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Fact Sheet #1 - FLSA Page 2 .r meal periods of at least one-half hour where the emptoyee is not performing any work; .r ordinary home to work travel; Rel!Ular rate of pav: The regular rate of pay includes all compensation for employment, including base wages, longevity pay, educational incentive pay, and most other forms of pay. It does not, however, include tuition or expense reimbnrsement. Work Week: The workweek can be any period of time that the city chooses consisting of seven days in a row. It can begin at any time of day. However, the city must consistently use the same seven-day period (for example, Sunday at 12:00 a.m. through Saturday at II :59 p.m. of every week). The city can also have different work weeks for different gronps of employees as long as each employee group is told what their work week is and it is documented in writing. Compensatorv Time Off: As noted above, under certain circumstances, a city may give compensatory time off in lieu of paid overtime. Cities may do this when: .r it is established as a term or condition of emptoyment (at time of hire); .r it is negotiated under a collective bargaining agreement; or .r it is mutually agreed upon with individual employees, before the overtime hours are worked. The employee must be allowed to take compensatory time off at hislher convenience. A compensatory time-off request can not be denied unless it is an ''undue hardship" for the city. (Courts have ruled that having to call in another employee at an overtime rate of pay does not constitute an undue hardship.) Cities cannot establish "use it or lose it" policies with regard to compensatory time. The FLSA sets a limit of 240 hours of compensatory time for most employees (160 hours at time and one- half). Police and fire employees have a higher limit (see Fact Sheet No.3). Most cities set a lower limit (e.g., 40 hours) because of the difficulty of granting employees so much time off. Also, compensatory time must be paid at the time the employee terminates employment at what is usually a higher rate of pay, so the cost of payout increases over time. To avoid this, some cities choose to periodically "pay oft" compensatory time (for example, a city may payoff all compensatory time balances each December before starting the new year). This should be established in writing as a city policy and/or in a union agreement. Child Labor Standards: The FLSA has certain restrictions on the type of work and the hours of work that may be performed by minors. The requirements of the FLSA must be coordinated with state laws on child labor. Please call the LMC Research Department for more detailed information on these requirements. Youth Minimum Wage: Cities may pay a "youth minimum wage" of not less than $4.25 an hour to employees who are under 20 years of age during the first 90 consecutive calendar days after initial employment by the city. The city cannot displace an employee in order to hire someone at the youth minimum wage. Record-keeving Reauirements: The FLSA requires employers to: .r Display their Minimum Wage poster (call 612-370-3371 to order a copy). .r Maintain detailed records of hours worked and wages paid to non-exempt employees and similar records on exempt employees, including: name, employee number, home address, birthdate if under 19, sex and occupation, workweek, regular rate of pay, hours worked each day and total for week, total daily or weekly straight time earnings, total premium pay for overtime, total additions to or deductions from wages each pay period, total wages paid each pay period, and date of payment and the pay period covered. .r Maintain records on compensatory time earned, used and paid in cash as well as union agreements regarding compensatory time, even if they are verbal agreements. ./ Preserve payroll records and union agreements for at least three years. September, 1998