2235--Fair Labor Standards

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All employees of the Georgia Department of Transportation are covered by the Wage and Hour provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) unless specifically exempted. The provisions of the FLSA include guidance for establishing work periods, payment of minimum wages, hours of work, overtime compensation, classification of employees, regulation of child labor and required recordkeeping.

Employee Classification
1. Employees who are not specifically exempted from the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the FLSA are considered to be non-exempt employees.
2. Employees who are employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity, as defined by the FLSA regulations, may be designated as exempt if they are paid on a salary basis and meet minimum salary requirements. Additionally, some computer employees may be designated as exempt based on their assigned work responsibilities and rate of pay. Exempt employees are not entitled to the overtime and minimum wage provisions of the FLSA.
3. Designations of exempt or non-exempt status are made by the Office of Personnel based on criteria established within the FLSA and by the U.S. Department of Labor. Such designations are made on an individual basis and are based on the actual job responsibilities assigned to each employee.
Workweek
1. The State Compensation Plan is based upon employees working a minimum of forty (40) hours in a seven (7) day workweek, which excludes time for meal periods and includes time off for State holidays and approved leave.
2. In most instances, the standard workweek for all employees shall be 12:01 a.m. Saturday through midnight the following Friday. The Department reserves the right to change or establish other workweeks at its sole discretion for individuals or work units to meet the responsibilities of the agency.
3. Employees who work alternate work schedules in accordance with TOPPS 2225-3, Alternate Work Week, may have a different standard workweek. In such cases, an employee’s standard workweek will be a fixed period of seven (7) consecutive calendar days, which may begin on any day of the week and at any time of day.
4. Once established, an employee’s standard workweek may be changed if the change is intended to be permanent and is not for the purpose of avoiding the accrual of FLSA overtime.
Hours Worked
1. The FLSA does not limit the number of hours that an employee may work each workday or each workweek. Rather, it defines the minimum level of compensation to be granted to non-exempt employees who work in excess of forty (40) hours in a single workweek. The FLSA does not require extra compensation for exempt employees who work in excess of forty (40) hours in a workweek.
2. “Hours worked” includes all of the time that employees are required to be on duty or at designated work sites and all of the time that employees are required or permitted to work.
  1. Non-exempt employees must be compensated for all time worked, including all time that a supervisor knew or had reason to know that the employee was working.
  2. Non-exempt employees may not work extra hours without prior authorization. Employees who do so are subject to disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal.
  3. Employees are to accurately report all hours worked.
  4. Paid time off due to leave or holidays is not considered hours worked for overtime purposes.
  5. Because the U.S. Department of Labor considers all of State Government to be one employer, non-exempt employees are not authorized to work for another state agency in any capacity without specific, prior approval from the Office of Personnel.
Meal Periods
1. Although meal periods are not required by the FLSA, it is the policy of GDOT that meal periods of thirty (30), forty-five (45), or sixty (60) minutes will be provided to all employees, unless there are specific work-related reasons for not allowing meal periods.
2. Meal periods are not considered work time as long as no work-related duties are performed during the meal period, and as long as the meal period is uninterrupted for at least thirty (30) minutes.
3. All GDOT employees are expected to take a meal period each day and to completely cease performing work during that time, unless one of the following situations occurs:
  1. The employee’s supervisor requests or directs a temporary change to accommodate specific workload requirements; or
  2. The employee requests and receives prior approval to skip a meal period. (Note, employees may not routinely skip meal periods in order to shorten the workday.)
Breaks
1. Although breaks are not required by the FLSA, supervisors may permit up to two breaks per day, which may be up to fifteen (15) minutes long and shall be counted as work time.
2. Employees may not use break periods to lengthen a meal period, arrive late for work or leave work early. Employees may not combine breaks into one longer break, nor may employees take several short breaks instead.
3. Employees who smoke or use other tobacco products may do so only during designated break times or meal periods, and will not be allowed any additional time for "smoke breaks."
