FILE:  GBAA

Cf:  GBA

 

COMPENSATION GUIDELINES/OVERTIME

 

 

The Bossier Parish School Board, for purposes of accurate and timely wage and salary determinations, and in an attempt to ensure consistency and fairness in the application and interpretation of federal regulations established in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), sets forth the following guidelines.

 

MINIMUM WAGE

 

The minimum wage paid on an hour-by-hour basis to all school system employees whether full or part time, permanent or temporary shall be at least equal to the federal minimum wage.

 

WORKWEEK

 

A workweek is a continuous period of 168 hours in the form of seven consecutive 24-hour periods.  The school system workweek begins at 12:01 a.m. each Monday for all employees and consists of seven (7) consecutive days.  Each workweek stands alone for the purpose of determining overtime pay for nonexempt employees.

 

WORK SCHEDULES

 

The work schedule for exempt employees such as principals, teachers and others will vary as to time of reporting and shall continue until professional responsibilities to students, school, and School System are completed.  Administrative meetings, curriculum development, student supervision, assigned duties, parent conferences, group or individual planning, extracurricular activities, School Board and School Board Committee meetings may require hours beyond any stated minimum.  The Superintendent or his/her designee, consistent with the FLSA and the provisions of this policy, shall define work schedules for nonexempt employees.

 

SALARIES

 

A fixed salary is paid to nonexempt employees for hours worked for forty (40) hours in a workweek.  Nonexempt employees who have a work schedule of fewer than forty (40) hours in a workweek are not paid overtime compensation unless the employee works more than forty (40) hours in a workweek.  Such employees shall be paid their regular rate of pay for time worked up to forty (40) hours.

 

PART TIME IN DIFFERENT CAPACITY

 

If individuals are employed in one capacity but voluntarily work part time in a different capacity on an occasional or sporadic basis, the hours logged in the secondary voluntary capacity shall not be counted as hours worked for overtime purposes.

 

CLASSIFICATION OF EXEMPT OR NONEXEMPT EMPLOYEES

 

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) classifies employees into two (2) groups, as follows:

 

Exempt – Employees who are not eligible to receive overtime compensation.  These employees are generally salaried employees whose primary duties are directly related to the management or administrative and business functions within the school system.  Learned professionals, such as teachers, are also classified as exempt.  Other exempt employees may include, but not be limited to, the Superintendent, directors, supervisors, principals, assistant principals, and degreed professionals.

 

Nonexempt – Employees who are eligible to receive overtime compensation.  These employees perform work involving repetitive manual operations, such as maintenance employees, food service employees, janitors and custodians, bus operators, and security personnel.  Nonexempt employees may also include office employees who perform non-manual labor, such as secretaries, paraprofessionals, nurses, data-processing operators and technicians, cafeteria managers and staff, bus drivers, maintenance staff, accounting and payroll staff.

 

Utilizing the provisions of and accompanying regulations implementing the Fair Labor Standards Act, the School Board shall classify all employees of the school system as exempt or nonexempt for purposes of determining eligibility for overtime compensation.

 

HOURS WORKED FOR OVERTIME REQUIREMENTS

 

Hours worked for nonexempt employees includes all hours during which the individual is required to be on duty - generally from the required starting time to normal quitting time. Meal periods do not count as hours worked unless the individual is required to perform work duties during the meal period.  Break periods of twenty (20) minutes or longer do not count as work time.  Hours worked do not apply to exempt employees.  Exempt employees are excluded from the overtime requirements and their work schedules may include meetings, extracurricular activities, parent conferences, planning time and other responsibilities of the position.

 

OVERTIME COMPENSATION

 

Nonexempt employees who work in excess of forty (40) hours per workweek shall earn compensation at one-and-one-half times their regular rate for all hours more than forty (40). However, the School Board discourages overtime work (more than forty (40) hours in a workweek) by nonexempt employees.

 

OVERTIME HOURS

 

Overtime hours (more than forty (40) hours worked in a workweek) shall be held to a minimum consistent with the needs and requirements of sound and orderly administration.  The Superintendent or his/her designee shall approve all overtime in advance.  Overtime assignments of nonexempt employees shall be permitted only when required by operational necessity.  All hours worked by nonexempt employees must be scheduled and duly authorized.  Any hours worked by a nonexempt employee over forty (40) hours during the workweek must be authorized in writing and documented on the Change in Working Hours/Overtime Request Form by the building principal or department head prior to the time the work is performed.  Unauthorized overtime shall not be tolerated.  All supervisory personnel must monitor overtime use on a weekly basis and report such use to the Superintendent or his/her designee.

 

Flexible Time

 

Principals or supervisors may need to adjust daily schedules of nonexempt employees to prevent nonexempt employees working more than forty (40) hours in a workweek.

 

Recording Overtime Hours

 

Accurate and complete time sheets and/or records of the actual hours worked during a workweek shall be signed by each nonexempt employee and supervisor and submitted to the payroll department.  Further information on recording work time is provided below under Record Keeping.

 

Building principals, department heads and other supervisors are subject to discipline for allowing nonexempt employees under their supervision to work more than forty (40) hours in a workweek without the Superintendent's advance approval.  Nonexempt employees are not allowed to begin their duties prior to their scheduled start time and supervisors are to monitor sign-in procedures to prevent such employees performing duties prior to the start time.

 

COMPENSATORY TIME OFF

 

Nonexempt employees who work more than forty (40) hours during any workweek may be provided compensatory time (comp time) off.  Compensatory time shall be provided at the rate of one and one-half hours for each hour of overtime worked.

