To distinguish exempt and non-exempt staff positions, and explain compensable time, including pay for overtime, rest/meal periods, training, on-call time, and travel time. To ensure University compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Illinois Minimum Wage Law, and the Illinois One Day Rest in Seven Act, including tracking absences.

The University's pay practices and procedures are governed by the FLSA, its amendments, and its regulations. The University is committed to paying its employees in accordance with the requirements of the FLSA, relevant state and local laws, and University policy. Under the FLSA, positions may be classified as either "non-exempt" or "exempt." Non-exempt staff positions are subject to the overtime provisions of the FLSA. Exempt staff positions are not subject to the overtime provisions, but may be covered by other provisions of the FLSA. A position's exempt/non-exempt status is based on its specific job duties and salary in accordance with FLSA exemption criteria.

Non-exempt - At the University, staff employee in a position classified as non-exempt is paid biweekly for each hour worked and is eligible for overtime. A non-exempt staff employee records hours worked on a timecard in order to be paid.

Overtime - Overtime is time worked by a non-exempt staff employee that exceeds forty (40) hours in a workweek. A non-exempt staff employee is compensated at one and one-half (1.5) times his/her regular rate for hours worked over forty (40) in a workweek. For the purposes of calculating overtime, hours worked do not include vacation, sick, holiday, or other paid/unpaid time off.

Compensable Time - Compensable time is time that an employee is required or permitted to work for the University. In addition to regularly scheduled hours, compensable time (work time) can include overtime, certain types of travel time, training, on-call, and shift preparation/transition time.

1. The FLSA and Illinois Minimum Wage Law establish criteria for mandatory overtime payment that the University must follow in determining whether a position is exempt or non-exempt from the law's provisions. UHRM- Compensation is responsible for determining the appropriate exemption status for all job classifications based upon these provisions and should be consulted if there is any doubt concerning the exempt or non-exempt status of any job classification.
2. To be exempt from the overtime provisions, a staff employee must meet all of the following criteria: (1) perform certain duties as outlined in one of the "duties tests"; (2) be paid more than a minimum salary of $455 per week - the "salary level test"; and (3) be paid on a salary basis as opposed to an hourly basis - the "salary basis test."
3. There are four duties tests; each test has specific requirements that must be met before a position is exempt from the overtime provisions of the law. The four duties tests are: (1) the executive exemption test; (2) the administrative exemption test; (3) the professional exemption test; and (4) the outside sales exemption test.
4. An exempt staff employee must receive the full salary for any week in which the employee performs any work, regardless of the number of days or hours worked. However, an exempt staff employee need not be paid for any workweek when he/she performs no work. The University may make deductions from an exempt staff employee's salary for:
   1. full day absences for personal reasons or sickness if vacation, personal holiday, and/or sick leave accruals have been exhausted;
   2. any days not worked in the initial and final weeks of employment;
   3. for hours taken as unpaid Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave; or
   4. violations of major safety rules.
   Deductions from an exempt staff employee's salary are not permitted for disciplinary problems, performance issues, or for excused absences caused by jury duty, attendance as a witness, or temporary military leave in any week in which an exempt staff employee performs any work. Salary deductions in less than full-day increments are not permitted unless authorized under the FMLA.

5. Each non-exempt staff employee is subject to the overtime provisions of the FLSA and must be compensated for all hours worked.
6. According to the FLSA, a non-exempt employee who works more than forty (40) hours in a workweek, must be paid an overtime rate of one and one-half (1.5) times his/her regular hourly rate of pay for all time actually worked in excess of forty (40) hours in the workweek. If a non-exempt employee works more than the regularly scheduled hours in a workweek, but less than forty (40) hours per week, the employee is paid at the straight hourly rate. (See U305 Employee Workweek)
7. When calculating overtime at one and one-half (1.5) times the regular rate of pay for time worked in excess of forty (40) hours in a given workweek, only actual time worked is used. Time charged to vacation, sick, holiday or other paid/unpaid time-off must not be included in this calculation.
8. A non-exempt staff employee should not work in excess of his/her regularly scheduled work hours without prior supervisory approval. When overtime hours are required, the University shall give the affected employee as much advance notice as is practical. To the extent practical, the University will seek to equalize overtime opportunities among employees performing similar work within a unit.
9. Where an employee, in a single workweek, works at two or more different jobs at the University for which different straight-time rates have been established, the rate to be used for paying the employee for any overtime worked is the weighted average of both rates. If there are two or more units involved, the unit where the overtime work occurred will pay for the overtime hours.
10. The FLSA does not permit private institutions to give compensatory time-off in lieu of overtime pay.
11. An exempt staff employee is not subject to the overtime provisions of the FLSA. An exempt staff employee does not receive pay or compensatory time for working more than forty (40) hours in a week.

