Change to FLSA - Staff and Academic Personnel 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 hours they work beyond 40 in a workweek. The minimum wage for California is currently $10 per hour. Some localities have adopted higher minimum wages. The FLSA does, however, exempt certain kinds of covered employees from the minimum wage and overtime requirements, including bona fide executive, administrative, and professional employees. To qualify for one of the executive, administrative or professional exemptions, an employee must be paid a predetermined salary that is above a certain amount and meet the applicable 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.

3. Why is UC changing my FLSA status from exempt to non-exempt and overtime eligible?

Currently, most employees who are classified as overtime-exempt must earn at least $455 per week. Beginning December 1, 2016, to qualify for the executive, administrative or professional exemption, the FLSA requires that an employee earn no less than $913 per week, or $47,476 per year. To comply with this new overtime rule, the University of California has reviewed your position and salary and reclassified you as overtime-eligible.

Time Reporting/Overtime Eligible

4. Now that 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).

5. What is TRS?

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

6. As a non-exempt employee, when am I entitled to overtime?

Non-exempt, overtime-eligible employees must be paid no less than the minimum wage and a premium rate for any hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. Hospitals are permitted to base premium FLSA overtime eligibility on either 40 hours in a workweek or 80 hours in a 14-consecutive day work period (the 8/80 option). If the University requires or permits an employee to work overtime, then it is generally required to pay the employee premium pay for such overtime work.

7. 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. For academic personnel, refer to the Compensable Time for Non-Exempt Employees Fact Sheet.

Biweekly Pay Schedule

8. I am currently paid monthly. Will I convert to the biweekly pay schedule?

If you are re-classified as a non-exempt employee and eligible for overtime, your pay period will change from monthly to biweekly.

9. When will the change from a monthly pay schedule to a biweekly pay schedule take effect?

The new non-exempt, overtime-eligible employees will transition to the biweekly pay schedule on November 20, 2016.

Here are the specific pay dates during that period:

  • December 1: Final monthly paycheck for work performed between November 1 through November 19, full benefit deduction for December 2016.
  • December 14: Full paycheck for biweekly period of November 20 through December 3, first ½ of January 2017 benefit deductions.
  • December 28: Full paycheck for biweekly period of December 4 through December 17, second ½ of January 2017 benefit deductions.

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

You will receive 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 2016 Biweekly Payroll Calendar for the biweekly pay schedule.

11. Am I still accruing the same amount of vacation and sick leave annually?

For staff and academic employees, your accruals are based on your hours on paid status. If the time you are paid for varies, then so will your accruals. Therefore, a full-time employee should expect to see the same accruals over the course of the year, while part-time employees’ accrual will vary.

Accruals for biweekly employees are credited at the end of every two pay periods (every four weeks) based on hours on pay status during those two pay periods. Biweekly employees accrue 13 times in a calendar year, compared to 12 times for monthly employees. The accruals for each pay period are therefore smaller, but your annual vacation and sick accrual rate is the same.

During the transition, you will be credited at the end of the monthly November pay period based on the hours worked November 1 through November 19, and credited again in December for the hours worked November 20 through December 17 (the end of the first biweekly accrual period).

12. Will my eligibility for holiday pay change if I am transitioning from overtime exempt to nonexempt?

Yes, if you are a policy-covered employee, your eligibility may change and it will follow existing university policy (PPSM-2.210 Absence from Work. Section H.1.b.). Under this policy, part-time non-exempt employees who are on pay status of 50 percent time or more receive holiday pay in proportion to the percentage of time they are on pay status. Policy-covered exempt employees receive holiday pay in proportion to their percentage appointment. For union-represented employees, please consult your collective bargaining agreement.

13. 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.

14. Will I need to make any changes to my direct deposit?

No.

Payroll Deductions

15. How will my deductions be calculated now that I am paid on a biweekly basis?

For monthly paid employees, flat dollar amount deductions and percentage based deductions are taken from each monthly paycheck. For biweekly paid employees, flat dollar amount deductions are split between two pay periods (for a total of 24 paychecks) and percentage based deductions are taken out of all 26 paychecks.

16. 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 2016 Biweekly Payroll Calendar.

17. 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.

