Section 7. Overtime
7.1 Authorization
All compensable overtime must be authorized by the department head or his/her designated representative in advance of being worked. If prior authorization is not feasible because of emergency conditions, a confirming authorization must be made on the next regular working day following the date on which the overtime was worked. Overtime worked must be in the job classification in which the person is regularly employed or in a classification for which the employee is authorized higher pay for work in a higher classification.
7.2 Definition
Except as otherwise provided by Charter, any authorized time worked in excess of the forty (40) hour weekly work schedule shall be considered overtime and shall be compensable at the rate of one and one-half (1-1/2) times the overtime worked, whether compensated by monetary payment or by the granting of compensatory time off. Only designated work groups are eligible for overtime as defined.
Effective November 23, 2014, for all employees except Dispatchers and Social Workers in Children and Family Services, for purposes of determining eligibility for overtime compensation, only holidays time off on County-recognized paid holidays shall be considered as time worked. All other absences with pay shall not be considered time worried, except vacation and CTO shall count as hours worked when the employee is called back to work after regular hours pursuant to Section 7.4 of the MOU.
Effective November 23, 2014, in exchange for the change in overtime eligibility, the salary schedules for all employees except Dispatchers and Social Workers in Children and Family Services was increased by one-half percent (0.5%).
The smallest increment of working time that may be credited as overtime is six (6) minutes. Portions of six (6) minutes worked at different times shall not be added together for the purpose of crediting overtime.
If an employee works three (3) minutes or less of the next tenth, the employee should round down. For example, if an employee whose normal work schedule ends at 5:00 p.m. works until 5:03 p.m., the employee should round down and not report the additional three minutes.
An employee who works in excess of three (3) minutes of the next tenth should round up to the next tenth. For example, if an employee whose normal work schedule ends at 5:00 p.m. works until 5:04 p.m., the employee should report an additional tenth of an hour of time worked.
The County will not make a practice of regularly scheduling three (3) minute increments of work time in excess employee’s regular work schedule.
Overtime shall be calculated from the employee’s base pay only unless monetary payment at a different rate is prescribed for an employee covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act.
7.3 Work Groups
The Human Resources Director shall allocate all job classifications to the following described work groups for purposes of determining categories of employees to be compensated by monetary payment or by compensatory time off. The decision of the Human Resources Director shall be final; provided, however, that prior to changing the work group of an existing classification covered by this Memorandum of Understanding the Human Resources Director shall notify the Union of the contemplated change and if requested, discuss with the Union the reasons for the work group change.
- Work Group 1: All employees covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act shall be allocated to Work Group 1. Employees in Work Group 1 may be compensated for overtime worked either by monetary payment or by compensatory time off, at the option of the employee. Compensatory time off which accrues in excess of eighty
(80) hours must be liquidated by monetary payment. All monetary payments for overtime must be paid not later than the next biweekly payroll following the pay period in which the overtime was worked.
- Work Group 2: Employees in Work Group 2 may be compensated for overtime worked only by being allowed compensatory time off.
No more than two hundred forty (240) hours of such compensatory time off may be accumulated at any one time.
When an employee in Work Group 2 is separated from County service, his/her remaining compensatory time shall be added to his/her final compensation.
Note: Work Groups 3 and 4 pertain to employees not covered by this Memorandum of Understanding.
- Work Group 5: Employees in Work Group 5 are exempted from the Fair Labor Standards Act and may be compensated for overtime worked either by monetary payment or by compensatory time off, at the option of the employee. Compensatory time off which accrues in excess of 80 hours must be liquidated by monetary payment.
Notwithstanding the allocation of job classifications to work groups, any employee covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act shall be compensated in accordance with the Act.
Should the County, through some future Federal ruling, be exempted from the Fair Labor Standards Act, the County shall then revert to the base rate for the computation of overtime.
7.4 Call Back
Employees required to physically report back to work during off-duty hours shall be compensated for a minimum of three (3) hours of overtime pay.
Full-time employees required by their supervisor to conduct work via a remote connection (telephone or computer) during off-duty hours shall receive overtime pay for a minimum of thirty (30) minutes and any additional actual time worked rounded up to the nearest six-minute increment. Part time workers will receive compensation for work via a remote connection during off-duty hours in accordance with hours worked within the workweek.
Employees called back to work under this Section 7.4 shall be reimbursed for any bridge tolls incurred as a result of travel from home back to the County location to respond to the call back. Reimbursement requests must be submitted in accordance with County policy and procedures.
7.5 Compensatory Time Off
Utilization of compensatory time off shall be by mutual agreement between the department head and the employee. Requests for compensatory time shall not be unreasonably denied. The smallest increment of compensatory time which may be taken off is six (6) minutes. If the Department Head determines that they will not approve a request for compensatory time off, the employee will be so notified and have the opportunity to discuss this matter with the Human Resources Director whose decision shall be final.
7.6 Scheduled Workday
Employees covered by this Memorandum of Understanding will not have a scheduled workday reduced in whole or in part to compensate for time which they are ordered to work in excess of another regularly scheduled workday.
7.7 Out of Town Weekend Work Assignments
Any employee who is assigned work that requires them to be out of town overnight on one or more weekend days shall be compensated as follows:
- Fifty dollars ($50.00) per day for each weekend day (Saturday and/or Sunday) the employee is out of town.
- Regular and/or overtime compensation as provided in this section for each hour actually worked during such assignments, subject to the usual pre-approval requirements.
- Travel time for such assignments shall be compensated at actual time traveled portal to portal. If such travel time results in actual time worked of more than forty (40) hours per week, then such time shall be paid pursuant to the provisions for Overtime set forth in Section 7 of this MOU.