4. Breaks are a privilege and not a right, and may be denied at the discretion of a supervisor based on the needs of the work unit. Employees who work through scheduled breaks are not entitled to any additional compensation.
Meetings / Training
1. Time spent in attendance at meetings, training and similar activities will ordinarily be counted as work time, unless all of the following criteria are met:
  1. The attendance is outside of the employee’s regular working hours;
  2. The attendance is voluntary;
  3. The meeting, training or similar activity is not directly related to the employee’s duties; and
  4. The employee performs no work related to his or her position while in attendance.
2. Independent training is not considered hours worked. Time spent by employees attending training at an independent school, training center, etc., on their own initiative outside of scheduled work hours is not considered hours worked, even if the training is job-related.
On-call time
1. Time spent “on-call” is not compensable work time unless the employee is required to remain on the Department’s premises or is so restricted that he or she cannot use the time effectively for his or her own purposes. An employee who is merely required to carry a paging device or leave word where he or she may be reached is not working while on call.
2. If an on-call employee is actually called back to duty outside of his or her normal work hours, all time that the employee spends performing work is compensable time worked. Reasonable travel time spent reporting to and returning from duty after being called back will be included as compensable time worked.
3. Travel time shall not be included as compensable time worked if employees are directed not to report for duty or are released from duty prior to completion of a work shift in anticipation of being recalled in response to emergency conditions such as snow and ice removal. In such circumstances, travel to the job site is merely ordinary commute time.
Travel time
1. Normal travel from home to work and back is not work time. This is true regardless of whether the employee reports to a fixed workplace or works at different locations.
2. If an employee is required to stop by his or her primary workplace for instructions or to pick up materials, and then travels to the actual work site, the travel from the primary workplace to the work assignment and back must be counted as time worked.
3. Travel between an employee’s normal workplace and another place of assignment, or travel between work sites during the workday, is considered compensable time worked. When travel under these circumstances is extensive, resulting in actual working time being insufficient, management may utilize a ten-hour workday schedule or permit employees to stay overnight at or near the worksite if it is determined to be in the best interests of the Department to do so.
4. Travel from home (or regular workplace, if closer) to an out-of-town, one-day assignment and back is considered compensable work time.
5. When an employee must engage in overnight travel, it is the policy of the Department that the reasonable time necessary for the employee to travel from home or his or her primary workplace, whichever is closer, to the destination be counted as work time. This includes travel on scheduled off days or holidays. Bona fide meal periods taken while traveling are excluded.
Management of Work Hours
1. Supervisors are responsible for monitoring the arrival and departure times of non-exempt employees to ensure accurate records are maintained and to minimize overtime worked. A supervisor may direct an employee who has earned forty (40) hours in the early part of a workweek to be relieved of duties toward the end of the workweek in order to avoid or minimize overtime accrual.
2. Supervisors should review time worked by non-exempt employees prior to the end of the workweek whenever possible to determine whether an employee’s schedule should be adjusted for that week to prevent the accrual of overtime.
3. Employees are required to personally review their time reports and ensure that the hours recorded are accurate.
4. Supervisors must review time reports submitted by employees to ensure the accurate reporting of time worked. If the supervisor notices any discrepancies between the time reported and the actual hours worked by the employee, the supervisor must ensure that the time report is corrected in a timely manner.
5. Any employee who fails to accurately report hours worked or any supervisor who permits inaccurate information to be reported is subject to disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal.
Overtime / Compensatory Time
It is the expectation of the Department that all employees will accomplish their assigned duties within a standard forty (40) hour workweek. All employees must account for a minimum of 8, 9 or 10 hours each scheduled work day (depending on the employee’s established work schedule), which may include any combination of actual time worked, paid leave, holidays, leave without pay, compensatory time taken, etc.
In the event that an employee is in pay status more than forty (40) hours in a workweek, an employee may be granted either state or FLSA compensatory time, as appropriate, in accordance with the following provisions.
1. Exempt employees
  
