Overtime Compensation

[The following was approved on May 23, 1996, in accordance with provisions set forth in SIU Board of Trustees 2 Policies C.]

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the federal government regulates employment with respect to minimum wage, overtime pay, equal pay, record keeping, and child labor.

Non-exempt employees are required to maintain a time record and must receive overtime compensation for hours in pay status in excess of 7.5 hours per day or 37.5 hours per work week, except for certain negotiated or prevailing rate classifications. Hours worked in excess of 7.5 hours in a day in accordance with a pre-approved flex-time schedule are not considered overtime. For non-exempt employees, overtime may be compensated in one of two ways:

1. by payment at a rate of 1.5 times the employee's regular hourly rate; or
2. by compensatory time off, at the time-and-a-half rate, in lieu of payment.

For non-exempt employees, the regular hourly rate is determined by the following calculation:

Overtime must be approved by the supervisor prior to the work, and arrangements for overtime compensation or compensatory time off should be discussed and approved by the fiscal officer in advance of the overtime work. For negotiated or prevailing employees, overtime must be compensated in accordance with the applicable contract or multi-employer agreement.

Since university policy does not permit the accrual of compensatory time, compensatory time must normally be taken no later than the pay period following the one in which it was earned. If compensatory time was not taken during the subsequent pay period, it must be paid out to the employee within sixty (60) days of being earned on a regularly scheduled pay period. At no time can an employee “lose” compensatory time earned.

Not all civil service and Administrative/Professional employees at SIUC are covered by the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. These employees are exempt based on certain tests regarding job duties and annual salary as defined by the Fair Labor Standard Act. , Exempt employees generally fall into three major categories: executive, administrative, and professional. Employees who meet the agricultural definition as defined by the Fair Labor Standards Act also are exempt from overtime provisions. Exempt employees are normally not compensated for overtime worked. For assistance in handling questions related to overtime, contact Human Resources.