Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

Understanding FLSA Compliance

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is federal law that sets minimum wage, overtime pay, equal pay, record keeping, and child labor standards. The university’s classification, pay, and payroll regulations, forms, and procedures are designed to achieve compliance. Accordingly, departments can maintain compliance by carefully following the established regulations and procedures. Violations may result in civil or criminal action, as well as award back wages and levy fines.

Minimum Wage

Effective September 30, 2021, all Florida Gulf Coast University employees must be paid at lease $10.00 per hour in order to comply with the minimum wage for the state of Florida. Please note that the next change to the state minimum wage will be on September 30, 2022 when it increases to $11.00 an hour. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, however, employers in the state of Florida must comply with the higher state minimum wage.

Overtime is defined as work that is required or permitted beyond the 40 hour University workweek. It is a supervisor’s responsibility to insure that unauthorized overtime is not worked. The work schedule should be arranged so that overtime usually is not required. In situations where the department’s mission cannot be carried out unless overtime work is authorized, overtime work may be allowed. Departments should follow procedures established by their Vice President for obtaining prior authorization for use of overtime.

Overtime worked by employees in non-exempt SP positions must be paid or awarded compensatory leave at one and one-half times his or her regular hourly rate of pay for each hour of overtime worked. No other “arrangements” are allowed, as they constitute falsification of time records.

Hourly OPS Employees Must Be Paid Overtime
Hourly OPS employees must be paid one and one-half times their regular hourly rate of pay for each hour of overtime worked. No other arrangements are allowed. OPS employees are not eligible to earn overtime compensatory leave.

Additional University Employment

In most cases where the secondary employment exceeds 1.0 FTE and the primary employment is non-exempt (hourly), the secondary compensation will be 1.5 times the primary rate.

The Classification & Compensation Team will make a determination on the exempt or non-exempt status of a position. In order to qualify for exempt status, positions generally must meet three tests:

Salary Level Test
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Regardless of the time worked, the salary for an exempt employee must be at least $35,705 annually. This amount cannot be prorated for employees who meet the duties tests for exempt status, but do not work full-time.
Salary Basis Test
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Generally, exempt employees must be paid their full salary for any week in which they do any work. Compensation cannot be reduced because of variations in the quantity or quality of work, or the hours worked. This is known as the "no-pay docking" rule. There are provisions under FLSA for certain permitted salary deductions and for leave administration. The regulations are complex, and any questions about proper procedures for paying exempt employees on a salary basis should be referred to the Classification & Compensation Team.
Duties Test
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The specific position duties must qualify under one of the duties tests provided by the Act. The Classification & Compensation Team is trained to make determinations as to whether the duties of a position will meet FLSA criteria. For more information on the duties tests, you may want to read the fact sheets available on the Department of Labor's website.

Wages Fact Sheet

Exempt Employees

FLSA provides an exemption from the overtime pay requirements of the Act for certain kinds of positions and duties. Employees whose duties meet the tests for exemption are commonly referred to as "exempt employees." This means that the overtime provisions of FLSA do not apply to those positions. It is important to note that whether a position qualifies for exempt status must be determined based on the duties for that specific position. Titles alone are not sufficient to determine the status of a position under FLSA.

Nonexempt Employees

Employees who do not meet the exemption tests above (or other specific exemptions tests) must be paid overtime as defined above. Nonexempt employees must complete timesheets so that precise work hours are documented.

Time-Worked Regulations

Employees in non-exempt classifications are not permitted to begin work before the established starting time nor work beyond the established quitting time, unless specifically authorized by the employee’s supervisor. Every employee in a non-exempt classification must account for all hours in the workweek as each starting and stopping time occurs. Under no circumstances may a non-exempt employee be allowed to take work from the workstation to be completed at home; and non-exempt employees must leave their workstations during their regularly scheduled lunch periods. Conducting any job related activity during scheduled lunch periods is time worked and must be recorded as such. Non-exempt employees’ time records must be approved by the supervisor, and in approving these entries the supervisor verifies the accuracy of the recorded time worked.

Any employee or supervisor who falsifies any time record, including time records, leave, etc., is subject to dismissal.

Record Keeping

Each department is required to keep accurate records of all hours worked and approved leave for each employee. This is achieved through proper and timely recording and approving of time worked. For non-exempt or hourly employees, accurate actual start and stop times must be recorded.

The ultimate responsibility for the accuracy and proper maintenance of all attendance and leave records rests with the head of the department.

Official University Travel

Travel to and from an employee’s home to the employee’s regularly assigned headquarters cannot be counted as hours worked. If an employee is called back to work after his or her scheduled hours of work for the day, the employee should be credited with actual time worked, including time to and from the employee’s home to the assigned work location, a minimum of two hours of work–whichever is greater.

If an employee is required to attend a meeting or conference, or otherwise work at an out-of-town location, this attendance or work is considered time worked. Travel time on the first and last day of the event, whether or not such travel occurs during the employee’s normal work schedule, is considered time worked.

When a non-exempt employee is in official travel status, time spent in travel may result in total hours for the week exceeding 40, in which case the employee is in overtime status and must be compensated according to standard overtime policies.

What is the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)?
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The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is the federal wage and hour law administered by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). It impacts employees in both private and public sectors by establishing minimum wage, overtime pay, and other wage and hour regulations. Employees are either exempt or non-exempt from the FLSA regulations.
What does it mean to be exempt or non-exempt?
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Exempt employees are excluded from the overtime requirements. Non-exempt employees are paid overtime for time worked in excess of 40 hours in any workweek. For an employee to be classified as exempt, he/she must meet the following three tests:
- Salary Basis Test: An employee must receive a predetermined, fixed salary that is not subject to reduction due to variations in quality or quantity of work performed;
- Minimum Salary Test: An employee must be paid a salary minimum that is currently $35,705 per year; and
- Duties Test: An employee must qualify as an executive, administrative, professional, or computer professional (as specifically defined by the FLSA)
Does this law apply to OPS employees?
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Are faculty excluded from these changes?
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Yes. Under the FLSA, employees are not subject to the salary minimum if their primary duty is teaching, tutoring, instructing, or lecturing, and if they are employed and engaged in this activity as a teacher in an educational establishment (i.e., Florida Gulf Coast University).