  The FLSA specifically exempts bona fide professional, administrative, and executive employees from the Act’s overtime and minimum wage provisions. Nevertheless, it is the policy of the Department to permit exempt employees to earn state compensatory time, with the approval of the appropriate manager (i.e., Deputy Commissioner, Chief Engineer, Treasurer, Division Director, District Engineer, or Office Head) in accordance with the following provisions:
  
  Exempt employees who are required to work more than their scheduled hours on any given day may, upon management approval, receive state compensatory time for the extra time worked, which will be calculated in fifteen (15) minute increments and recorded at the end of the appropriate work week.
  An exempt employee may not work through or shorten a designated meal period and then accrue state compensatory time for doing so. Therefore, working through or shortening a meal period is not to be counted as hours worked by exempt employees, except as provided by Section 4(c) of this policy.
  
  No more than 240 hours of state compensatory time may be earned by any employee.
  
  Exempt employees must utilize all accumulated state compensatory time within one (1) year of the date that it is earned. Any state compensatory time not taken within one (1) year will be lost.
  
  State compensatory time will not transfer to or from other state agencies. Payment will not be made for unused state compensatory time upon termination from the Department.
Use of Compensatory Time
1. Non-exempt employees must be permitted to use FLSA compensatory time within a reasonable period after making the request if the granting of such time off does not unduly disrupt the operations of the work unit.
2. At the direction of the District Engineer or Office Head, non-exempt employees may be directed to be absent from duty in order to reduce their FLSA compensatory time balances.
3. Employees are required to use FLSA compensatory time prior to the use of state compensatory time or annual leave. Employees may choose to use FLSA compensatory time in lieu of sick leave or personal leave. See the Leave Taken Priority List.
4. Employees are required to use state compensatory time prior to the use of annual leave. Employees may choose to use state compensatory in lieu of sick leave or personal leave.
5. FLSA compensatory time may not be used in conjunction with absences associated with Family and Medical Leave due to applicable federal regulations. State compensatory time may be used in conjunction with absences associated with Family and Medical Leave.
6. Both state and FLSA compensatory time may be taken in fifteen (15) minute increments.
7. Upon termination from the Department, including transfers to other state agencies, non-exempt employees will receive payment for any unused FLSA compensatory time. No payment will be made for unused state compensatory time.
Approval and Management of Paid Overtime
1. Normal Procedures
  1. Paid overtime should be preauthorized in writing to the affected unit supervisor prior to its occurrence by the appropriate Division Director, Treasurer and the Deputy Commissioner.
  2. Overtime authorizations submitted must indicate the employee name, employee ID, title, non-exempt/exempt status, estimated overtime hours, reason or justification and begin and end date.
  3. A Division Director shall not approve nor recommend for approval any overtime payment without first contacting the Treasurer to assure that funds are budgeted and available to make such payments.
  4. In exceptional cases, exempt employees may be considered for overtime payment. However, this requires prior approval of the Office of Planning and Budget. A request for overtime payment for such employees must first be approved by the Deputy Commissioner in writing prior to presentation to the Office of Planning and Budget.
  5. All overtime authorization will expire without further notice 90 days after the begin date. It is the Office's/District's responsibility to submit a new request for overtime extending beyond the previously authorized period.
  6. Overtime should normally be preauthorized in writing to the affected unit supervisor prior to its occurrence by the appropriate District Engineer or Office Head. Under general guidelines, this authority may be delegated to subordinate supervisors. Such delegations must be approved by the Division Director.
2. Emergency situations
  1. An emergency situation is defined as "whenever the Governor determines that the health or safety of employees, clients, or citizens would be placed at risk or whenever a natural disaster results in the Governor declaring a state of emergency." The Governor shall make decisions regarding conditions affecting the closure of all agencies statewide or within a geographic region.
  2. A Departmental emergency is defined as "whenever the Commissioner determines that the health or safety of employees, clients, or citizens would be placed at risk when conditions are such that roads are impassable, dangerous, etc." For example: Smoke from brush fires obscures driver visibility on I-75.
  3. Only employees whose duties and responsibilities are essential shall be designated by the Commissioner to respond in the event of a designated period of emergency. These designated employees below the level of Division Director or the equivalent are eligible for overtime pay and holiday compensation as provided by this policy.
  4. Any time worked on a holiday (including time observed as a holiday) shall be counted toward the applicable forty (40) hour threshold requirement when calculating overtime pay during an emergency situation.