18. I contribute to my 403(b) and 457(b) plans. When will my contributions be taken

Percentage deduction: If you set up your contributions as a percentage deduction, the percentage amount will be taken each paycheck (26 times a year). For example, if your current 403(b) contribution is 5 percent per month, a 5 percent contribution will be made each biweekly payday.

Flat Dollar deduction: If you set up your contributions as a fixed flat dollar amount, the flat dollar amount will be split in half, and one-half will be withheld per biweekly payday.  For example, if your current 403(b) contribution is $100.00 per month, it will be divided into a $50.00 contribution each biweekly payday.  For months with three paychecks, one paycheck will have no fixed flat dollar deductions taken.

19. Will I need to make any changes to my tax withholding?

If you have an additional tax amount deducted from your paycheck, that monthly amount will be split in half, and one-half will be withheld from each biweekly check. If you would like to adjust your additional withholding amount, please go to the At Your Service website and review and/or update your W-4/DE-4 Form. For other tax questions, please consult IRS and State Franchise Tax Board websites or contact a tax professional for help. For other tax questions, please consult IRS ( https://www.irs.gov/) and State Franchise Tax Board (for California: https://www.ftb.ca.gov/) websites or contact a tax professional for help.

20. What if I pay some of my bills through automatic bill pay?

If you have automatic bill pay set up for any regular expenses, such as mortgage payments, student loan payments or car payments, we encourage you to work directly with your financial institution(s) to change payment dates as needed. As a biweekly employee, your pay dates will vary since you will be paid every other Wednesday.

21. I have a garnishment deduction. How will the transition to biweekly pay affect the amount deducted for my garnishment?

If the garnishment deduction is calculated as a percentage of your earnings, a deduction will occur each pay period, up to the maximum deduction allowed based on federal and state regulations. For example, if your garnishment deduction is 25 percent of your pay, that amount will be deducted each payday.

If the garnishment deduction is a fixed amount, the amount will be recalculated to a biweekly amount. That calculation is then divided into two payments. For example, a monthly $250 garnishment payment will become $125, deducted during each biweekly paycheck.

Initial Conversion from Monthly to Biweekly Pay Schedule

22. How will the change from monthly paid to biweekly paid affect my pay in December? 

As explained in Question 9 under Biweekly Pay Schedule, the month of December will be a “transition” month. On December 1, employees who are converting from monthly paid to biweekly paid will receive a paycheck for the time worked between November 1 and November 19. The pay for the remainder of November through December 3 will be received approximately two weeks later, on December 14. In addition, full benefit deductions will be taken from the December 1 paycheck for December 2016, and then the first ½ of benefit deductions for January 2017 will be taken from the December 14 paycheck and the second ½ of benefit deductions for January 2017 will be taken from the December 28 paycheck. This initial month of transition may result in financial hardship to impacted employees. See #22 and #23 for information regarding assistance.

23. What should I do to prepare for the change?

It is important that you review your personal budget situation and determine your income needs based on the new biweekly pay schedule. In preparation for the conversion, we suggest that you take the following steps:

  • Review your current tax withholding elections to make any necessary changes. Pay particular attention to additional tax withholding amounts.
  • Review your current voluntary contributions to your 403(b) and 457(b) plans. See FAQ #17.
  • Request that creditors adjust your automatic withdrawal or bill-pay dates to align with your new pay schedule.

24. What if I have reviewed my situation and find that I will be unable to meet my financial obligations during the transition?

The University will be offering a Transition Assistance Vacation Cash Out program that allows you to cash out up to 80 hours of your accrued and unused vacation balance to assist you in meeting financial obligations during the transition period. Go to hr.uci.edu/partnership/FLSA to learn more about the Transition Assistance Vacation Cash Out program.

The University has an arrangement with two credit unions for emergency loans at negotiated rates. Please see this policy link for more information: http://policy.ucop.edu/doc/3410225/AM-E526-48.

25. Who should I contact if I have questions regarding my FLSA classification or the biweekly pay cycle conversion?

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.

26. Where can I find more information regarding this change to the FLSA?

Additional information and resources can be found at hr.uci.edu/partnership/FLSA including a PowerPoint presentation that provides more detail on many of the topics covered in this document.