(a) Designation of Work Period. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to designate a "work period" for purposes of calculating overtime, which usually corresponds with the workweek, but need not do so. Only covered, nonexempt employees are entitled to overtime. For the purposes of payroll and for the calculation of overtime, the following are hereby designated as work periods:
(1) Except as provided in division (a)(2) or (a)(3) of this section, for covered, nonexempt employees, the work period will be forty (40) hours during a seven (7) consecutive day period, beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday and ending at midnight on Saturday.
(2) For covered, nonexempt employees in the City's Fire & EMS Division, the work period will be two hundred twelve (212) hours in a twenty-eight (28) consecutive day period, beginning at 7:00 a.m. on Sunday and ending at 6:59 a.m. on Sunday.
(3) For covered, nonexempt employees in the City's Police Division and Emergency Communications Division, the work period will be eighty (80) hours in a fourteen (14) consecutive day period, beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday and ending at midnight on Saturday.
(b) Calculation of Overtime. Except as provided in division (c) of this section, each covered, nonexempt employee, as specified by the FLSA, who is in active pay status shall be entitled to overtime compensation as follows:
(1) Nonexempt:
A. Any covered, nonexempt employee whose regularly scheduled work period is as defined in division (a)(1) of this section shall receive compensation at one and one-half (1.5) times his or her regular hourly rate, or shall receive compensatory time off at one and one-half (1.5) hours, for each hour or part thereof worked in excess of forty (40) hours per seven (7) day work period.
B. Any covered, nonexempt employee whose regularly scheduled work period is as defined in division (a)(2) of this section shall receive overtime compensation as set forth in the employee's applicable collective bargaining agreement.
C. Any covered, nonexempt employee whose regularly scheduled work period is as defined in division (a)(3) of this section shall receive overtime compensation as set forth in the employee's applicable collective bargaining agreement.
(2) Exempt: Employees in positions designated as exempt are not governed by this policy and are not eligible for overtime pay; however, an exempt employee may be granted time away from work without the use of paid leave, at the discretion of the employee's appointed official, in recognition of the extra time such employee works beyond the City's standard business hours.
(c) Compensatory Time.
(1) Covered, nonexempt employees in active pay status may elect to accrue compensatory time ("comp time") in lieu of overtime compensation, at the rate of one and one-half (1.5) times the overtime worked by the employee, and the accumulation of such comp time shall be limited to a maximum of one hundred twenty (120) hours. Any overtime hours worked in excess of one hundred twenty (120) hours shall automatically be paid as overtime in accordance with division (b) of this section.
(2) An employee may carry over a maximum of forty (40) hours of comp time to the next calendar year upon written request to the Finance Director on or before November 1st of each year. All accumulated comp time that remains unused as of November 1st of each year, excluding any amount that has been requested for carry over in accordance with this section, shall be paid to the employee on or before December 1st at the employee's current rate of pay.
(3) Upon separation of employment for any reason, the employee shall be paid any accumulated comp time at the employee's then hourly rate.
(d) Flex Time. Council hereby authorizes the various departments and divisions of the City to utilize "time-off," or "flexible hours," in order to avoid having employees work in excess of their regular hours in a work period in accordance with the personnel policy established by the Administrative Steering Committee. This authorization of flex time is not designed to prohibit overtime; rather, its purpose is to help the City avoid unnecessary overtime, to the extent it can do so and still provide requisite levels of service, without undue interruption to scheduling or service to the public.
(e) Personnel Policy. The Administrative Steering Committee shall establish and maintain a policy or policies in the City's Personnel Policy Manual regarding the calculation and payment of overtime; the calculation, administration, approval, and use, and payment of compensatory time; the administration and use of flex time, and other related matters.
(Ord. 2022-13. Adopted 05/26/22)