 

Compensatory time may be accrued up until 240 hours (160 overtime hours).  Overtime work beyond this maximum accrual amount shall be paid through the payroll department.

 

Every effort shall be made to permit the use of compensatory time at the time mutually agreed upon by the individual and employee's supervisor.  Nonexempt employees shall be required to use any accumulated compensatory time.  However, where the individual's absence would unduly disrupt the school system operations, the school system retains the right to postpone the usage of any compensatory time.

 

Time off for working on an official holiday shall not be considered compensatory time off but as a delayed holiday.  Employees who are required to work on an announced holiday must be given equal time off within the same fiscal year.

 

Nonexempt employee's record of compensatory time shall be maintained by the Human Resources Department.

 

TRAVEL

 

Ordinary travel time from home to a work site or a school location or vice versa is not work time.  Official travel during an individual's regular working hours shall be considered hours worked.

 

LEAVE

 

Time taken for annual leave, sick leave, leave without pay, or other leave taken for the purpose of jury duty, military assignment, or because of death in the family is not counted as hours worked to determine if a nonexempt employee worked more than forty (40) hours in a workweek.

 

VOLUNTEERS

 

A volunteer is defined as an individual who receives no compensation or who is paid expenses, reasonable benefits, or a nominal fee to perform the services for which the individual volunteered and such services are offered freely and without coercion, direct or implied, from the School Board.  If an employee of the School Board wishes to volunteer, the volunteer services must be different from the services the employee is employed to perform.  The Superintendent or designee must approve any exception.

 

EXCLUSIONS FROM OVERTIME PAY REQUIREMENTS

 

Executive, administrative, professional and certain computer employees are identified as exempt from overtime pay if their job duties and salary meet the rules for one or more of the categories of exemption provided by the FLSA and the implementing regulations.  A list of the exempt employees shall be maintained by the Department of Human Resources.

 

EXEMPT EMPLOYEE DEDUCTIONS

 

Deductions from pay are permissible when an exempt employee:  is absent from work for one or more full days for personal reasons other than sickness or disability; for absences of one or more full days due to sickness or disability if the deduction is made in accordance with a bona fide plan, policy or practice of providing compensation for salary lost due to illness; to offset amounts employees receive as jury or witness fees, or for military pay; for penalties imposed in good faith for infractions of safety rules of major significance; or for unpaid disciplinary suspensions of one or more full days imposed in good faith for workplace conduct rule infractions.  An exempt employee may file a grievance in accordance with the School Board's grievance procedure (policy GAE, Non-Title IX Grievance Procedure for Employees, Students, and Parents/Guardians), if there is a dispute or objection to deduction from pay.

 

RECORD-KEEPING

 

Exempt Employees

 

The following records must be kept for each employee:

 

 

Time and Attendance:

 

Teachers shall record daily when they report to work and when they leave work.  This should be recorded on a sign-sheet.  If a teacher leaves work during normal hours of operation, with the permission of the Principal, this should also be recorded on the sign-in sheet.

 

Nonexempt Employees

 

The following records must be kept for each employee:

 

 

Time and Attendance:

 

Non-exempt hourly employees shall record daily the time they begin work, take breaks, take lunch periods, and when they leave work.  Employees shall also record overtime hours daily on timesheets to show the number of hours worked in excess of the regular hours worked for that day.  The employee shall be required to sign the daily time sheets at the end of the workweek attesting to the accuracy of the timesheets.  Vacation and sick leave days should also be recorded.  Work periods that are not a minimum of thirty (30) minutes must be reported as hours worked.

 

RETENTION OF PAYROLL RECORDS (See also policy DIE, Records Retention)

 

Records to be preserved for three (3) years:

 

 

Records to be preserved for two (2) years:

 

 

SPECIAL SITUATIONS

 

Nonexempt employee - cannot volunteer to perform work that is part of their normal job duties, for example, a janitor may not volunteer to clean up after school events (ball games) without such time counting as hours worked during a workweek.  A janitor could volunteer to coach an athletic team.  An employee who is the parent of a child in an activity may volunteer for work similar to their regular duties upon special request and permission.

 

Meetings - when authorized or required shall be counted as hours worked for nonexempt employees.

 

In-Service Training - when authorized or required will be counted as hours worked for nonexempt employees.

 

Waiver of Rights - nonexempt employees shall not be allowed to waive their rights under Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

 

Bus Operators - uninterrupted time off between the morning and afternoon runs shall not count as hours worked.

 

Students - Vocational students performing work as part of a curriculum are students and not workers; therefore, wages are not mandatory under FLSA.  Students helping in office capacities for short periods of time are volunteers and not employees.  The payment of wages is not mandatory under FLSA.

 

Release time - the Superintendent may grant exempt employees release time from their duties in the event of required extended periods of duty due to extreme emergencies such as some natural disasters or man-made disasters.  Such release time may not affect the orderly operation of the school system.

 

Flexible time (flex time) - A principal or supervisor may adjust the hours and schedule of a nonexempt employee within a workweek to avoid an employee working more than forty (40) hours in a workweek.  An employee may be given a different reporting time or quitting time due to a scheduled evening requirement during the workweek.

 

Revised:  August 6, 2020

 

 

Ref:    29 USC 201 et seq. (The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended)

La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§17:84.1, 17:196, 17:197, 17:197.1, 17:198, 17:199, 17:422.6

Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority et al., 469 U.S. 528 (1985)

Board minutes, 8-6-20

 

Bossier Parish School Board