2.10 TRINITY COUNTY. County Contract No. Board Item Request Form Department County Administrative Officer. Contact Wendy Tyler

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1 County Contract No. Department County Administrative Officer TRINITY COUNTY 2.10 Board Item Request Form Contact Wendy Tyler Phone Requested Agenda Location Consent Requested Board Action: Adopt a resolution establishing time reporting policies for exempt employees. Fiscal Impact: No fiscal impact. Motion: Second Roll Call: Ayes: Nays: Tabled To: Action: Notes:

2 ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF REPORT Subject: Resolution Concerning Time Reporting Policies for Exempt Employees Date: July 9, 2013 ISSUE: For years employees who are exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act have been completing timecards. This exposes the County to liability for hours worked in excess of 40. Exempt employees are hired to do a job, not work a specified number of hours. They must work whatever it takes to do the job. The Department of Labor conducts audits of private and public entities to ensure that exempt employees are truly exempt as the FLSA defines that term. A failed audit could, and often does, result in the assessment of retroactive overtime payments, penalties and fines. One of the items looked for in an audit is the oversight of the agency as to the number of hours worked by exempt employees. The greater the oversight the greater the likelihood that the County would fail the audit. It has been my experience that exempt employees regularly work in excess of 40 hours per week. Often when they are away from their work site for medical appointments or vacation, they still continue to respond to the needs of their department, employees, and supervisors. I am proposing the Board adopt a policy concerning exempt employee timekeeping that provides that those employees exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act need only report hours that they are absent from work in excess of 4 hours. They are not required to log in and out times on their timecards. ALTERNATIVES INCLUDING FINANCIAL IMPLICATION: 1. Adopt the policy. There is no fiscal impact to adoption of this policy. 2. Reject the policy. There is no fiscal impact to rejection of this policy, although we continue to be exposed to overtime liability. RECOMMENDATION: It is staff s recommendation that the Board adopt the policy as presented. Wendy G. Tyler, CAO {DP/ }

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4 RESOLUTION NO XX A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF THE COUNTY OF TRINITY ESTABLISHING TIMRE REPORTING POLICIES FOR EXEMPT EMPLOYEES WHEREAS, the County of Trinity (County) employs two distinct classifications of employees for the purposes of compensation calculation in compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), exempt and non-exempt, and WHEREAS, non-exempt employees of the County work on an hourly basis and are entitled to overtime pay for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours per work week, and WHEREAS, exempt employees are compensated on a salary basis without regard to the number of hours worked, and WHEREAS, the FLSA requires the accurate tracking of hours worked by non-exempt employees, and WHEREAS, neither state or federal law requires exempt employees to submit time sheets or track time worked for compensation purposes, and WHEREAS, 29 CFR establishes the public accountability rule for exempt public employees where the agency has established leave accrual systems, such as County; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Supervisors of the County of Trinity, as follows: SECTION 1. Exempt employees shall not be required to submit a time card or any other time tracking device to obtain compensation. SECTION 2. Exempt employees, including all department heads, shall submit time records showing the use of sick leave, management leave or accrued vacation leave when absent from their employment in excess of four (4) hours in a twenty-four (24) hour period for personal reasons. SECTION 3. Nothing herein shall interfere with an exempt employee s supervisor establishing rules related to reporting the use of personal leave or obtaining permission prior to using leave time by an exempt employee under their supervision. SECTION 4. An exempt employee shall be subject to discipline, including the reduction of compensation for being absent from work without permission or when absent for personal reasons without adequate accrued leave time.

5 Resolution No XXX DATE Page 2 of 2 DULY PASSED AND ADOPTED this 9th day of July, 2013 by the Board of Supervisors of the County of Trinity by motion, second (/), and the following vote: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: ABSTAIN: RECUSE: Supervisors DEBRA CHAPMAN, CHAIRMAN Board of Supervisors County of Trinity State of California ATTEST: WENDY G. TYLER Clerk of the Board of Supervisors By: Deputy