Exempt Time Reporting
Original Date Effective: 2013-10-30
The expectation is that all professional technical employees are scheduled to work Monday – Friday during normal business hours (typically 8:00 -4:30 p.m.). Exceptions to this work schedule should be approved by the immediate supervisor in advance of the leave or schedule adjustment.
Exempt employees are required to fulfill the responsibilities of the position. Exempt employees are not required by law to record presence at work. Effective November 1, 2013 exempt employees will not record hours of work on the monthly timesheet; but will move to recording only leave time used each month. Jackson State Community College provides several types of paid leave and, in order to comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), requires that exempt employees record leave time used (sick, annual, bereavement, etc.) during a pay period.
Leave time is expected to be scheduled and approved by the employee's supervisor in advance whenever possible. This recording requirement does not prevent the supervisor from inquiring about schedules or assuring that the employee is meeting the expectations of the position either from an attendance or productivity perspective.
Exception time reporting requires only that the exempt employee report leave time used during a pay period. If the employee has no sick, annual, jury duty, bereavement, etc., to report, the employee will simply submit an exception record indicating no time used to be approved by the supervisor. Please note that holiday pay is considered an exception and must be recorded and approved by your supervisor.
RESPONSIBILITY
Employee: As a guideline, each employee must work a minimum of 4 hours of the normal work day schedule to depart from work without having to claim leave. Please note the supervisor must approve a work schedule that does not follow the standard schedule. Leave time shall be reported in half-hour increments when working less than 4 hours half-day.
Supervisor: Supervisor shall establish time off approval processes to meet the needs of the department/unit. Leave time shall not be recorded in less than half hour increments for exempt employees.
The supervisor is responsible for inquiring about schedules and assuring that the employee is meeting the expectations of the position either from an attendance or productivity perspective. Docking of pay for exempt employees (when no leave time is available) normally should only occur when no work is performed for a full day and the employee is off for personal reasons or has exhausted paid sick leave.
Refer Questions To: Any questions regarding pay, time reporting, or FLSA exemption status should be directed to the Human Resources Office as soon as is practicable.
Questions/Answers
If I am expected to work on a weekend or in the evening, can I take time off during the normal work day without charging time?
If a supervisor approves this flexible work schedule, the answer would be yes. There is no compensatory time for exempt employees and, therefore, this is not an hour-for-hour exchange. It does not even need to occur within the same work week. It is not unusual for exempt employees to have to work evenings or weekends in addition to normal office hours often exceeding 37.5 hours per week. Exempt employees are responsible for performing the duties of the position.
What happens if I normally work an 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. schedule, and I come in late, like 1:00 p.m., but I work until 9:00 p.m?
Exempt employees are eligible for short-term flexible work schedules as approved by their supervisors. If the supervisor approves this sort of flexible work schedule, the employee would not have to record any leave time. It should be noted that not all positions can be granted flexible work schedules due to the nature of the work, and supervisors may modify, suspend or rescind any flexible work arrangement.
How do I record the extra hours I work?
Exempt employees are not eligible for overtime. Effective November 1, 2013 only exceptions (time when leave time is reported) are recorded on the timesheet, now in half-hour increments.
What happens if I am gone for a one-hour dentist appointment?
Exempt employees do not need to record any absences that are less than a four hours. In this case, the employee would not record any leave time. However, you still need to communicate this change in schedule with your supervisor and obtain approval for the change in your work schedule that day.
Does it matter why I am gone? What if I am gone for 2 hours to deal with personal family matters?
Again, exempt employees do not need to record any absences that are less than four hours. In this example, no leave time would be recorded. However, you still need to communicate this change in schedule with your supervisor and obtain approval for the change in your work schedule that day.
In cases where exempt employees must record leave time, the reason they are gone would determine if the time should be charged to sick, annual, etc.
What happens if I am gone for five hours?
Because you did not work at least 4 hours that day, you would report leave time (5.0 hours) and charge it to the appropriate leave time category. You still need to communicate this change in schedule with your supervisor and obtain approval for the change in your work schedule that day.