(a) In general.
(1) Rate of pay. Compensation for City of Carmel employees is fixed annually as required by I.C. 36-4-7-3 and 36-8-3-3. The Common Council shall approve an annual salary ordinance, which establishes maximum bi-weekly salaries for each full-time position and maximum hourly rates for part-time positions.
(2) Compliance. The City, in determining the compensation of City employees and in making payments of said compensation, shall comply at all times with the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), as amended, and with the provisions of I.C. 22-2.
(3) Public accountability. Public officials and public entities, including the City of Carmel, are held to a high level of responsibility under the public trust that demands effective and efficient use of public funds in order to serve the public interest. The principles of public accountability require that any compensation paid to a City employee for time not worked by that employee must be calculated pursuant to a pay system established by a federal, state or local statute, ordinance or regulation, a written policy or procedure or a documented administrative practice.
(b) Definitions.
Civilian Employee refers to all employees who are not sworn members of either the Carmel Fire Department or the Carmel Police Department.
Employee shall mean any person who is employed by the City on a full time (including conditional and probationary), part-time or temporary basis.
Exempt Employee shall mean any individual employed in an exempt position.
Exempt Position shall mean any position that is not subject to the overtime provisions of FLSA. The City shall have the right to determine whether a position that meets the FLSA exemption criteria will be treated as exempt or non-exempt.
Non-exempt Employee shall mean any individual employed in a non-exempt position.
Non-Exempt Position shall mean any position that is subject to the overtime provisions of FLSA.
Pay Period shall mean two consecutive regular workweeks, for which one paycheck is issued.
Regular Work Period shall mean a work period in excess of seven days, as authorized by Section 207(k) of the FLSA. Regular work periods are defined in subsections (c)(3) and (c)(4) below.
Regular Workweek shall mean a period of seven consecutive days, beginning at midnight each Friday and ending at midnight the following Friday.
(c) Recording time worked.
(1) Each employee is expected to completely and accurately record all time worked and all paid time off in a format authorized by the Payroll office, and to comply with all time-keeping policies and procedures established by the City. Falsifying a time sheet is cause for disciplinary action, up to and including immediate termination.
Notwithstanding the above, an employee who is required to report to a work site on a scheduled or call-in basis shall be paid for a minimum of two hours (including overtime and premium pay on holidays, if applicable). Telephone calls handled from home or from another off-site location do not qualify for the two-hour minimum.
(d) Overtime compensation.
(1) Non-exempt civilian employees; overtime pay.
a) Civilian salaries are based upon a 37½ hour work week, except that golf course employees are paid for a 40-hour week. All overtime work must have the prior approval of the department head or his designee and must be within the department’s budgetary limitations, except in an emergency.
b) Employees shall be entitled to compensation at their regular hourly rate of pay for each hour (or portion of thereof) worked in excess of 37½ but less than or equal to 40 in a workweek, in addition to their bi- weekly salary.
c) Employees shall be entitled to compensation at one and one-half times their regular hourly rate of pay for each hour (or portion thereof) worked in excess of 40 in a workweek, in addition to their bi- weekly salary.
d) The total hours worked in a regular workweek shall include only those hours actually worked or engaged in work-related activities for the purpose of calculating overtime pay. PTO, sick leave, compensatory time off and other paid absences shall not be included in overtime calculations.
e) Notwithstanding section (d) above, the following time shall always be paid at the overtime (time and one-half) rate.
i) All hours worked on an emergency call-out basis, if: a) the assignment commences outside the employee's regularly scheduled work hours; b) there is no prior notification of the assignment; and c) the employee does not have the option of declining the assignment. If the call-out assignment continues into the employee's regularly scheduled work hours, the employee shall revert to his regular rate of pay during the regularly scheduled hours.
ii) All hours that are an extension of the employee's work day, if the work is unscheduled, of an emergency nature and cannot reasonably be delayed until the next scheduled shift. Emergencies will generally involve threats to public health and safety and/or major equipment failures that impact operational capabilities.
iii) Phone calls handled from home or from another off-site location will be considered work time, but will not automatically qualify for the time-and-one-half rate.
f) Paid time off can be combined with hours worked in a single workweek to create overtime, but such overtime will he paid at the regular rate of pay. An employee will not earn time- and-one-half until he actually works more than 40 hours in a work week. An employee cannot use paid time off on a day in which he is not regularly scheduled to work.
g) Paid time off cannot be combined with hours worked in a single day to exceed the employee's regularly scheduled hours, unless the employee has taken PTO and is called in to work before and/or after his regularly scheduled hours. An employee cannot use paid time off during a time in which he is not regularly scheduled to work.
(2) Non-exempt civilian employees: compensatory time off.
a) The department head may, at his discretion, substitute compensatory time off for overtime pay, provided an understanding of such substitution exists prior to the time the overtime work is performed.
b) Employees who receive compensatory time off in lieu of overtime pay shall be entitled to compensatory time off for on an hour-for-hour basis for each hour (or portion thereof) worked in excess of 37½ but less than or equal to 40 in a workweek, in addition to their bi-weekly salary.
c) Employees who receive compensatory time off in lieu of overtime pay shall be entitled to compensatory time off on a time-and-one- half basis for each hour (or portion thereof) worked in excess of 40 in a workweek, in addition to their bi-weekly salary.
d) Each department head may set limits on the amount of compensatory time off departmental employees are allowed to accrue. In no instance except an emergency, however, may an employee accrue more than 100 hours of compensatory time off.
e) Requests to use earned compensatory time off shall be granted within a reasonable period after making the request, provided they do not unduly disrupt the operations of the department. An employee shall not be allowed to use compensatory time off until it is accrued.
f) Accrued but unused compensatory time off shall be paid out to employees at the time of their separation from the City. In addition, the City may choose, at any time, to pay out any or all accrued compensatory time off, or an employee may request to be paid for any or all accrued compensatory time off. Such requests may be honored at the discretion of the employee’s department head, subject to the availability of funds.
