Private employees not eligible for comp time in place of overtime
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) guarantees employees the rights to certain benefits, such as minimum wage and overtime pay for any two-week period in which they work more than 40 hours. During times of economic turmoil, some businesses have been forced to scale back their payroll budgets. This can mean employees are asked to take on additional work and spend more time performing tasks without receiving additional pay.
Some employers may try to avoid paying workers time-and-a-half rates by granting them compensatory time off instead. Comp time is paid time off that can be earned in place of overtime, but only for employees working within certain sectors, according to the FLSA.
Private businesses - those that are not considered interstate governmental agencies, an agency of the state of a political subdivision of the state - are not legally allowed to offer employees comp time in lieu of overtime rates. Even the employers that fall within this criteria must be careful not to use comp time too liberally. Fire protection, law enforcement and emergency response personnel may earn up to 480 hours, while other local and state employees are limited to just 240 hours of comp time.
If employers are uncertain about the amount of time they are able to grant through this exception, they may find they benefit from a payroll processing system that alerts them when an employee is reaching the maximum limit allowed.
Some employers may try to avoid paying workers time-and-a-half rates by granting them compensatory time off instead. Comp time is paid time off that can be earned in place of overtime, but only for employees working within certain sectors, according to the FLSA.
Private businesses - those that are not considered interstate governmental agencies, an agency of the state of a political subdivision of the state - are not legally allowed to offer employees comp time in lieu of overtime rates. Even the employers that fall within this criteria must be careful not to use comp time too liberally. Fire protection, law enforcement and emergency response personnel may earn up to 480 hours, while other local and state employees are limited to just 240 hours of comp time.
If employers are uncertain about the amount of time they are able to grant through this exception, they may find they benefit from a payroll processing system that alerts them when an employee is reaching the maximum limit allowed.
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