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Compensatory Time at Texas A&M University

Many employees may not be aware of the differences between federal and state overtime, time-and-a-half, straight time, compensatory (comp) time, or exempt and non-exempt employees. However, understanding these terms can impact your work life. Below is a summary of overtime law and contains definitions to explain some of the terms used in this summary.

What is Overtime?

Employees may earn overtime when they work more than 40 hours in a work week. Whether you are compensated (receive comp time or pay) for working overtime depends on whether you are classified as exempt (monthly paid) or non-exempt (hourly employees paid bi-weekly) under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Texas A&M University primarily banks compensatory time.

Federal Overtime

Non-exempt employees earn federal overtime (FLSA comp time) whenever the employee works more than 40 hours in a work week. Paid leave or holidays taken during a workweek are not counted as hours worked when determining FLSA comp time.

The Employee’s Manager may adjust their hours in a workweek if they are on track to accumulate overtime (for example, if you work more than eight hours one day, your Manager may require you to work fewer hours another day during the same workweek to avoid overtime). Hourly (non-exempt) employees enter their hours worked in Workday or Kronos and comp time is automatically calculated.
An employee may accumulate up to 240 hours of federal (FLSA) comp time but will receive an email from Workday once the employee reaches 220 hours. (240 hours represents 160 hours worked at time-and-a-half). An employee in public safety, emergency response or a seasonal job may accumulate up to 480 hours (320 hours worked at time-and-a-half). An employee will be paid for any compensatory time that exceeds these limits. This is accumulated at the time-and-a-half rate and lump sum payments are based on the employee's salary at the time of payment. For example: An hourly employee who works 44 hours in a week with no leave taken or holidays will earn 6 hours of FLSA comp time (4 hours x 1.5 = 6). Six (6) hours of FLSA comp time will be reflected in this employee’s leave balance.

When an employee separates employment, the employee will be paid for remaining federal comp time or with the department’s written approval, may remain on payroll to exhaust their comp time balance. An employee remaining on payroll to exhaust their balance will use the hours available on their last physical day of work and will not continue to accrue leave hours or Early Release hours.

State Overtime

A non-exempt employee who works no more than 40 hours in a workweek, but hours worked plus paid leave or University holidays total more than 40, will receive state comp time for the hours that exceed 40 in the workweek. This is straight time compensation where the employee will receive one hour of state comp time for each hour time in excess of 40 hours. Non-exempt employees do not earn state comp time for time worked at home.

For example: An employee works 36 hours one week, but also used eight hours of sick leave. Even though the employee reported 44 hours on their time sheet, the employee worked only 36 of those. This means the employee will earn four hours of state comp time (36 hours worked + 8 hours of sick leave minus 40 hours in a workweek = 4 hours state comp).

State Comp Time Rules for Holidays and Early Release

Exempt and non-exempt employees are eligible for state comp time if they are required to work on a University holiday. Exempt employees will earn state comp time for hours worked from home on University holidays (excluding "emergency" days) only if the request to work is approved by a Manager or Department Head. Exempt employees can accrue a maximum of 8 hours per day for an 8-hour Holiday. Weekends and Early Release hours are not eligible for comp time. An exempt employee may submit a request to their Manager to take 4 hours off on another day if Early Release is granted and the employee was required to work. The Manager will evaluate the request based on departmental needs.

Employees must use state comp time within 12 months of the end of the workweek in which it was earned. If it is not used within this period, the employee will lose the state comp time. State law prohibits payment for state comp time at termination of employment. However, under A&M System policy, an employee may remain on payroll to exhaust state comp time with their department’s written approval and will not continue to accrue hours after the last day worked.

Using Compensatory Time

An employee must have their Manager's approval before using accrued federal or state comp time. In most cases, Managers will allow an employee to use comp time whenever they wish. However, use of time off may be denied at times when the employee’s absence would disrupt critical functions of the employee’s department. An employee’s Manager may require them to use accrued federal comp time, even if the employee has not requested time off and may also require their employee to use accrued federal comp time before using vacation.

If an employee requests use of state comp time at least 90 days before it expires, their Manager must either approve the employee’s request or suggest an alternate time for them to take it. If an employee requests use of state comp time less than 90 days before it expires, their supervisor must make every effort to accommodate their use of the time but is not required to allow them to use it if their absence would disrupt critical functions.

Definitions

Federal overtime:
Unless exempt, employees covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) must receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a workweek at a rate not less than time and one-half their regular rates of pay.

State overtime:
Under Texas law, a non-exempt employee who has a combination of hours worked, paid leave, compensatory time and paid holidays totaling more than 40 hours in a workweek must receive either time or pay for the additional hours.

Time-and-a-half comp time:
Comp time awarded for working federal overtime. Eligible employees receive one-and-a-half hours of comp time for each overtime hour worked.

Straight-time comp time:
Comp time awarded for working state overtime. Eligible employees receive one hour of comp time for each overtime hour worked.

Non-exempt employees:
Those who are not exempt from federal overtime laws. Non-exempt employees are eligible to be compensated for federal and state overtime. Non-exempt employees are required to submit timesheets documenting actual time worked and must have their Manager's authorization before working overtime.

Exempt employees:
Those employees exempt from federal overtime laws. Exempt employees are not compensated for federal overtime and may be compensated for state overtime only in very limited circumstances. Most exempt employees do not fill out timesheets and can work more than 40 hours without a Manager's permission.

Workweek:
A standard workweek is Sunday through Saturday.

For More Information

If you have questions about federal or state comp time, ask your Manager for more details or contact Classification and Compensation Office at (979) 845-4170 or via email at hrcomp@tamu.edu. You'll also find information about comp time in two of System Human Resources' online training programs. The programs, "Comp Time Issues for Employees" and "Comp Time Issues for Supervisors", can be accessed at Single Sign-On (click on TrainTraq).

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