(3) Non-exempt golf course employees.
a) All full-time non-exempt golf course employees shall receive compensatory time off in lieu of overtime pay, up to a limit of 240 hours. Employees shall be entitled to compensatory time off on a time-and-one-half basis for each hour (or portion thereof) worked in excess of 40 in a work week.
b) All overtime in excess of 240 hours shall be compensated monetarily at a rate of one-and-one-half times the employee's regular hourly rate of pay.
(4) Non-exempt sworn Police Department employees.
a) The regular work period for police officers is 28 days.
b) Officers shall be entitled to compensation at their regular hourly rate of pay for each hour (or portion thereof) worked in excess of 160 but less than or equal to 171 in a regular work period, in addition to their bi-weekly salary.
c) Officers shall be entitled to compensation at one and one-half times their regular hourly rate of pay for each hour (or portion thereof) worked in excess of 171 in a regular work period, in addition to their bi-weekly salary.
d) The total hours worked in a regular work period shall include all paid vacation days, paid sick leave, paid holidays, compensatory time off and other paid absences for the purpose of calculating overtime pay.
e) Although various types of pay (time worked, vacation, sick leave, holiday, compensatory time off, etc.) may be combined in one shift, in no case shall an employee be paid for more than his regularly scheduled shift unless the employee has actually worked longer than his scheduled shift with the approval of his supervisor, or such payment is for time the employee works before and/or after his scheduled shift.
(5) Non-exempt sworn Fire Department employees.
a) The regular work period for firefighters is 28 days.
b) Firefighters shall be entitled to compensation at one-half their regular hourly rate of pay for each hour (or portion thereof) of scheduled overtime in excess of 212 but less than or equal to 224 in a regular work period, in addition to their bi-weekly salary.
c) Firefighters shall be entitled to compensation at one and one-half times their regular hourly rate of pay for each hour (or portion thereof) of scheduled overtime in excess of 224 in a regular work period and for all emergency call-outs, end-of- shift runs and work-related court appearances, in addition to their bi-weekly salary.
d) The total hours worked in a regular work period shall include all paid vacation days, paid sick days, paid holidays, compensatory time off and other paid absences for the purpose of calculating overtime pay.
e) Although various types of pay (time worked, vacation, sick leave, holiday, compensatory time off, etc.) may be combined in one shift, in no case shall an employee be paid for more than his regularly scheduled shift unless the employee has actually worked longer than his scheduled shift with the approval of his supervisor, or such payment is for time the employee works before and/or after his scheduled shift.
(6) Exempt employees; compensatory time.
a) Exempt employees are expected to work the hours necessary to fulfill their responsibilities, and are not entitled to overtime pay.
b) Exempt employees shall receive compensatory time off, on an hour-for-hour basis, for hours actually worked over 40 in a regular work week. Exempt employees shall not receive compensatory time off for hours worked in excess of 37½ but less than 40 in a regular workweek.
c) Exempt employees may not at any time accrue more than 50 hours of compensatory time off. Once an employee accrues 50 hours, all further accruals cease until the balance drops below 50 hours. Except, however, that exempt golf course employees may earn an unlimited amount of compensatory time off during the golf season (March 1 through December 1).
d) All accrued compensatory time off may be carried forward indefinitely, except that golf course employees must use all hours earned during each golf season prior to March 1 of the year immediately following. All compensatory time off not used by March 1 shall be forfeited. Exempt employees are not entitled to be paid for accrued compensatory time off while employed by the City or at the time of separation from the City. Except, however, exempt employees who participate in disaster relief outside of the City may be paid the reimbursement rate for hours worked in excess of their required weekly hours if the pay is being reimbursed by another federal, state or local government agency.
(7) Salaries and pay deductions for exempt employees.
a) The FLSA requires that all exempt employees be paid on a salary basis as defined by the Department of Labor in 19 CFR 541.602 and 19 CFR 541.710, which strictly limit deductions from pay. It is the City’s policy to comply at all times with the salary basis requirements of the FLSA. Therefore, the City of Carmel, its employees and agents are prohibited from making improper deductions from the salaries of exempt employees.
b) An exempt employee who believe that an improper deduction has been made to his salary shall immediately report this information to his direct supervisor or the Director of Human Resources.
c) All reports of improper deductions will be promptly investigated. If it is determined that an improper deduction has occurred, the employee shall be promptly reimbursed for the full amount of such improper deduction and the City will take whatever action it deems necessary to ensure future compliance with the salary basis test.
(`91 Code, § 2-50) (Ord. D-1149, 3-20-95; Ord. D-1362-98, 4-20-98; Ord. D-1525, § I, 10-15-01; Ord. D-1838-06, As Amended, 12-18-06; Ord. D-1900-08, 8-4-08; Ord. D- 1974-09, 12-7-09; Ord. D-1975-09, 12-7-09; Ord. D-2051-11, As Amended, 12-5-11; Ord. D-2067-11, 11-7-11; Ord. D-2138-13, As Amended, 5-20-13; Ord. D-2341-16, 12-19-16; Ord. D-2485-19, 9-16-19; Ord. D-2490-19, 10-21-19)