Labor Relations: The Meet and Confer Process

 An employer should avoid delineating specific days as work-days (i.e., five eight-hour days, Monday through Friday).

 An employer should clarify that an hours provision is no guarantee of work hours.

 Both mandatory and voluntary work furloughs are generally mandatory bargaining subjects.

Overtime and Compensatory-Time-Off (CTO)

 An employer should establish a requirement and procedure for advance supervisor approval of overtime and shift times.  Reassigning overtime work to temporary employees is a mandatory subject of bargaining. 217  The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to pay overtime compensation to non-exempt employees at not less than one and one-half times the regular rate of pay for all hours worked beyond a specified number, usually forty hours in a seven-day workweek. 218 exemption) for specified classifications is within the scope of representation to the extent it effects an employee’s eligibility for overtime wages (i.e., establishing different “work periods” under 29 USC §207(k), to determine when FLSA overtime pay is due for police, fire or some EMS employees.) However, if an agency declares a FLSA partial overtime exemption that does not affect an employee’s eligibility for overtime wages, this would not fall within the scope of bargaining (i.e., an employer establishes a 14-day/86 hour FLSA Section 7(k) partial overtime period for police officers but still contractually agrees to pay overtime for any hours worked over 80 hours in a 14-day period would not invoke the duty to bargain as the working conditions and agreement to pay overtime have not changed.)  Declaring an FLSA partial overtime exemption (i.e., Section 7(k) partial overtime  An overtime provision should define which hours qualify as overtime, and the rate of overtime compensation.  An employer should negotiate to limit the maximum accrual of compensatory time off, which should be at or less than statutory maximum accruals (480 hours for public safety, 240 hours for all other jobs).  An employer should negotiate to retain discretion over whether overtime is compensated by money or time off.  Whether standby or on-call time is considered hours actually worked under the FLSA depends on: (a) the degree to which an employee is free to engage in personal activities; and (b) the agreement between the parties. 219  A standby or on-call provision should specify the extent to which an employee’s personal activities are restricted, and should specify compensation (including any minimum compensation), if applicable.  An employer should maintain its management right to assign mandatory overtime. Standby/On-call pay

Labor Relations: The Meet and Confer Process ©2019 (s) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 39