College Timekeeping Policy
All classified and A&P staff must record their actual time worked and actual time absent on the official University electronic time sheet. Each employee and supervisor is responsible for proper completion of electronic time reports to account for the total appointed hours each week. All time taken off must be charged to vacation, sick leave, emergency leave, compensatory time or other approved University category. All staff must complete timesheets on a weekly basis and approvers should approve weekly in order for the electronic audits to operate properly. No unofficial time records are allowed.
Exempt vs. Non-Exempt Status
Exempt employees are those employees exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act under an Executive, Professional or Administrative exemption. Exempt employees may earn state compensatory time per the University policy.
Non-exempt employees are those employees who do not fall under any of the exemptions and are therefore covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act. Non-exempt employees are eligible to earn overtime at time and one-half for hours physically worked over 40 in a workweek.
The Exempt or Non-Exempt status is noted on the top of the electronic time sheet.
The Workweek
The normal workweek and daily schedule for employees is Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a one hour lunch period. With the approval of their supervisors, some employees may have set work schedules that deviate slightly from this norm, for example 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. An adjusted schedule with a thirty minute lunch may also be permitted. Whatever their set schedules, employees may not change their schedules without the approval of their supervisors. In addition, employees may not work through their lunch periods or come in early in order to:
- leave earlier in the day;
- accumulate time; or
- avoid using accumulated time.
Any adjustment in a work schedule must be requested in writing and approved in writing by the supervisor. Approved schedule changes may be changed back to the employee’s original work hours at any time based on the needs of the College of Communication.
Each department chair, dean or director, on an annual basis, should send a memo to the College’s Human Resources Manager with all of their staffs’ work schedules. Classified staff, both exempt and non-exempt, must account for time worked on a daily basis (e.g. usually 8 hours per day unless an approved adjusted schedule is on file). A&P staff must account for time worked on a weekly basis. (Forty hours for all College A&P staff except for Associate Deans who are appointed for 20 hours during the long session and 40 hours for June, July and August.)
The time during which an employee is assigned or authorized by management to attend business meetings or workshops and conferences is also included as time worked. Time at after-hours social events is not included as hours worked unless attendance is required by the employee’s supervisor. Employees can earn a limited amount of state compensatory time, not to exceed two hours, for the time spent traveling to and from the business destination. Reading, responding to email, working and planning at home are not counted as hours worked.
Supervisors should annually review with staff their department’s events that require staff attendance outside of the normal workweek.
The Workplace
The regularly assigned places of employment in the College of Communication are in locations in CMA, CMB, UA9, LAC and WWH. The regularly assigned place of employment is considered an employee’s workstation for all pay, leave and travel purposes. An employee’s personal residence may not be considered to be the regular or temporary place of employment.
Unless approval is given through the University’s procedure and policy for telecommuting, the hours worked must be at the employee’s work location at the University. Telecommuting agreements may remain in effect for a maximum of twelve months. A new agreement must be completed at the beginning of each new fiscal year. These agreements do not constitute an employment contract and they do not create a property interest in employment.
General
As a general rule, the schedule of activities should be organized so employees are not required to work in excess of established hours except when operating necessities demand it. Employees may not work in excess of their scheduled hours per week without the advance approval of their supervisors. Supervisors have the responsibility for monitoring accrual and use.
State Compensatory Time
State compensatory time is earned when the total number of hours recorded on the weekly timesheet as worked plus the total number of hours of paid leave or paid holidays exceeds 40 hours in one workweek. State compensatory time is earned after the time for the entire workweek is recorded. State compensatory time is earned on a straight time, hour for hour, basis. State compensatory time can be earned by both exempt and non-exempt employees.
Overtime
Overtime is earned when a non-exempt employee physically works more than 40 hours in a work week. Hours worked over 40 are accrued at time and one-half.
Banking Overtime
With prior approval from the Associate Vice President for Human Resources, departments are allowed to "bank" FLSA overtime hours for a certain period of time, which means overtime hours do not have to be used during the pay period in which the hours were earned.
The College of Communication has approval to bank overtime hours. Non-Exempt staff must use all overtime accrued during the fiscal year (9/1-8/31), by August 31st. When an employee requests leave (other than sick leave) the supervisor will require employees to use all accrued overtime hours first, state compensatory time as allowed by policy second, and accrued vacation time last. When an employee gives notice of resignation, the supervisor will work with the employee to schedule time off to use all accrued overtime hours prior to the end of the appointed period. Only overtime that cannot be scheduled off before the end of the appointed period will be paid to the employee.
Current balances for unused vacation, sick leave, floating holiday, state compensatory time earned, as well as accumulated months of state service, are available electronically and should be reviewed by supervisors before approving time off. Supervisors should also make sure that time sheets have reached final approval and all leave balances have been updated before approving time off.
The College of Communication does not pay for unused compensatory time. Under state law, an employee must use state compensatory time, including holiday compensatory time, within the 12 months following the end of the workweek in which it was earned, or it lapses.
Supervisors should communicate this policy clearly and apply this policy fairly to all eligible employees. In cases where classified employees are routinely working substantially more than their scheduled hours per week, supervisors should consult with the College’s Human Resources Manager to examine the employee’s workload, work efficiency, and job classification to ensure they are appropriate.
The College of Communication complies with UT policies. Staff should refer to the University’s Handbook of Operating Procedures, Part 7, Human Resources, for specific policies.
May 29, 2007
