GENERAL EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE ISSUES

Compensatory and Overtime

Purpose 
This procedure describes the employee groups to which overtime rules apply, the circumstances defining overtime work, and the responsibilities of supervisors for monitoring the overtime of employees in these categories. Also included in this procedure is the process for recording overtime. This procedure refers to relevant legislation and administrative rules with which the college will comply.

General
All employees and most management support staff are eligible for overtime for any hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a workweek (a 168-hour period beginning at 12:01 am, Sunday).  

Exemptions
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Colby Community College Master Agreement; executive, administrative, coaches, and faculty employees, and all independent contractors are exempt from state and federal overtime requirements; provided that coaches and faculty are dedicated to the instruction, teaching, and/or tutoring of students. 

Staff Members who serve as Adjuncts
If a classified or management support staff employee accepts a teaching assignment and the total work hours in the combined assignments exceed 40 hours in a work week, the employee may be eligible for overtime on the teaching portion of the assignment.  

Computation of Overtime
Overtime is compensated at one and one-half time the employee's regular rate of pay. Overtime must be approved by the department supervisor before it occurs.  Any deviation from this is considered insubordination and subject to a reprimand per the Master Agreement.

Only hours actually worked are used in the overtime calculation.  If an employee took paid leave during the work week, these hours should be subtracted before determining if the employee has worked overtime.  Paid holiday hours are considered hours worked for employees (except Hourly Classified) and are used in the computation of overtime for these employees only.  Paid holidays are not considered hours worked for other employees (Hourly) or for management support employees.

Compensatory Time Off
In certain instances, employees may be granted compensatory time off in lieu of pay, provided maximum accrual limits are observed as defined in the Colby Community College Master Agreement.

Management support employees may also be granted compensatory time off in lieu of pay at the rate of 1.5 hours for every overtime hour worked.  The maximum number of hours that may be accumulated is 240 hours which represents 160 hours of overtime worked.  Overtime must be paid when this cap is reached.

Record Keeping
It is the department administrator's responsibility to monitor the working schedules of all employees and management support staff and to maintain accurate records of all time worked. 

For the purpose of overtime records, the following rules shall apply.

1. Work requested or required is considered work time.
2. Work not requested, but necessary to complete the allotted deadline is considered work time.
3. Work performed for the employer but away from the employer's premises or job site is considered work time.
4. If the employer knows or has reason to believe that work is being performed, the time spent must be counted as hours worked.
5. It is the duty of the employer to exercise control and see that the work is not performed if the employer does not want the work to be performed.  The mere declaration of a policy against such work is not enough. 
6. Hours compensated but not actually worked, such as paid leave and paid snow days are not considered work time for the computation of overtime.  Paid holidays are considered work time for employees only (excluding Hourly).
7. Overtime requirements may not be waived by agreement between the employer and employee.

All management supervisors are expected to be knowledgeable about current overtime regulations and to abide strictly by these rules. 

 

[Added July 2016]
[Reviewed July 2020]