Overtime pay for Government agencies

[Baseball]

I work for a special park district in Sacramento County. Is it true that a park district (a government agency) is not subject to the same laws that apply to Private companies? We had an incident where an employee worked 12.5 hours in one day and he is being told that he does not get overtime. I was told that since the Park District is a government agency that only Federal Law applies which would only give overtime for working more than 40 hours in a week. Is this true?

 

[ElleMD]

I'm not in your state but here is a chart with the exemptions for your state. http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_overtimeexemptions.htm It does seem that there are different laws which apply to local government. Your best bet is to call the DLSE and verify if you qualify under their definitions.

 

[mightymoose]

If the 12.5 hours puts the employee over 40 for the week then overtime should likely be paid. The employer may reduce remaining hours for the week to prevent the overtime though.

 

[CdwJava]

What does your MOU (labor contract) say on the subject of overtime? THAT is where you will have to look.

Was this approved OT? In other words, did a supervisor assign or approve the extra work hours?

Depending on what the agreement is regarding shifts and wages it is possible that 12.5 hours in a day or even more than 40 hours in a week will NOT qualify for OT. For instance, in my department we work a 3/12-4/12 schedule. One week is 36 the next week is 48 with 4 hours of OT. This is as a result of a contract and still balances out to 40 hours per week. Your agency MOU might have any number of reasons why this is not OT for you guys.

 

[Betty3]

If the 12.5 hours puts the employee over 40 for the week then overtime should likely be paid. The employer may reduce remaining hours for the week to prevent the overtime though.

California has a law where it is possible to get OT pay after working in excess of 8 hrs. in one work day even if you didn't work over 40 hrs. in the work week........(there is also more to the Ca. OT laws including exemptions) CdwJava also noted "possible" contract issues.

 

[CdwJava]

And, we have even negotiated away time-and-a-half for hours worked in training (done many moons ago when the agency had higher staffing and sent people off to outside training for dozens of hours each year ... then the economy tanked, POST stopped almost all reimbursement, and we never revisited this matter in negotiations ... ugh ...). So, OT hours spent participating in training is straight time.

Contracts can do a great many things ... that's why it is important to read them and understand them.