of the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer. In such cases, the following will be applicable:
   1. The base hourly rate for overtime pay is the merit staff member's 12-month budget salary divided by the number of hours in the calendar year. Any hours worked in excess of 40 in one week is subject to the premium pay provisions of this policy.
   2. A Special Compensation Form is to be completed and approved by the executive officer of the department for which the extra work is performed.
4. Standby (On Call). Merit staff members eligible for standby (on call) compensation under this policy shall be those Merit System staff members who are scheduled for standby duty by their department head (or designee) and, as a consequence, are required to restrict their whereabouts and activities in order to be available for immediate consultation or return to work.
   1. "Required to restrict their whereabouts" means being within immediate radio pager or telephone contact, and, if requested, returning to the department and ready to work within thirty minutes.
   2. Merit staff members scheduled in a standby status and who fail to respond to initial radio pager/telephone contact, or violate the thirty-minute return-to-work limitation, will be subject to prevailing discipline policy.
   3. If a merit staff member scheduled to be on standby wishes to be removed from such standby status due to illness or other extenuating circumstances, the staff member shall first notify and obtain the expressed approval of their supervisor.
   4. Standby pay commences with the beginning of the scheduled standby period and terminates with the staff member's completion of the scheduled standby period. Merit staff members while in standby status are paid at the hourly rate of ten percent of their base hourly rate of pay. Standby merit staff members who are required to return to the department by their supervisor will be paid their regular rate of pay for time actually worked, or three hours, whichever is greater. Overtime compensation and shift differential shall be paid, where applicable.
   5. Time spent in standby status and travel time to and from work shall not be considered as time worked for purpose of computing overtime.
      
      The following procedures are the responsibility of the department head or designee:
      1. Departmental standby compliance procedures and scheduling system shall be documented and subject to joint review and approval of the appropriate administrative staff member and the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer to ascertain compliance with this standby policy.
      2. Prospective and new merit staff members will be notified of the potential requirement to accept standby at the time of employment.
      3. Standby status is initiated only with formal approval of the department head or designee.
      4. The merit staff member will be notified of standby status through regular work schedule notification.
      5. The department will maintain a record of each merit staff member's standby status as it occurs and record each incidence of actual return and departure from assigned place of work. Such record shall be validated with signatures of standby employee and supervisor.
      6. Total standby hours and actual standby pay to be received during each pay period will be calculated and recorded on appropriate Monthly Leave and Pay Adjustment Records.
      7. Appropriate Monthly Leave and Pay Adjustment Records or electronic data files will be forwarded to Payroll on the respective payroll cutoff dates. A copy will be retained for departmental files. The Monthly Leave and Pay Adjustment Record must include the staff member and supervisor signature as approval of hours submitted. If signatures are not provided on the time record submitted to University Payroll, documentation containing the appropriate signatures must be maintained by the employing department.
      8. Departments are responsible for reconciling/reviewing all time records by department. This includes reviewing and keeping a record for those employees who report no usage for any reporting period.