(a) All work in excess of forty (40) hours-worked per week shall be overtime and compensated at the rate of one and one-half (1-1/2) the employee's wage rate or as compensatory time. This section is subject to the exemptions of Section 7 and Section 13 of the "Federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938," 29 U.S.C. 207, 213, as amended.
(b) An employee shall be permitted to take compensatory time off in lieu of receiving overtime pay at the option of the employee. Where the employee has elected to take compensatory time off in lieu of pay, he or she shall receive time at the appropriate overtime rate established herein. Such time shall be taken in a way that shall not seriously impair the operations for which the employee is responsible. All compensatory time in excess of forty (40) hours must be taken by April 30 of the year following the year in which the time was earned. If the employee has not taken the compensatory time by that date, then he or she shall be paid for all hours not taken in excess of the forty (40) hours that he or she is authorized to retain.