521R-A - Employment/ Overtime

The standard hours paid per work week for full-time non-exempt employees are identified on each pay grade. Pay grades are found on the published salary scales. 

Standard work schedules for all non-exempt staff do not include time allotted for meal breaks. 

Working hours are as defined by the Fair Labor Standards Act. Working hours are those “which the employee is required to give his/her employer physical or mental exertion controlled or required by the employer and pursued necessarily or primarily for the benefit of the employer.” 

The Federal Fair Labor Standards Act requires that non-exempt employees record and the employer maintain daily records of actual time worked. All non-exempt employees shall maintain and submit a timesheet on a weekly basis. 

Substitutes work the same hours as the employee for whom the substitute was called unless otherwise instructed by the appropriate supervisor. 

Except in certain situations, Frederick County Public Schools discourages extra time and overtime worked by non-exempt employees. Therefore, all hours worked beyond the employee’s normal work hours, as defined on the published salary scales, whether for compensatory time, extra time, or overtime pay, must be approved in advance by the employee’s supervisor. 

As a condition of employment, employees shall receive compensatory leave in lieu of cash overtime payments, unless otherwise authorized by the supervisor for good cause, including, but not limited to the compensatory time unduly disrupting the operation of the school division. 

Employees may receive compensatory time for extra time or overtime worked beyond their regular work week. Compensatory time will be credited as follows: 
  1. For the number of extra hours worked, over the standard hours that result in the total hours worked to be 40 hours or less, compensatory time will be credited as straight, or regular time. Example: A secretary who works 39 hours and the regular work week is 37.5 will receive 1.5 hours of compensatory time. 

  2. For the number of extra hours worked, over the standard hours that result in the total hours worked to be more than 40 hours, compensatory time will be credited as one and one-half times the hours in excess of 40. Example: The same secretary who works 42 hours will receive 2 hours at 1.5 times which equals 3 hours and 2.5 hours straight compensatory time for a total of 5.5 compensatory hours. 
All accumulated compensatory hours shall be scheduled for use at any time with mutual agreement between the employee and supervisor within a 90-day period. The supervisor shall monitor all authorized compensatory time. In addition, upon leaving the school division, an employee will be paid for any unused compensatory time at the rate of not less than the higher of: 
  1. the average regular hourly rate received by the employee during his/her last ninety days of employment, or 

  2. the final regular rate received by the employee 
If no compensatory time can be scheduled, the excess hours will be compensated by payment at the employee's hourly rate up to a total 40-hour work week and at time and one-half for excess hours over the total 40-hour workweek. 

Overtime pay shall be calculated for “hours worked” in excess of 40 hours per week at one and one-half times the regular hourly rate of the employee as defined by the Fair Labor Standards Act. In calculating overtime pay, hours worked shall: 
  1. exclude unpaid leave; annual, personal, and sick leave; holidays; and paid non-work hours; and 

  2. include Worker’s Compensation–Leave with Pay–for Worker’s Compensation doctor appointments after the employee’s return to work; and all leave types not specifically excluded. 

Legal Reference(s):
Fair Labor Standards Act 

Adopted: April 7, 1970 
Amended: September 7, 1976 
Amended: August 1, 1991 
Amended: August 2, 1999 
Amended: August 23, 2001 
Amended: June 22, 2007 
Amended: August 8, 2008 
Amended: July 1, 2009
Amended: March 7, 2014 (effective July 1, 2014)