Overtime Compensation for Emergency Support Functions

I. PURPOSE:

The purpose of this Addendum to Statewide Personnel Policy No. 2 is to outline the manner in which overtime compensation is to be administered by the Division of Administration (DOA) for DOA employees performing duties associated with emergency operations.

II. APPLICABILITY:

This Addendum applies to DOA employees required to perform duties due to and directly related to emergency situations.

III. DEFINITIONS:

A) Emergency Situations

• A Governor-declared State of Emergency or activation of the State Emergency Operations Center at Level 3 or above. The event shall end on the day and time designated by the Governor or the Commissioner of Administration.
• An emergency event determined by the Commissioner of Administration to require the mobilization of personnel and resources.

B) Emergency Hours Worked

• Includes time spent:
  1. Performing required work at an assigned disaster location; or
  2. Performing required work in preparation for, during, or recovery from an emergency situation; or
  3. In transit to and from an assigned work location if required to travel to a parish outside of the employee's official work domicile to perform emergency services.
• Excludes time spent:
  1. In transit to and from an assigned work location if it is in the same parish as the employee's official work domicile; or
  2. Designated off-duty time at the assigned work location; or
  3. Performing routine drills, trainings, meetings, etc. related to emergency functions.

C) Overtime - Hours actually worked beyond an employee's assigned work hours.

D) Official Work Domicile - The parish in which an employee is regularly assigned to work. For those authorized to work from home, the work domicile is the parish in which the employee resides.

IV. SCHEDULE CHANGES:

Upon emergency activation, employee work schedules are subject to change. Work schedules and work hours generally are determined by DOA business need, but may be dictated by the needs and direction of the primary agency in charge of the emergency functions being performed.

V. OVERTIME COMPENSATION:

Employees required to work due to and directly related to an emergency situation during official office closures may be compensated via the payment of wages calculated at the time and one-half (1.5) rate.

Employees required to work due to and directly related to an emergency situation beyond an employee's assigned work hours may be compensated via the payment of wages calculated at the time and one-half (1.5) rate.

The overtime compensation above applies without respect to the employee's FLSA status (non-exempt or exempt).

VI. RECORDING TIME AND ATTENDANCE:

For payroll and audit purposes, work hours directly related to an emergency situation must be timely and accurately entered in CATS in accordance with DOA Personnel Policy No. 99, Electronic Certification of Employee Time Statements.

All emergency-related time entries must include the assigned Cost Center and the designated Functional Area in order to allocate these payroll costs to the emergency event.

In addition, detailed supporting documentation of all hours worked in support of the emergency situation must be recorded using the Overtime and Compensatory Leave Earning Record form or DOA Disaster Duty Time Sheet (as applicable), and must be provided to the employee's assigned timekeeper for record retention purposes.

VII. VIOLATIONS:

Falsification of time entries or related documentation pertaining to hours worked during an emergency situation is prohibited and may result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination.

VIII. EXCEPTIONS:

Requests for exceptions to this policy shall be submitted in writing to the Office of Human Resources with specific and compelling written justification. Exceptions may be granted only by the Appointing Authority.

IX. QUESTIONS:

Questions regarding this policy should be addressed to the Office of Human Resources.

Overtime and Compensatory Leave Earning Record Form