Memorandum
City of Lawrence
Administrative Services
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TO: |
David L. Corliss, City Manager Diane Stoddard, Assistant City Manager Cynthia Wagner, Assistant City Manager Lori Carnahan, Human Resources Manager |
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FROM: |
Marlo Cohen, Management Analyst |
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DATE: |
February 1, 2010 |
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RE: |
Overtime and Premium Pay for Nonexempt Staff |
The information provided in this memo offers an overview of departmental overtime and premium pay practices for nonexempt employees that have broader parameters than those described in the City of Lawrence Employee Handbook.
For covered, nonexempt employees, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires overtime pay at a rate of not less than one and one-half times an employee's regular rate of pay after 40 hours of work in a workweek. Some exceptions to the 40 hours per week standard apply under special circumstances to police officers and firefighters employed by public agencies[1]. The City of Lawrence considers holiday pay and payment for the use of accrued vacation, sick leave, and wellness leave hours worked when calculating overtime.
The following departments/divisions pay overtime after a daily shift is completed:
The Police department pays a double-time rate to MOU-covered personnel after 12 hours worked in a day.
The following departments also consider personal leave as hours worked when calculating overtime:
The Utilities department schedules Plant Operators on rotating 12-hour shifts with scheduled hours exceeding 40 in a workweek, which automatically generates overtime for employees in this job.
The following departments/divisions offer compensatory time off in lieu of overtime pay:
The departments/divisions in Table 1 use on-call and/or call-back pay in accordance with the City of Lawrence Employee Handbook.
The departments/divisions in Table 2 offer premium pay for holiday and/or weekend work.
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Table 2 Premium Pay for Holiday or Weekend Work |
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Fire & Medical Services (MOU-covered personnel) |
12 hours holiday pay plus regular rate |
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Parks & Recreation |
8 hours holiday pay plus 1.5x regular rate |
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Police (MOU-covered personnel) |
8 hours holiday pay plus regular rate |
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Public Works/Central Maintenance Garage |
8 hours holiday pay plus 1.5x regular rate |
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Public Works/Solid Waste |
8 hours holiday pay plus 1.5x regular rate 1.5x regular rate for hours worked on Saturday |
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Public/Streets |
8 hours holiday pay plus 1.5x regular rate |
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Public Works/Other Divisions |
8 hours holiday pay plus 1.5x regular rate |
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Utilities |
8 hours holiday pay plus 1.5x regular rate |
The departments historically incurring the largest overtime payment amounts in descending order are Fire & Medical Services, Utilities, Public Works, and Police. The data in Table 3 comes from a year-end file generated by Information Systems. Many departments use the overtime pay code for overtime payments as well as payments for on-call, call-back, and premium holiday and weekend pay. All such payments are reflected in Table 3. Prior to 2010, departments used the pay codes for regular salaries or other-paid-time-off for compensatory time payments. No data is available on compensatory time payments.
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Table 3 Overtime Payment Amounts |
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Sum of Overtime Dollars |
Year |
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Department |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
Grand Total |
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Fire & Medical Services |
380,323 |
526,605 |
415,630 |
496,104 |
1,818,662 |
|
Utilities |
341,908 |
363,677 |
400,234 |
376,703 |
1,482,521 |
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Public Works |
313,314 |
371,104 |
371,109 |
307,672 |
1,363,200 |
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Police |
445,026 |
286,341 |
393,237 |
411,146 |
1,142,514 |
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Finance |
40,396 |
38,348 |
35,006 |
34,239 |
147,989 |
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Legal Services |
18,699 |
6,729 |
11,238 |
8,622 |
45,287 |
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Parks & Recreation |
15,724 |
4,293 |
4,432 |
1,172 |
25,621 |
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Planning & Development Services |
5,784 |
3,911 |
5,335 |
3,063 |
18,094 |
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Administrative Services |
4,590 |
1,447 |
681 |
766 |
7,483 |
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City Manager’s Office |
2,576 |
393 |
135 |
0 |
3,104 |
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Information Systems |
2,029 |
365 |
491 |
0 |
2,885 |
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Total |
1,570,369 |
1,603,213 |
1,637,528 |
1,639,486 |
6,450,597 |
[1] Police sworn personnel earn overtime for an excess of 80 hours worked in a 14-day period. Fire & Medical sworn personnel earn overtime for an excess of 212 hours worked in a 28-day period.