Article 10: Overtime and Compensatory Time

Section 1

A. An employee will be compensated for overtime work in accordance with all applicable laws, rules, regulations, and this Article.

B. The Employer will not expect or require an employee to donate time in lieu of proper compensation for overtime work.

Section 2

A. An employee exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) who is officially ordered, or approved, normally in advance and in writing, by the Employer to perform overtime work on a given day will receive appropriate compensation for the time worked in excess of the employee's established schedule on that day.  Where approval cannot reasonably be obtained in advance, the Employer will approve an employee's request for overtime compensation after the hours have been worked if the Employer determines that the overtime worked would have been ordered or required.  In such cases, the employee must request the overtime compensation as soon as practicable, but in no event later than two (2) business days from the date of the overtime worked.

B. An employee covered by the FLSA will receive overtime compensation consistent with the FLSA.

Section 3

A. Compensatory time off is approved time off with pay in lieu of overtime pay for overtime worked.

B. Except as required by law, an FLSA exempt employee with a rate of basic pay above the rate of GS 10-Step 10 will receive compensatory time off in lieu of overtime pay or overtime worked.  The Employer will not require compensatory time off in lieu of FLSA mandated overtime pay.

Section 4

Overtime pay/compensatory time off can be earned and used in 15-minute increments.

Section 5

A. When overtime is required on a specific ongoing work assignment (such as continuing work on a legal brief, rulemaking, enforcement investigation, inspection or reviewing/examining a filing), the Employer generally will assign overtime to the specific employees who have been working on that assignment.

B. When overtime is required on an assignment that is not of an ongoing nature as described above in Section 5(A), overtime will be assigned to employees determined by the Employer to be best qualified to perform the work necessary to be completed. In making this determination, the Employer will consider the following:

1) Knowledge, skills and ability of the employees (e.g. specific knowledge or experience needed to adequately perform the overtime work); and

2) The nature of the work to be performed on an overtime basis (e.g., whether the work is a standard project that could be shifted to different employees; whether a particular employee is heavily involved in the work to be done or has specific knowledge necessary for the work to be completed).

C. Except where overtime must be worked by a specific employee or employees pursuant to the Employer's determination made pursuant to Sections 5(A) or 5(B), the following procedures will apply:

1) When overtime is required, the Employer first will determine which employees within the work unit where the assignment is to be completed are qualified to do the overtime assignment. The Employer then will seek volunteers from that group of employees.

2) If the method described above in Subsection C(l) results in more volunteers than needed, the Employer will make the overtime assignment(s) from that group on a rotational basis starting with the employee with the greatest amount of Agency seniority.

3) If the method described above in Subsection C(l) does not result in sufficient qualified volunteers, the Employer will make the overtime assignment(s) from that group on a rotational basis starting with the employee with the least amount of Agency seniority.

4) With respect to an employee assigned to overtime work pursuant to this Subsection 5(C), the Employer will consider a request by an employee to be excused from the overtime assignment where the employee has found a qualified replacement (one from the group of qualified employees initially determined by the Employer) who is available and willing to work. 

Section 6

The Employer will provide an employee with as much advance notice of an overtime assignment as possible.  If the need for overtime can be reasonably foreseen, the Employer will normally provide notice of at least three (3) calendar days.  With respect to overtime assignments to be worked on legal holidays, the Employer will strive to provide at least five (5) calendar days advance notice.

Section 7

The Employer will seek to avoid overtime assignments that result in an employee working excessively long periods without a day off.

Section 8

The Employer will maintain appropriate records regarding overtime.  On an annual basis, the Employer will provide the Union's Chapter President data on overtime hours worked, broken down by grade, series, title, and Division/Office/Regional Office.

Section 9

With respect to compensatory time off that has been earned, an employee's maximum carry over balance from one pay-period to the next may not exceed eighty (80) hours.

Section 10

With respect to compensatory time off that has been earned, an employee must use their compensatory time within  twenty-six pay periods from the date that the compensatory time off was earned.  An employee must use compensatory time before charging absences to annual leave, except when the employee has annual leave that would be forfeited and it is pay period eighteen (18) or later in the leave year. In the event that an employee does not use their compensatory time within twenty-six pay periods, the Employer will pay FLSA non-exempt employees overtime for the forfeited compensatory time  at the overtime rate in effect during the pay period in which the overtime work was completed.  If an FLSA exempt employee does not use compensatory time within  twenty-six pay periods, the compensatory time will be forfeited, unless the failure to use the compensatory time was due to an exigency of the service beyond the employee's control, in which case the employee will receive payment for the unused compensatory time at the rate established by applicable regulation.

Section 11

Compensatory time off for travel will be provided to employees pursuant to the provisions contained in Article 12 (Travel) of this Agreement.