FILE:  GBAA

Cf:  EBBD, GBA

 

COMPENSATION GUIDELINES/OVERTIME

 

 

The Avoyelles 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 Avoyelles Parish School Board 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 Thursday 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 may vary as to time of reporting and shall continue until professional responsibilities to students, school, and School Board have been 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 generally 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 shall not be 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

 

Should individuals be 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, level 1 and level 2 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 operators, 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 shall discourage 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 shall be scheduled and duly authorized.  Any hours worked by a nonexempt employee over forty (40) hours during the workweek shall be authorized in writing and documented on the Overtime Request Form by the building principal or department head prior to the time the work is performed.  Forms authorizing overtime shall be signed by the building principal or department head and submitted to the Department of Human Resources on a weekly basis. Unauthorized overtime shall not be tolerated.  All supervisory personnel shall monitor overtime use on a weekly basis and report such use to the Superintendent or his/her designee.

 

Flexible Time

 

Principals, supervisors, or department heads 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 with other payroll information to the Department of Human Resources.

 

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

 

COMPENSATION DURING EMERGENCIES

 

Unless a Declaration of Emergency has been issued by the Governor of Louisiana, all School Board employees shall be expected to report to work.  When a Declaration of Emergency has been issued, because of extreme weather or other specified emergency situations, employees shall not report to work except as directed by the Superintendent or his/her designee, and shall be paid at the rate of pay in force at the time of the declared emergency.

 

The Superintendent shall be authorized to determine which essential employees may be needed to work during any emergency, and in conjunction with members of the supervisory staff, shall identify essential employees by position or title.  Upon the Declaration of Emergency, all scheduled vacations for designated essential personnel shall be cancelled.  In the event of a school closure due to State of Emergency declarations, essential employees required to work during this time may be compensated at a rate determined by the Superintendent.  Every effort shall be made to minimize required work of all employees during the period of a Declared Emergency.

 

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.  The Superintendent or his/her designee shall approve all compensatory time in advance.

 

Compensatory time may be accrued up until 240 hours (160 overtime hours).  Overtime work beyond this maximum accrual amount shall be paid in cash.

 

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 Superintendent 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 shall be given equal time off within the same fiscal year.

 

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

 

TRAVEL

 

Ordinary travel time from home to a work site or a school location or vice versa shall not be considered 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 shall not be counted as hours worked to determine if a nonexempt employee worked more than forty (40) hours in a workweek.

 

VOLUNTEERS

 

A volunteer shall be 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 shall be 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 shall be permissible when an exempt employee:  is absent from work for one (1) or more full days for personal reasons other than sickness or disability; for absences of one (1) 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 Complaints and Grievances), if there is a dispute or objection to deduction from pay.

 

RECORD-KEEPING

 

Exempt Employees

 

The following records shall be kept for each employee:

 

 

Teachers shall record daily when they report to work and when they leave work.

 

Nonexempt Employees

 

The following records shall be kept for each employee:

 

 

Non-exempt hourly employees shall record daily the time they begin work, take breaks, take lunch periods, and when they leave work.  Vacation and sick leave days should also be recorded.  Work periods that are not a minimum of thirty (30) minutes shall be reported as hours worked.

 

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

 

Records to be preserved for at least three (3) years:

 

 

Records to be preserved for at least 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, and as authorized by the Superintendent or his/her designee.

 

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

 

In-Service Training - when authorized or required shall 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).

 

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, supervisor, or department head 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.

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF POLICY

 

Employees shall be provided a copy of this policy and be required to sign a statement to acknowledge their receipt of the policy.

 

Recoded and revised:  October, 2006 Revised:  July 7, 2020
Revised:  March 3, 2009 Revised:  May, 2020

 

 

Ref:    29 USC 201 et seq. (Fair Labor Standards)

La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§17:84.1, 17:418, 17:422.6

Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority et al., 105 S.Ct. 1005 (February 1985)

Board minutes, 10-3-06, 11-3-08, 3-3-09, 7-7-09, 7-7-20

 

Avoyelles Parish School Board