STATE PERSONNEL SYSTEM

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1 DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT SERVICES DIVISION OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT POLICY GUIDELINE STATE PERSONNEL SYSTEM SUBJECT: Leave Accruals for Career Service Employees During Partial Work and Extended Work POLICY GUIDELINE: HRM # EFFECTIVE DATE: April 2, 2018 SUPERSEDES: Rule Interpretation 60L #002: Leave Accrual During Partial Work for Career Service Employees and Rule Interpretation 60L #001: Annual Leave and Sick Leave Accruals for Employees Working Less Than 80 Hours During a Bi- Weekly Period, But Meeting Contract Hours for the Work Period STATUTES/RULES/REGULATIONS/LAWS: The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) 29 Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) , Statutory provisions: section 7(k) Rule 60L , Florida Administrative Code (F.A.C.), Annual Leave Rule 60L , F.A.C., Sick Leave Rule 60L , F.A.C., General Agency Responsibilities Rule 60L , F.A.C., Work Schedules Rule 60L , F.A.C., General Requirements for Leave Earning, Approval, and Use FORMS: N/A ADDITIONAL REFERENCE MATERIALS: N/A QUESTION AND ANSWER: Question 1: When a Career Service employee has worked less than the regularly contracted hours in the work period (for example, less than 80 hours in a biweekly work period), what are the hours that count toward leave accrual for the corresponding pay period? Answer: Leave accrual is based on the number of compensable hours (certain leave without pay hour types also count towards leave accrual as noted below) approved on the timesheet for that pay period, except for employees on extended work periods (see Question 2). Therefore, any hours for which the employee is in paid status count towards the calculation of annual and sick leave accruals. Specifically, all hours physically worked (including call-back hours), all hours charged to accrued leave (including all forms of compensatory leave), all hours charged to administrative leave, all paid holidays, or any combination of such hours are considered compensable. Notwithstanding the reference to hours actually worked in Rule 60L (2)(b) and Rule 60L (2)(b), F.A.C., the administration of these provisions have always been based on

2 Policy Guideline: Leave Accruals for Career Service Employees During Partial Work and Extended Work compensable hours. Note: Additionally, all hours that represent payments made by the Division of Risk Management (Hours Type LWOP-Workers Comp) and certain active duty military leave hours (Hour Types LWOP-Act Mil W/ Pay Suppl and LWOP-Active Military) count towards the calculation of leave accruals. Question 2: We have employees on extended work periods who, because of variations in their work schedules, may be scheduled for less than 64 hours (i.e., the number of compensable hours normally necessary to receive full leave accruals) during a bi-weekly pay period. However, at the end of the extended work period, they will have met their contract hours (e.g., 160, 168, or 192 hours). Are these employees entitled to their full accruals of annual and sick leave per pay period? Answer: Yes. Extended work periods are permitted by the FLSA for certain public safety positions in order to expand the period of time that these included employees have to offset overtime. By rule, Career Service employees are credited with leave at the close of business on the last day of each pay period, based on their respective years of creditable state service and the number of compensable hours (see Question 1) they report in that pay period. Although, as currently written, the rules governing annual and sick leave accrual for Career Service employees do not address employees fulfilling their contract hours in an extended work period by recording less than 64 compensable hours during one bi-weekly period and more than 80 hours during the other biweekly period, these employees are complying with the intent of the rules. Administratively, the People First system is programmed to accommodate this exception. Therefore, an employee on an extended work period with fluctuating work schedules will see full leave accruals for the 28-day work period applied to the second bi-weekly pay period if the timesheet for the work period is approved with a minimum of 128 compensable hours recorded. If the employee reports less than 128 compensable hours in the work period, the following proration is applied by the system for annual leave accruals, consistent with the intent of the current rule: 28-Day Extended Work Period Number of Compensable Hours 0 to 5 Years 5 to 10 Years Over 10 Years Less than through through through or more The same pro-ration above occurs for sick leave, however, the accrual does not increase after five or ten years of service. Note: Employees on 28-day extended work periods and monthly payrolls also receive their leave accruals based on their compensable hours at the end of each extended work period in accordance with the table above. Employees on 14-day extended work periods and monthly payrolls receive their leave accruals based on their compensable hours at the end of each Division of Human Resource Management 2

