Taking Care of Business - Comp Time

I'm assuming you are all familiar with overtime and compensatory time, right? I had a family member ask me about comp time as he was having some issue at work (govt office) with comp time...when it's used and how it's applied.

If not, comp time or CTO is defined by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) as compensatory time off ...paid time away from the job that is earned and accrued by an employee in lieu of a cash payment for overtime compensation, at the rate of no less than one and one-half hours of compensatory time for each hour of overtime worked. Under the act, only government agencies may legally allow their nonexempt employees time off in place of wages; for the most part, private employers are not eligible to use comp time in place of overtime.

Anyway, according to one online source, www.ppspublishers.com/articles/comp_time_rules.htm, the Supreme Court Clarified Comp Time Rules in Christensen v. Harris County, No. 98-1167 (5/1/00)

"The accrual of large amounts of compensatory time off can cause a big financial liability for public employers. The Supreme Court may have helped solve this problem by ruling that employers can require employees to use the banked time.

Public employers scored a victory recently when the Supreme Court ruled in their favor regarding the use of compensatory time off. Under a 1985 amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), state and local government employers may give nonexempt employees (those employees subject to the FLSA minimum wage and overtime requirements) compensatory time off (or "comp time") instead of paying overtime as long as the covered employees agree to this arrangement. To ensure that employees who earn this time off are compensated appropriately, the FLSA also contains several provisions regulating the accumulation and use of the banked time. However, according to the Court, employers still have some discretion to determine when the comp time must be used. Specifically, the Court found in Christensen v. Harris County, No. 98-1167 (5/1/00), that public employers can require employees to use the accrued comp time, without having an agreement that addresses this requirement."

An article at www.entrepreneur.com states, "a state law may provide comp time for all employees who work more than 35 hours in a workweek. By comparison, the act requires that only hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek are overtime hours that must be compensated at one and one-half times the regular rate of pay. Therefore, in this situation, comp time may be granted for work done between 35 and 40 hours as "other" compensatory time."

My opinion is to use it wisely, keep all employees informed, and be smart and ethical. Once you divert from this, you can get screwed. If you end up in court, they tend to side with the plaintiff/employee. I don't know everything about HR, but I do reference many online sources, especially the Society of Human Resources (www.shrm.org) and am a student member (since I'm still pursuing B.A.). It's a terrific resource but to get the full benefits, you have to be a member.

What is your experience with CTO and how was it handled? Do you believe it to be fair to the employee? the employer?