  5. Time granted for paid leave during an emergency situation shall not be counted toward the applicable forty (40) hour threshold requirement.
  6. Although every effort should be made to utilize equivalent time off to avoid paying overtime, reaction to some emergency situations may preclude a written preauthorization for additional hours worked which may result in earned overtime which cannot be alleviated through equivalent time off.
  7. Emergency situations in Non-Maintenance related activities will require the prior verbal approval of the affected Division Director upon declaration of said emergency by the Governor or the Commissioner of the Department of Transportation.
  8. Emergency situations in Maintenance related activities will require the prior verbal approval of the affected Division Director or Deputy Commissioner upon declaration of said emergency by the Governor or the Commissioner of the Department of Transportation.
  9. Appropriate overtime payroll forms must be promptly submitted for the payment of overtime to be made during the pay period following its occurrence. Cover letters detailing the amount and reason for the overtime payment must also be included for appropriate management reviews as the preauthorization and/or other notifications require.
  10. Approval of all time worked is accomplished through the approval of the employee's time report by the employee's immediate supervisor.
Understanding Concerning the Use of FLSA Compensatory Time
1. Each individual hired by the Department on or after March 1, 1986 must sign a document stating that he or she understands that compensatory time off may be given at the rate of one and one-half hours for each hour of employment for which overtime compensation is required by the FLSA.
2. All employees hired by the Department prior to March 1, 1986 are considered to understand that they may receive FLSA Compensatory Time rather than overtime payments as compensation for overtime worked.
Child Labor Laws
In accordance with both Federal and State Laws, work performed by employees under the age of eighteen (18) is restricted. Accordingly, the Office of Personnel must be consulted prior to extending an offer of employment to an individual under the age of eighteen (18).
Record Keeping
Each employee’s semi-monthly time report (DOT Form 1472) serves as the Department’s official record of his or her actual time worked and must accurately report all time worked and compensatory time accrued. The Office of General Accounting, Payroll Unit, will maintain the time reports for at least two (2) years.
Required Posting
Each work location is to permanently post the “Your Rights Under the Fair Labor Standards Act” notice on bulletin boards where workplace notices are normally posted and where employees can readily see it. (See TOPPS 2110-4, Workplace Notices)
Special Provisions for Exempt Employees
1. In accordance with FLSA regulations, exempt employees may not have their pay reduced for variations in the quantity or quality of work performed. Exempt employees normally must receive their full salary for any week in which they perform any work; however, exempt employees need not be paid for any workweek in which they perform no work at all. In disciplinary situations, therefore, an exempt employee is ordinarily subject to no less than a suspension without pay in full workweek increments.
  Circumstances for which an exempt employee’s pay may be reduced in less than full workweek increments are as follows:
  1. For purposes of public accountability, an exempt employee’s pay will be reduced when the employee works less than the scheduled work hours for a workweek and does not use paid leave to cover the absence because: (a) leave was not properly requested; (b) leave was requested and denied; (c) no leave is available; or (d) the employee chooses to use leave without pay.
  2. Upon approval of the Office of Personnel, Employee Management Relations Section, an exempt employee may be suspended without pay in less than full workweek periods for violation of a safety rule of major significance or for serious violation of a workplace conduct rule, as these terms are defined by the FLSA regulations.
  3. An exempt employee will be paid only for time worked in the first and last week of employment.
2. An exempt employee who believes that his or her pay was improperly reduced may request a review of the matter by the Personnel Director within ten (10) calendar days of being advised of the pay deduction.
  1. The employee must submit documentation to support his or her belief that the pay deduction was improper.
  2. Within ten (10) calendar days of receipt of the complaint, the Personnel Director will investigate the complaint and notify the employee in writing of his or her conclusions. The conclusions of the Personnel Director shall be final.
  3. If it is determined that the pay deduction was proper, no further action will be taken.
  4. If it is determined that the pay deduction was improper, the employee will be promptly reimbursed. Further, the Personnel Director will take appropriate action to ensure that such improper deductions do not occur again in the future.

Authored by the Office of Personnel, 404-656-5260

Document History:

added to TOPPS: added to Manual of Guidance: 08/30/93
revised 03/23/95
added to TOPPS: 01/02/96
revised: 07/27/98
revised: 03/01/01
revised: 08/25/05
Section 5 revised and Section 10 revised: 02/07/06
Section 10 revised so that employees are to account for work hours on a daily basis rather than adjusting work hours throughout the workweek effective with the workweek beginning April 1, 2007: 02/21/07
reviewed: 06/08/07

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2235-1

Fair Labor Standards Act Policy