3 Policy Guideline: Leave Accruals for Career Service Employees During Partial Work and Extended Work extended work period in accordance with the annual and sick leave accrual tables for bi-weekly pay periods in Rule 60L (2)(b) and Rule 60L (2)(b), F.A.C. APPLICABLE STATUTORY AND RULE CITATIONS: The Fair Labor Standards Act of C.F.R Statutory provisions: section 7(k) (a) Section 7(k) of the Act provides a partial overtime pay exemption for fire protection and law enforcement personnel (including security personnel in correctional institutions) who are employed by public agencies on a work period basis. This section of the Act formerly permitted public agencies to pay overtime compensation to such employees in work periods of 28 consecutive days only after 216 hours of work. As further set forth in of this part, the 216-hour standard has been replaced, pursuant to the study mandated by the statute, by 212 hours for fire protection employees and 171 hours for law enforcement employees. In the case of such employees who have a work period of at least 7 but less than 28 consecutive days, overtime compensation is required when the ratio of the number of hours worked to the number of days in the work period exceeds the ratio of 212 (or 171) hours to 28 days. Rule 60L (2), F.A.C., Annual Leave (a) Full-time employees in career service positions shall earn annual leave as follows. Employees shall be entitled to use all previous state government creditable service immediately upon reemployment for determining eligibility for higher annual leave credits. Length of Service Hours of Leave Earned During Pay Period Monthly Biweekly Through 60 months hours 4 hours 61 through 120 months hours 5 hours Over 120 months 13 hours 6 hours (b) Career service employees who work less than a full pay period due to initial employment or separation during a pay period, part-time work, transfer between agencies, or leave of absence without pay, shall earn annual leave credits for the hours worked during that pay period as follows: Biweekly Pay Period Number of Hours Actually Worked 0 to 5 Years 5 to 10 Years Over 10 Years Less than through through through or more Division of Human Resource Management 3

4 Policy Guideline: Leave Accruals for Career Service Employees During Partial Work and Extended Work Monthly Pay Period Number of Hours Actually Worked 0 to 5 Years 5 to 10 Years Over 10 Years Less than through through through or more Rule 60L (2), F.A.C., Sick Leave (a) Full-time career service employees paid on a monthly basis shall earn eight hours and forty minutes of sick leave for each full calendar month of employment. Full-time career service employees paid on a biweekly basis shall earn four hours of sick leave for each full biweekly period worked. (b) Part-time career service employees and career service employees who work less than a full pay period due to initial employment or separation during a pay period, transfer between agencies, or leave of absence without pay, shall earn sick leave credits for the hours worked during that pay period as follows: Biweekly Pay Period Number of Hours Actually Worked Hours of Sick Leave Credit Less than through through through or more 4 Monthly Pay Period Number of Hours Actually Worked Hours of Sick Leave Credit Less than through through through or more Rule 60L , F.A.C., General Agency Responsibilities Each agency shall ensure compliance with Section of the Florida Statutes and this chapter as follows: (1) Monitor hours worked by employees to ensure proper compensation. (3) Maintain accurate records of attendance, leave, and overtime worked and compensated. Division of Human Resource Management 4

5 Policy Guideline: Leave Accruals for Career Service Employees During Partial Work and Extended Work Rule 60L , F.A.C., Work Schedules (1) An agency may place an employee on a permanent regular schedule of more or less than an eight-hour workday. Before implementing changes to the regular work schedule, agencies shall give written notice to all affected employees, with attention given to requirements of collective bargaining agreements. (2) The Department may approve an extended work period under the FLSA. Rule 60L , F.A.C., General Requirements for Leave Earning, Approval, and Use (5) The use of paid leave shall not be authorized and taken before the time it is earned. (6) For career service employees, leave shall be credited to the employee at the close of business on the last day of the pay period, or, in the case of separation, on the last day the employee is on the payroll. For senior management service and selected exempt service employees, leave shall be credited upon the first appointment to either of the pay plans and upon the annual anniversary date of that first appointment. PREPARER S INITIALS: JAD/MDG FILE PATH: S:\Workforce\HRM\HRM Policy Communication\Policy Guideline\FINAL Division of Human Resource Management 5