Work Hours

Exempt Employees

According to the Fair Labor Standards Act, exempt employees are not compensated on an hourly basis or eligible for overtime payments or compensatory time. With some degree of flexibility, all exempt employees are expected to fulfill the responsibilities of the job at a satisfactory level in a timely fashion.

Non-Exempt Employees

Non-exempt employees are compensated on an hourly basis and must account for all hours worked and not worked. The general working hours of the University are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. during the academic year and 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. during the summer. Exceptions to this schedule require prior approval by your supervisor. Supervisors may schedule non-exempt employees as they see fit to meet the demands of the department. Some flexibility exists so that supervisors and employees may agree on a work schedule other than 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (e.g., 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) so long as the agreed upon number of hours is worked and office coverage is maintained. You may take work home only with prior permission of your supervisor.

• Shift Work - Shifts begin as follows:
  1. First shift--starts on or after 5:00 a.m., but before 12 noon
     
  2. Second Shift--starts on or after 12 noon, but before 8:00 p.m.
     
  3. Third Shift--starts on or after 8:00 p.m., but before 5:00 a.m.

• Overtime - As a non-exempt employee, you are eligible for overtime pay for actual work hours in excess of 40 hours per week. Actual hours do not include sick leave, vacation, or holiday hours. Overtime pay is time and one-half the regular straight-time rate.You need to obtain your supervisor's approval prior to working overtime, including arrangements for recording overtime pay or compensatory time. There must be mutual agreement by you and your supervisor about overtime or compensatory time arrangements. In lieu of overtime pay, compensatory time off may be given at the rate of one and one-half times the hours worked. Compensatory time off should be taken within the same pay period as the overtime worked.

• Rest and Lunch Periods - Your lunch period may vary depending upon the operation of your department. The lunch period, except in continuous shift operations, will not be counted as time worked. In addition to a lunch period, you may take a rest period of 15 minutes for each half day of work, at times scheduled by your supervisor. A rest period is intended to be a recess preceded and followed by an extended work period, thus rest periods are not cumulative or used to cover a late arrival or early departure.

• Shift Differential - Employees who commence work during the second or third shift shall be paid shift differential of 25 and 35 cents per hour respectively for hours worked in that period. Shift differential shall not be paid in addition to overtime pay when employees work extended shifts.

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