Monthly Employee Work Schedules

							                 Administrative Interpretation and Clarification
                     Work Schedules Policy and Procedure
                                             March 7, 2006


PURPOSE:

The following is intended to provide clarification of the University of Nebraska Medical
Center Work Schedules Policy and Procedures, as well as, implications of a job
position’s status of “Exempt” from the requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act.


BASIS FOR CLARIFICATION:

   1. US Department of Labor, Fair Labor Standards Act
   2. State of Nebraska Statutes, Chapter 84, Section 84-1001 and 84-1002
   3. University of Nebraska Medical Center Work Schedules Policy and Procedure


CLARIFICATION:

I. Implications of FLSA Exemption Status on Hours of Work1

   A.       The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is a federal Law governing several time
            and labor issues. It establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, record keeping,
            and child labor standards affecting millions of full-time and part-time workers
            in the private sector, and in Federal, State, and local governments1.

            1) An Exempt employee (one who is “exempt from” the requirements of the
               FLSA) is usually paid a monthly salary, does not complete weekly
               timesheets, and does not receive extra compensation for overtime hours
               worked. An exempt employee is paid to get the defined job completed,
               regardless of the number of hours required to complete the job (therefore,
               not paid by the number of hours worked).

            2) A Non-exempt employee (one who is “not exempt from” the requirements
               of the FLSA), is paid biweekly, must complete accurate weekly
               timesheets, and receives time and one-half overtime premium
               compensation for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek (or, if on an
               approved 8/80 schedule, for all hours worked over 8 in one defined
               workday, or for all hours worked over 80 in a predefined two week pay
               period).

   B.       There are no exceptions to the requirements to the Fair Labor Standards Act
            and their application at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.




   1.   US Department of Labor, Fair Labor Standards Act
   2.   State of Nebraska Statutes, Chapter 84, Section 84-1001 and 84-1002
   3.   University of Nebraska Medical Center Work Schedules Policy and Procedure
Administrative Interpretation and Clarification                                      March 7, 2006
Work Schedule Policy and Procedure                    2

II. Required Hours of Work

    A.       By statute of the State of Nebraska, all regular, full-time employees are
             required to work “…not less than forty hours of labor each week.” 2 This
             applies whether the employee is designated as Exempt (monthly payroll) or
             Non-exempt (bi-weekly payroll) 1. Part-time employees are excluded from
             this requirement. Therefore, under normal circumstances, full-time exempt
             (monthly payroll) employees and full-time non-exempt (bi-weekly payroll)
             employees will work at least 8 hours during the normal workday.

    B.       There are no exceptions to the requirement that a full-time University
             employee shall work no less than 40 hours in the established workweek.

III. Overtime Premium and Compensatory Time Obligation 1, 3

    A.       There is no additional compensation to an exempt employees (monthly
             payroll) should they work in excess of 40 hours during the work week.
             Additionally, for exempt (monthly payroll) there is no compensatory time-off
             policy, procedure or sanctioned practice.

    B.       In contrast, should the non-exempt (bi-weekly payroll) employee work in
             excess of 40 hours during the work week, they shall receive overtime
             premium at the rate of one and one-half times their hourly pay rate for each
             hour worked over the forty hours in the work week. All daily hours worked
             must be accurately recorded on the official weekly time sheet. At a
             department’s discretion, compensatory time-off is available to non-exempt (bi-
             weekly payroll) employees only who work in excess of forty hours in a work
             week. It is recommended that before instituting compensatory time-off as a
             practice, each department consider such ramifications as staffing availability,
             workload variations and accrued financial obligations.

    C.       There are no exceptions to the FLSA requirements of time recording and
             overtime premium payment for non-exempt (bi-weekly payroll) employees.
             These obligations under FLSA can not be waived.

IV. Normal Work Schedule and Establishment of Flexible Schedules

    A.       The typical UNMC office work schedule for a full-time employee is from
             eight o’clock a.m. to five o’clock p.m. However, departmental work
             schedules are developed to reflect the operational and constituency
             requirements of that department. Therefore, daily work schedules may be
             staggered to best accommodate departmental and employee work
             requirements. 2

    B.       Staggered work schedules are also referred to as “flextime” scheduling.3
             Where flextime is instituted as a work schedule arrangement, it is understood
    1.   US Department of Labor, Fair Labor Standards Act
    2.   State of Nebraska Statutes, Chapter 84, Section 84-1001 and 84-1002
    3.   University of Nebraska Medical Center Work Schedules Policy and Procedure
Administrative Interpretation and Clarification                                      March 7, 2006
Work Schedule Policy and Procedure                    3

              that the full-time employee, whether exempt, (monthly payroll) or non-exempt
              (bi-weekly payroll), will continue to provide no less than forty hours of work
              in a work week (no less than eight hours in a work day).2

    C.        Flextime schedules are instituted at the discretion of the department
              management and may, on the basis of operational or performance factors, be
              revoked, suspended, or terminated. 3

V. Required Meal Periods

Full-time non-exempt (bi-weekly payroll) employees, “…whether on flextime or other
scheduling, are required to have an unpaid lunch break of at least 30 minutes” during the
work day.3 Lunch periods may not be denied to non-exempt (bi-weekly payroll)
employees.

VI. Rest Period

         A.       General Intent of the Policy and Procedure:3

                  1) Work schedules may provide for two periods of rest (not to exceed
                     fifteen minutes each) during each work day. These rest periods are to
                     provide the employee time to take care of personal activities, such as,
                     resting, smoking (not encouraged), refreshment, personal calls, etc.

