CompTime

Comp-Time Issues.

There has been a lot of discussion and decension about comp-time issues; especially within detentions. The subject has been brought up many times before. The questions are;

How much comp-time can I accrue?

How do I take comp-time off?

Can they make me take comp time off?

Comp-time (according to the Fair Labor Standards Act(FLSA)) can be given to an employee at the standard overtime rate up to 240 hours. However, police and fire can accumulate up to 480 hours. Once you have the maximum number of comp-time hours is accrued the employee must be paid at the overtime rate. The employer can pretty much dictate when an employee is going to receive comp-time instead of paid overtime. The county has been guilty in the past of haveing employees accrue over the maximum amount and then when the employee tried to take vacation, finance would deduct the time from the employee's comp-time instead. This resulted in many employees losing vacation time at the end of the year.

So, how do you take comp-time off. In theory, at least, you earn the comp-time just like you earned your pay. So, you would think that, like your pay check, you could use it how you wanted. The administration, however, does not see it this way. Apparenty, since money itself is not involved, they feel that they can dictate how the employee uses it. Court cases have regularly over ruled the employers in favor of the employee in this issue, but every new group of administrators insists on being retrained.

According to the FLSA an employee should be able to take comp-time off when requested. The employee should give the employer reasonable notification in order for the time to be scheduled. Case law has interpreted the FLSA in this way. Case law also indicated that the employee can not be forced to take the time off at the employer's discretion.

3. In Moreau v. Klevenhagen, 508 U.S. 22, 35 (1993), this Court held that respondent Harris County is governed by 29 U.S.C. 207(o)(2)(A)(ii), the provision requiring agreements or understandings with individual employees, rather than 29 U.S.C. 207(o)(2)(A)(i), the provision requiring an agreement with the employees’ representative. The County has reached agreements that provide for the granting of compensatory time off to its employees. Pet. App. 29a-31a; Moreau, 508 U.S. 3 For employees hired before April 15, 1986, the “regular practice” that the statute permits to serve as an agreement must alsoconform to the provisions of Section 207(o). 29 C.F.R. 553.23(c)(2).5 at 29. The County’s Sheriff’s Department has a policy under which each employee’s accrued compensatory time is kept below a level determined by each bureau commander. Pet. App. 29a. When an employee appears to have accumulated hours approaching the maximum allowed by the FLSA, the employee is asked to take steps voluntarily to reduce his or her accumulated hours. Id. at 30a. If the employee does not do so, the employee’s supervisor may order him or her to do so. Ibid. The Sheriff’s Department attempts to arrange a mutually agreeable time for the employee to use the hours, but if an agreement cannot be reached, the supervisor may order the employee to use the hours at a time that will best serve the personnel requirements of the bureau. Ibid. An employee dissatisfied with the supervisor’s order may complain on an informal basis to a supervisor at a higher level in the Department. Ibid.; see also id. at 4a, 25a.

4. a. Petitioners are deputy sheriffs who have not yet accumulated 240 hours of compensatory time, the lower limit permitted by 29 U.S.C. 207(o)(3)(A). Pet. 4; Pet. App. 25a. In April 1994, they brought a class action against respondents Harris County and its sheriff, alleging that respondents violated Section 207(o) of the FLSA by refusing to allow petitioners to use their accumulated compensatory time when they requested it, forcing them to use it when they did not request it, and retaliating against them. Pet. 4-5; see Pet. App. 3a .The parties stipulated to the facts, discussed above, concerning the County’s policy. Pet. App. 4a, 29a-31a.b. In November 1996, the district court granted summary judgment to petitioners. Pet. App. 24a-27a. Following Heaton v. Moore, 43 F.3d 1176 (8th Cir. 1994), cert. denied, 515 U.S. 1104 (1995), the court concluded that, under Section 207(o), compensatory 6 “time off must be consumable by the worker on the worker’s terms.” Pet. App. 25a. The court reasoned that a public employer may control an employee’s use of compensatory time only when an employee’s requested use of that time would disrupt the employer’s operations, and it found no suggestion in this case of any disruption of the County’s operations. Id. at 26a-27a. In July 1997, the district court entered what it termed its “Final Judgment.” Pet. App. 28a. That judgment stated that the County “may not force employees to use their accumulated compensatory time without violating the Fair Labor Standards Act,” and it awarded attorney’s fees to petitioners. Ibid. Petitioners did not ask the district court to rule on their claims based on the County’s alleged refusal of permission to use compensatory time when requested and its alleged retaliation, and the court did not do so. Id. at 5a.

Some case law:

from Harris County Sheriff's Office in Houston Texas

For all employees, payment for accrued compensatory time off must be “at the regular rate earned by the employee at the time the employee receives such payment.” 29 U.S.C. 207(o)(3)(B). An employee with accrued compensatory time also has a right to be paid for it at specified rates on termination of employment. 29 U.S.C. 207(o)(4). An employee who requests to use accrued compensatory time “shall be permitted by the employee’s employer to use such time within a reasonable period after making the request if the use of the compensatory time does not unduly disrupt the operations of the public agency.” 29 U.S.C. 207(o)(5).