Comp. Time

Mari · March 2002

We have an exempt employee asking about the company's comp. time policy. Our company does not have a comp. time policy, we do have vacation and sick leave policy.
I did the FSLA test to make sure we classified the said employee correctly. According to the test he is exempt. His job is mostly sales, he gets a base salary plus commission. He works in the office Mondays through Thursday every week, but sometimes he has to go out of town on weekends to see clients or to attend shows. He wanted to know if he can get comp. time if he works on weekends. Am I right that if you are an exempt employee, you sometimes have to work on weekends if needed? Is the company obligated to have comp. time policy?

Margaret Morford · March 2002

Mari,

You're correct. If the employee is exempt, he/she is not eligible for comp time or overtime. Some companies have a comp time policy for exempt employees as a benefit, but I wouldn't recommend it. They have always come to regret creating it. You can always give your sales person a extra day off as a perk for working several weekends.

Margaret Morford
theHRedge
615-371-8200
[email]mmorford@mleesmith.com[/email]
[url]http://www.thehredge.net[/url]

santire · March 2002

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 03-29-02 AT 08:19AM (CST)[/font][p]These questions about comp time are always intriguing because unless you are a government organization they are always illegal. To talk about them in the context of exempt employees flies in the face of the fact that exempt employees can be expected to work whenever and as long as is needed, though despite the legality of such expectation it may not be good management procedure. As to nonexempt employees, comp time is simply a no-no. A bill is curently pending in the United States Congress that would allow comp time for non-exempt employees in a private sector organization. Until then the private sector cannot use it even if both management and and the nonexempt employees that want it agree to do it. Actually you could do it but you had best put a contingency figure on your books in case the Dol Wage & Hours folks find out because they would require that you go back an pay for that so-called comp time for nonexempt employees. Again, just to emphasize the point, the whole concept is irrelevant for exempt employees.

njjel · April 2002

What about giving non exempt employee comp time for hour worked between 35 and 40 per week? We have a 35 hour work week and are in NJ? Also, once the employee accumulates 40 hours of comp time and doesn't spend it down, would we then be required to pay o/t?

System · April 2002

As long as a nonexempt stays below 40 hours for the week, I would think that the FLSA would let you pay straight time.

Over 40 hours in a week, it's different. If you're not a government entity, you have to pay non-exempts OT for anything over 40. No comp time -- ever. You can give them Friday afternoon off if they work late Tuesday night, but that's not really comp time since it's all in the same workweek and it stays at 40 or below. For gov't employers, the rules get a bit complicated.

James Sokolowski
Senior Editor
M. Lee Smith Publishers

Rockie · April 2002

And...it will be even more complicated if the proposed bill in Congress is passed. The recordkeeping will be astronomical and the so-called savings will probably not materialize. Workers will be allowed to "bank" comp time the same as they do paid time off. If they do not use all their comp time in the year it is accrued, they have to be paid for it. (At least that is my understanding of this proposal). I do believe that a company will have the option of choosing to pay overtime or allow comp time banks and I believe it has to be designated one way or the other for the entire organization---not by personal preference.

njjel · April 2002

But can we allow them to bank comp time for hours worked between 35-40 when we have a 35 hour work week and their union contract calls for it?

Comp. Time

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