12. A non-exempt staff employee who works seven and a half (7.5) continuous hours or more must be provided with a twenty (20) minute break within the first five (5) hours of work. These periods may be counted as compensable time but are neither meant to offset late arrival or early departure from work, nor to extend the meal period. If an employee receives a thirty (30) minute to one (1) hour lunch period within the first five (5) hours of work, this lunch period satisfies this rest period requirement.
13. The University generally provides an employee with a lunch period of thirty (30) minutes to one (1) hour. Under the FLSA, meal periods of thirty (30) minutes or longer generally do not count as compensable time if the non-exempt employee is completely relieved from working for the purpose of eating. When taking an unpaid meal period, a non-exempt employee cannot be engaged in performing job-related duties.
14. A non-exempt staff employee who works twenty (20) hours or more per week must be provided at least twenty-four (24) consecutive hours of rest in every calendar week in addition to the regular period of rest allowed at the close of each working day.

15. If an employer requires a non-exempt employee to attend training, meetings, or lectures during the employee's regular work hours, the time is compensable. Training time is paid unless all of the following criteria are met: (1) attendance is voluntary; (2) the program is scheduled outside of the employee's regular work hours; (3) the program is not directly related to the employee's job; and (4) the employee does not perform any productive work during such attendance.

16. A non-exempt staff employee who is required to remain on-call on University premises is working while "on-call" and must be compensated. An employee who is required to remain on-call at home, or who is allowed to leave a message where he/she can be reached, is not working (in most cases) while on-call and may not need to be compensated. Additional constraints on the Employee's freedom could require this time to be compensated.

17. To determine whether time spent in travel is compensable time for a non-exempt employee, the type of travel involved must be considered. For example:
    1. A non-exempt employee who travels from home before the regular workday and returns to his/her home at the end of the workday is engaged in ordinary home to work travel, which is not work time and it is not compensable.
    2. If a non-exempt employee regularly works at a fixed location and commutes to a different location to work, the time spent traveling to and from the other location is work time and it is compensable. The University may deduct (not count) that time the non-exempt employee would normally spend commuting to the regular work site.
    3. Time spent by a non-exempt employee in travel as part of his/her principal activity, such as travel from job site to job site during the workday, is work time and is compensable.
    4. Travel that keeps a non-exempt employee away from home overnight qualifies as work time if it takes place during the non-exempt employee's regularly scheduled workday. This travel time qualifies as work time even if it occurs during the employee's corresponding working hours on nonworking days. Time spent traveling outside of the employee's regular working hours is not considered work time and it is not compensable.
    5. Regular meal period times are not considered compensable time while traveling.
18. An exempt staff employee is not subject to the travel provisions of the FLSA. Since an exempt staff employee is not paid per hour, he/she does not receive additional pay for time spent traveling.

19. Each unit is required to maintain a record of each employee's paid and unpaid absences.
20. A non-exempt staff employee must record time worked according to unit procedures. A non-exempt staff employee tracks hours worked on a timecard for every two-week pay period. Exceptions to normal scheduled hours must be noted.
21. An exempt staff employee must record full-day absences and the reason for each absence (e.g., vacation, personal holidays, sick leave, bereavement leave, jury duty, etc.) on a Monthly Absence Report for every monthly pay period. If an exempt employee's pay is to be reduced, the unit must submit a copy of the Monthly Absence Report to Payroll in accordance with University published guidelines.

U302 Job Classification, U305 Employee Workweek, U310 Flexible Work Options , U504 Jury Duty, U505 Voting, U506 Bereavement Leave, U508 Personal Leave of Absence, U509 Vacation, U510 University Holidays, U511 Personal Holidays, U512 Sick Leave, U517 Leave of Absence for Active Military Service, U518 Military Reserve Training Leave, U521 School Visitation, U522 FMLA, U523 Court Appearances.

Visit the FLSA for more information on the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Visit the Illinois Department of Labor's Web site for more information on Illinois Minimum Wage Law.

For more information on the Illinois One Day Rest in Seven Act visit the Illinois Department of Labor's Web site.