for Hourly Paid Employees
The following is in compliance with the Overtime policy in the University of Nebraska Administration Human Resources Handbook for Policies.
All hourly paid employees (including part-time employees) working more than 40 hours in one workweek, shall receive overtime compensation. This may be in the form of overtime pay or compensatory time, both granted at one and one-half hours for every hour worked above 40.
University of Nebraska law enforcement employees may be compensated for overtime for working over 80 hours in a 14 consecutive day work period. In accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act, law enforcement employees are those employees who:
- are empowered by State statute or local ordinance to enforce laws designed to maintain public peace and order and to protect both life and property from accidental or willful injury, and to prevent and detect crimes;
- have the power to arrest; and
- are presently undergoing or have undergone or will undergo on-the-job training and/or a course of instruction and study which typically includes physical training, self-defense, firearm proficiency, criminal and civil law principles, investigative and law enforcement techniques, community relations, medical aid, and ethics.
For employees hired before April 1, 1986, no written agreement is required. Employees who work overtime may receive pay or compensatory time at the discretion of the department.
For employees hired after April 1, 1986, the giving of compensatory time in lieu of overtime pay requires a written agreement. If no written agreement exists, payment will be required for all overtime worked. This may be a perpetual one-time agreement or a case-by-case agreement.
Overtime Eligibility
Employees not specifically exempt from the overtime provisions of the FLSA are considered non-exempt (hourly) employees by the university and are eligible for overtime compensation. Employees should not be scheduled for overtime work without the appropriate departmental authorization.
Employees exempt from the overtime provision of the FLSA (monthly paid) are not eligible to receive overtime payment. Acceptance of an exempt position at the university constitutes acknowledgement that job responsibilities may sometimes exceed 40 hours a week.
When monthly paid salary exempt employees are frequently expected to work significantly more than 40 hours in a workweek, departments are encouraged to offer them greater flexibility in arranging schedules. Salaried exempt employees will not be given time off in trade for hours worked on an "hour-for-hour basis" when considering flexibility.
Calculating Pay and Overtime
In calculating overtime pay, only hours worked are included.
| Friday | Employee works eight hours |
| Monday | Employee works eight hours |
| Tuesday | Employee works eight hours |
| Wednesday | Employee works ten hours |
| Thursday | Employee works eight hours |
In this event the employee will receive pay at the regular rate for 40 hours and overtime pay at one and one-half times the regular rate for 2 hours. (2 hours x 1.5 times regular pay rate)
If leave is used during a workweek where extra hours are worked, the employee will receive pay for the hours worked and the leave.
In calculating overtime pay, only hours worked are included.
| Friday | Employee works eight hours |
| Monday | Employee works eight hours |
| Tuesday | Employee uses eight hours annual leave |
| Wednesday | Employee works ten hours |
| Thursday | Employee works eight hours |
In this event the employee will receive pay at the regular rate for 42 hours and will have eight hours deducted from accrued vacation leave.
Upon agreement of the supervisor and the employee, the employee in the above example may receive pay at the regular rate for 40 hours and have six hours deducted from accrued vacation leave.
Additional Part-time Positions
University employees may choose to work for the university (or for the State of Nebraska) in a part-time position on an occasional or sporadic basis in a capacity different from their regular employment. In some circumstances, the hours of work in the different position might not be counted as hours worked for overtime pay purposes on the regular position. Supervisors should check with Human Resources prior to authorizing the part-time work to see if overtime pay will be required.
Compensatory Time
At discretion of the unit, hourly paid employees may be allowed to earn compensatory time at a rate of one and one half for every hour worked above 40 in a work week. Employees can use accumulated time as pay for approved absences in the future.
Employees must have a signed compensatory time agreement on file to earn compensatory time rather than be paid overtime. Student employees and "other hourly workers" are not eligible to earn compensatory time.
At any time, an employee may choose to be paid overtime rather than earn compensatory time. At any time, units may choose to pay overtime and not allow employees to earn compensatory time. Units cannot require an employee to accumulate compensatory time instead of being paid overtime. Units may offer an opportunity to work extra hours to employees who are willing to earn compensatory time rather than be paid overtime.
Employees may not accumulate more than 60 hours of compensatory time and they should be paid for any hours more than that total. (Note: 40 hours of overtime worked converts to 60 hours of compensatory time.)
Exceptions to the 60-hour limit are as follows:
- Employees in agriculture may accumulate 240 hours.
- Employees in public safety and seasonal work (for example, snow removal) may accumulate 120 hours.
Compensatory time earned and used is to be recorded in ESS Time or a third-party timekeeping system using the following earnings types:
- CME - Compensatory Time Earned
(record hours worked; system will calculate compensatory time earned) - CMU - Compensatory Time Used
Units can run a leave report that includes compensatory time earned from the Business Intelligence tile in Firefly.
Accumulated compensatory time must be used or paid out before the effective date of a leave of absence without pay except when an employee is on family/medical leave.
Accumulated compensatory time must be used or paid out prior to the effective date of a promotional salary increase and/or prior to a transfer to another department.
Accumulated compensatory time may be carried over to the next fiscal year.
Employees who leave employment with the university are entitled to payment for all unused compensatory time at a rate of pay not less than the average regular rate received during the last three years of employment, or the final regular rate received by the employee, whichever is higher.
Employees and departments should work together to arrange for the use of compensatory time when it will not be unduly disruptive to the work of the department.