Change to FLSA - Staff FAQs

General

1. What does it mean to be exempt or nonexempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)?

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulates whether an employee is overtime-eligible (“non-exempt”) or overtime-exempt (“exempt”). Most employees covered by the FLSA must be paid at least the minimum wage and premium pay for any overtime hours worked. The minimum wage for California can be found here. Some localities have adopted higher minimum wages. The FLSA does, however, exempt employees from the minimum wage and overtime requirements, if they perform duties associated with one of the exemption categories including executive, administrative, and professional employees. To qualify for one of the exemption categories, an employee must be paid a predetermined salary regardless of variations in the quality or quantitiy of work (salary basis test) that is above a certain amount (salary level test) and meet the applicable exemption category duties test.

2. Are any positions exempt from the salary basis test?

Professors, lecturers, tutors and other teachers, doctors, medical residents, veterinarians and attorneys are not subject to either the salary basis or salary level tests. This means that these professionals are considered exempt regardless of the amount they earn for performing services.

Time Reporting/Overtime Eligible

3. I am a non-exempt, overtime-eligible employee, why am I required to record the number of hours I work each day?

The FLSA requires the University to keep certain records for each non-exempt, overtime-eligible employee, including records of the number of hours worked each day and the amount of wages earned. Talk to your manager or supervisor about UCI’s local time reporting requirements and the Time Reporting System (TRS).

4. What is TRS?

Time Reporting System (TRS) is a flexible, scalable, and secure online timesheet application for employees and supervisors. The TRS Resource page contains helpful information for all TRS users including instructions for bi-weekly employees.

5. Where can I find information regarding overtime?

There are several policies and provisions that address the terms of employment for non-exempt/ overtime-eligible staff employees, including, but not limited to your collective bargaining agreement (if you are part of a bargaining unit) or PPSM 30 (Compensation) and PPSM - 2.210 (Absence From Work) if your position is covered by University policy.

Biweekly Pay Schedule

6. How many biweekly pay periods are there in a calendar year?

There are a minimum of 26 and a maximum of 27 paychecks in a year. Because biweekly periods do not always line up exactly to the calendar year, there is often a biweekly pay period that crosses over from December to January. As a result, the gross pay reported on an annual W-2 tax form may not exactly match your annualized pay rate, and occasionally there will be 27 periods in one year. See the Biweekly Payroll Calendar for the biweekly pay schedule.

7. How is my hourly rate determined?

There are two methods you can use to calculate your hourly rate (based on a 40-hour workweek):

  • Method 1: Take your monthly salary rate and divide by 174 (the average number of working hours in a month). For example, if your monthly salary is $3250.00 per month: $3250.00 ÷ 174 = $18.68 per hour.
  • Method 2: Take your annual salary and divide it by 2088 (the number of working hours in a year). For example, if your annual salary rate is $39,000.00 per year: $39,000.00 ÷ 2088 = $18.68 per hour.

Payroll Deductions

8. What is a Deduction Holiday? How will my deductions be calculated?

A deduction holiday occurs when there are three biweekly pay periods in a month. During a deduction holiday, no flat-dollar deductions are taken from pay; only percent-based deductions are taken. Typically, deduction holidays occur twice a year, based on pay period end date. Pay dates with deduction holidays can be found on the Biweekly Payroll Calendar.

9. When is my retirement deduction taken?

The UC mandatory retirement contributions, University of California Retirement Plan and the Defined Contribution Plan, are taken each biweekly payday.

10. Who should I contact if I have questions regarding my FLSA classification?

If you have questions or concerns, please contact your manager/supervisor. If you still have a concern, contact your department’s HR/Academic Personnel representative.

11. Where can I find more information regarding FLSA?

Additional information and resources can be found at hr.uci.edu/partnership/FLSA.

12. My position is covered under SB 525 / 828? What the FLSA exemption threshold?

For patient facing positions in healthcare, please see the SB525 web page for information about the FLSA Exemption Thresholds for your position.

For Supervisors

13. As a supervisor, do I need to approve timesheets?

As hourly paid employees, non-exempt employees must record their time daily and submit timesheets to report their hours for each biweekly pay period, and the supervisor will be required to review and approve the hours reported every other week. Non-exempt employees will be paid for all hours recorded. The workweek is defined as Sunday through Saturday.

14. How does overtime and time worked beyond appointment percentage?

  1. Policy Covered employees:
    1. Part-time, non-exempt employees who work more than their stated appointment percentage, but less than 40 hours in a week, will receive pay for the extra hours (or partial hours) worked at their regular hourly rate.
    2. A non-exempt employee will receive pay at 1.5 times their regular hourly rate for any time worked in excess of 40 hours in a week, regardless of their appointment percentage.
  2. Represented employees: See bargaining unit contract for overtime rules.
  3. All overtime/additional time worked in excess of appointment percentage must be approved in advance by the supervisor for both policy covered and represented employees.
    1. If an employee submits a timesheet that reports non-approved time, they still must be paid for that time.
    2. Working unapproved overtime/additional time can be cause for disciplinary action. If an employee is regularly working overtime/additional time, please contact your HR Representative to discuss whether the employee’s appointment percentage should be adjusted.

15. What are other compensable time for non-exempt employees?

  1. Donning and Doffing. Time spent changing into or out of protective clothing or engaging in special washing or cleaning procedures is considered time worked.
  2. Travel Time. If the employee does not have regular working hours, the supervisor will assign regular work hours for any workweek during which travel will occur for the purpose of identifying and tracking compensable travel time. The travel during the employee’s regular working hours is considered time worked. Travel time outside of the assigned regular work hours is not time worked unless actual work is performed during that time.
  3. Rest Breaks. The University provides rest breaks during the work day. Meal breaks are not considered compensable time (i.e., a lunch break should not be recorded as time worked)