Timekeeping Procedures

Original Date Effective: 2001-01-01

Regular Work Schedules
Regular working hours for non-faculty employees are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, with one hour for lunch. Exceptions are subject to approval of the division vice president or the president.
Classifications
Non-exempt positions (as defined by the Fair Labor Standards Act) are those subject to overtime compensation. The positions are generally characterized in clerical and support classifications and, in terms of the TBR personnel budget, carry an object code of 1300.

Exempt positions are not subject to minimum wage or overtime compensation and can be identified through certain testing provided by FLSA. Exempt positions generally fall into one of three major groups: executive, administrative and professional.

To document timekeeping procedures, non-faculty employees utilize a timesheet to record overtime worked as well as non-work time. New employees will receive instruction in timekeeping as part of the orientation process.
Rest Periods
Employees may be given a rest period of fifteen (15) minutes each half day, work load permitting, as scheduled by supervisory staff. Rest periods are considered work time for pay purposes. Employees may not accumulate unused rest periods, combine them with lunch periods or use them to leave work early.
Lunch Periods
A one-hour lunch period will be provided during regular working hours at a time established by supervisory staff. Unused lunch periods cannot be accumulated or used to leave work early. Exceptions can be approved by a vice president or the president; however, no blanket exceptions will be granted.
Special Schedules
Exceptions to the working hours in Section I above must be authorized by the president or his/her designee.
Overtime
It is the Tennessee Board of Regents’ policy to provide hourly and salaried non-exempt employees with compensation in the form of compensatory time off for overtime worked, unless prior approval for monetary payment has been granted by the supervisor. Monetary payment should be made only when compensatory time is not practical. Compensation in either form will be provided at the premium rate of time and one-half for all hours actually worked in excess of 40 hours per week and the straight rate for all hours worked in excess of 37.5 up to 40 hours per week. For hours worked in excess of 40 on a holiday, the employee will be paid at two and one-half times his/her base hourly rate. For purposes of calculating overtime, the work week begins on Sunday and runs through Saturday; holidays will be counted as time worked.

Overtime should only be assigned in those situations where the supervisor in charge is convinced that the work is essential in order to meet established schedules or deadlines. Advance notice will be given to employees whenever possible; however, employees should be aware that emergencies occasionally arise, making advance notice impossible. In an emergency situation, the supervisor in charge will make every effort to notify the employees who are scheduled for overtime work as soon as possible. Prior to performance of the work, the supervisor must approve all requests for overtime. (See: Approval for Overtime Form) In the event of emergencies such as equipment failure during a payroll run, budget preparations, etc., explanation and notification of overtime must be submitted on the Approval for Overtime form within one working day after it is performed.

Non-exempt employees (except Physical Plant Department employees) will record all approved overtime hours worked on the Jackson State Community College timesheet. This form will be submitted to the supervisor for review and approval at the end of each pay period. The supervisor will then submit approved forms to the Payroll Office in time to meet payroll deadlines. In cases where monetary payment is made for overtime, the payment will be included in the paycheck for the period immediately following the one in which it was submitted. All applicable leave request forms, including requests for compensatory time off, will be maintained by the supervisor for a period of three (3) years after the current year.

Travel by a non-exempt employee from one job site to another job site during the workday is compensable work. Also, travel from an outlying job site to the employer’s premises at the end of the scheduled workday is compensable.
When an employee is required to report to a meeting place as the work site, the time spent in travel is compensable work time. A non-exempt employee who travels out of town for one day will not be paid for travel time between home and a local public transportation terminal. However, s/he must be paid for all other travel time except mealtime. Employees who drive overnight will be paid for all driving time.

When non-exempt employees travel overnight on business for more than one day, they must be paid for travel time (except meal periods) during normal working hours on their non-working days, such as Saturday, Sunday and holidays, as well as on regular working days. Travel time as a passenger on an airplane, train, boat, bus or automobile outside of regular working hours is not considered work time. However, any actual work the employee does while traveling as a passenger remains work time. If an employee drives a car without being offered public transportation, the travel time is compensable.
Longevity Pay
The value of longevity pay is not included in the week-to-week calculation of regular hourly rates for overtime payment purposes. However, when longevity pay is given, one-half the hourly equivalent rate of the longevity payment is due for all premium overtime hours earned and paid during the prior year of service for which the longevity payment is made. For example, a non-exempt employee worked 2,050 hours during the year, including 100 hours of premium overtime, and received a $400 longevity payment.

Overtime due on the payment would be $400 divided by 2,050 hours, which would equal $ .20 (the hourly equivalent) times ó, which equals $ .10 per hour times 100 premium hours. This would yield $10.00 in additional overtime payment. This method of paying overtime on longevity became effective with the coverage of non-exempt State employees by the Fair Labor Standards Act (workweek of April 15, 1986), and applies only to that portion of the employee’s longevity work year after that date. This longevity provision does not apply to exempt employees.
Compensatory Time Off
Since compensatory time is the preferred method of compensation for overtime work, each hour worked in excess of 40 per week will receive one and one-half hours of compensatory time.

Compensatory time must be used before annual leave is granted. As with annual leave, an employee must request the use of compensatory time in advance, using the Leave Request form. Every effort will be made to accommodate such requests. However, requests may be denied when the requested time off would unduly disrupt office operations.

Employees are expected to use accrued compensatory time within the month in which it is earned, if at all possible. If not, it should be used by the end of the month following the month in which it is earned. Under no circumstances shall an employee’s compensatory time balance exceed 100 hours.

Compensatory time not used by the end of the second month will be paid through monetary payment; exceptions can be granted only by the vice presidents. Cash payment for such compensatory time shall be calculated using the wage rate that the employee is earning at the time of such payment, not the rate at the time the compensatory time was earned. No more than 100 hours of accumulated compensatory time will be carried forward from one fiscal year to the next. Upon termination, an employee shall be paid for accrued and unused compensatory time at the higher of the following rates:
1. Employee’s final regular wage rate, or
2. Average regular wage rate received by the employee during his/her last three years of employment.
Recordkeeping
All temporary and regular part-time and full-time staff except Physical Plant Department employees must complete a timesheet at the end of each pay period. Physical Plant employees, except the director and secretary, use a time clock to record their attendance.