Hi! I am a student researching this topic. It would seem that there are many opinions, but no solid answer. Can anyone tell me if a private, nonprofit organization can allow it's employees compensatory time and state that overtime pay will not be given? This comp time is allowed to build and can be used whenever the employee needs to take off. Everything I have read states that this is illegal and that overtime pay must be given. I would like to know, if this is true, where can I find a document that supports it? Also, can employees be asked to volunteer to work without pay at special events?

Only employees of a public agency can get compensatory time in lieu of overtime...

FLSA section 7(o)(1)

7(o)(1) Employees of a public agency which is a State, a political subdivision of a State, or an interstate governmental agency may receive, in accordance with this subsection and in lieu of overtime compensation, compensatory time off at a rate not less than one and one-half hours for each hour of employment for which overtime compensation is required by this section.


§ 785.28 Involuntary attendance.
Attendance is not voluntary, of course, if it is required by the employer. It is not voluntary in fact if the employee is given to understand or led to believe that his present working conditions or the continuance of his employment would be adversely affected by nonattendance.

I don't normally answer homework questions, but this is pretty easy. A public employer MAY offer comp time (at time-and-a-half) in lieu of overtime pay for nonexempt employees, but there must be an agreement before the overtime hours are worked (it may be an individual agreement or a union contract).

Exempt employees may be offered comp time at either a public or a private employer.

How do I know this? I managed the payroll operations for a large city for over 2 years. Oh, and from this:
http://www.dol.gov/dol/allcfr/ESA/Title_29/Part_553/29CFR553.23.htm

And I disapprove of homework questions being answered here, since what it involves 99% of the time is the responders doing the research that the poster should be doing. This is one of the rare exceptions, since it's really Payroll 101 and any payroll person would know the answer off the top.

But while I'm not going to tell a responder they CAN'T answer a homework question, it should be understood that it is not encouraged.

Teach a man to fish...

And I disapprove of homework questions being answered here, since what it involves 99% of the time is the responders doing the research that the poster should be doing. This is one of the rare exceptions, since it's really Payroll 101 and any payroll person would know the answer off the top.

But while I'm not going to tell a responder they CAN'T answer a homework question, it should be understood that it is not encouraged.

Teach a man to fish...

Especially this particular payroll person. :D

I'll ask this question under this topic. My wife is a 911 dispatcher for a county government. I think they are considered salaried. They pay overtime at half time. Is this legal? (And they wonder why nobody wants to come work the extra shifts.) There was some controversey years ago about how the dispatchers were sworn law enforcement. The labor board came in and stated they weren't and some of them received hefty back pay. ALSO I work there part time. They currently pay all part time employees $10.00 per hour as of (Jan 1 '07) and want to change it to $8.17 per hour. Is this legit? Thanks!

You'll need to start your own new thread - you added to another person's thread. It gets confusing for the posters when you add to another's thread. Thanks.

I'll move it into its own thread.

klj7991, the idea is not to find a similar thread to ask your question in; each question should be in its own thread. As Betty says, it gets very confusing for the responders when there is more than one poster asking questions in the same thread.

Moved - see http://www.laborlawtalk.com/showthread.php?t=183957.