                  2) By definition, a “rest period” is considered to be time “worked and
                     paid”, and is not considered “paid time off”.

                  3) Rest periods (breaks) are not an entitlement and may be denied should
                     the employee’s manager/supervisor determine that the workload will
                     not permit the break. Rest periods not taken are forfeited.

                  4) Rest periods may not be “saved” to shorten the employee’s workday,
                     to extend lunch breaks, or to alter the work schedule in any way. The
                     rare exception to this procedure is provided under the approved
                     flexible scheduling privilege as discussed in the “Combining Rest
                     Periods…”

         B.       Definition and Availability of Rest Periods

                  1) For the purposes of policy and procedure, a Rest Period, if taken, is not
                     considered to be non-worked time (as the lunch period is); but, rather,
                     a period of worked time during which the employee is free to rest from
                     the duties of the job.

                  2) These periods of rest are available to be taken only on the condition
                     that the work requirements of the specific position, and/or work group,
    1.   US Department of Labor, Fair Labor Standards Act
    2.   State of Nebraska Statutes, Chapter 84, Section 84-1001 and 84-1002
    3.   University of Nebraska Medical Center Work Schedules Policy and Procedure
Administrative Interpretation and Clarification                                      March 7, 2006
Work Schedule Policy and Procedure                    4

                       would allow such periods to occur without negative consequences to
                       the required work output. As stated in the procedure, rest periods
                       “…may be denied if the manager/supervisor determines that the
                       workload will not permit the break.”3

                  3) The variation in availability and use of the “rest period” across the
                     UNMC campus reflects the wide variety of work occurring on campus.
                     By the very nature of the work being performed, work volumes will
                     fluctuate, as well as, the availability of staffing resources will fluctuate
                     (funding, absenteeism, etc.). This is why the determination of
                     availability and use of the “rest period” privilege is made at the work
                     unit/group supervisory level. Some groups will, by necessity, have an
                     established work schedule and practice of not including a rest period,
                     while other groups may be able to take advantage of the rest period
                     privilege, yet, with even other groups or positions, use of the rest
                     period may be sporadic depending on the daily workload
                     circumstances.

                  4) The important point, however, is that the employee is “working” 8
                     hours and receiving pay for working 8 hours. A rest period, if
                     provided, is considered a part of the paid working hour. Therefore,
                     consistent with State statute, the full-time employee, whether exempt,
                     (monthly payroll) or non-exempt (bi-weekly payroll), will continue to
                     provide no less than forty hours of work in a work week (no less than
                     eight hours in a work day).2

         C.       Combining Rest Breaks to Support Flexible Schedules

                  A.       While the Policy prohibits the combining of Rest Periods to
                           “…shorten the employee’s workday, to extend lunch breaks, or to
                           alter the work schedule in any way”3, there may be rare
                           circumstances whereby this practice, while not encouraged, is
                           permitted. These circumstances must comply with the following
                           conditions:

                           1) The herein described flextime schedule is a privilege, not an
                              entitlement of employment.

                           2) The flexible schedule privilege is documented and approved on
                              a departmental, divisional, or sectional basis (defined work
                              unit).

                           3) The approved flexible schedule privilege applies equally to all
                              employees in the defined work unit.


    1.   US Department of Labor, Fair Labor Standards Act
    2.   State of Nebraska Statutes, Chapter 84, Section 84-1001 and 84-1002
    3.   University of Nebraska Medical Center Work Schedules Policy and Procedure
Administrative Interpretation and Clarification                                      March 7, 2006
Work Schedule Policy and Procedure                    5

                           4) The approved flexible schedule privilege is intended to be an
                              ongoing schedule with no variation from day to day, week to
                              week, or, month to month.

                           5) The combined rest periods will not exceed a total of thirty
                              minutes in an eight hour period.

                           6) Consistent with the general intent of the rest periods, additional
                              rest periods (during the working day and outside of the
                              combined rest periods) for personal activities, such as, resting,
                              smoking, refreshment, personal calls, etc., , will not be
                              available to the employee. By definition of the privilege, an
                              employee cannot have more than thirty minutes of rest break
                              time during the work day.

                           7) With the approved flexible scheduling privilege, the full-time
                              employee’s actual working hours will not be less than eight
                              hours in the work day (including the combined rest periods,
                              which by definition are considered time worked).

                           8) Department management will establish appropriate audits and
                              controls in order to assure its employees abide by the required
                              conditions of an approved flexible schedule privilege as herein
                              defined.

                           9) The approved flextime schedule privilege is established and
                              approved at the discretion of the department management and
                              may, on the basis of operational, performance, or abuse factors,
                              be revoked, suspended or terminated.

VII. Management Responsibility

By definition, managers and supervisors are responsible for establishing work schedules
“…for the purpose of maintaining continuity in the administration of UNMC and in
delivering UNMC’s products and services.” 3 By policy, “management reserves the right
to adjust the starting and ending times for each shift to meet current needs.” 3

The Work Schedules Policy is posted at the following web address:
            http://info/policy/work_schedules.htm

The Work Schedules Procedure is posted at the following web address:
            http://app1.unmc.edu/hr/intra/pandp/policies/wrkscd.htm

Comments and questions regarding this clarification are to be directed to Rod Kelly, at
559-5905, or, rodkelly@unmc.edu

    1.   US Department of Labor, Fair Labor Standards Act
    2.   State of Nebraska Statutes, Chapter 84, Section 84-1001 and 84-1002
    3.   University of Nebraska Medical Center Work Schedules Policy and Procedure