[SEPT 2015] During the last legislative session, funding was approved to pay down the amount of overtime FPS employees banked from 240 hours to 140 hours. According to DFPS, employees will be paid for OT in excess of 140 hours on the December 1st pay check.
This pay down of OT hours is a step in the right direction, although state employees are very much in need of a real across the board raise. The 2.5% raise that took effect Sept. 1st is completely wiped out by increases in pension and healthcare contributions. Other targeted raises- on call pay, college degree pay, and high risk pay- were approved by Legislators, but without any funding to make these raises a reality. Despite our stagnant pay and a clear need to address turnover in our agency, Legislators left $6.4 billion unspent from the last budget. Texas can afford better pay and enough staff to keep up with growing caseloads. FPS employees and the vulnerable Texans we serve deserve better, and union members are already at work to fight for the next pay raise and to hold decision makers accountable.
The pay raise we need won’t just fall from the sky, or from the kindness of budget-makers’ hearts. Get involved, ask coworkers to join and get off the sidelines, and help make the voice of state employees louder!
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HHSC / FLSA Worked Overtime Policy
The information below is a summary of key sections of the HHSC Policy Manual and is based on state labor law and the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act. HHSC policy applies to DADS, DSHS, HHSC, FPS, and DARS.
Chapter 6, Health and Human Services Commission Policy Manual:
Section B: Working Overtime
Policy – The agency compensates employees with time off or pay for the overtime they are required to work, consistent with federal and state laws.
Authority – The Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is a federal law that regulates overtime for workers, including state employees, who are covered by the act. Chapter 659 and 662 of the Texas Government Code also govern overtime and compensatory leave for state employees
Required Overtime – An agency manager or supervisor may require an employee to work overtime. Supervisors are responsible for managing work effectively, so that employees are allowed or required to work beyond regularly assigned work hours only when there is a business necessity.
Section C: Federal fair labor standards act – Overtime
Policy – Most non-management employees are covered by FLSA and are entitled to FLSA overtime. FLSA overtime is the amount of time physically worked by an FLSA nonexempt employee in excess of 40 hours a workweek. Any paid leave or holidays taken are not counted as hours worked in determining FLSA overtime.
Compensation for FLSA Overtime – Employees who are covered by FLSA are entitled to compensation for the hours worked in excess of 40 hours either by allowing or requiring the employee to take time off at the rate of 1.5 hours for each hour of overtime or at the discretion of the agency head, paying the employee at the rate of 1.5 times the employees current regular rate of pay when granting them time off is impractical.
Limit on FLSA Overtime – Employees who are covered by FLSA may accumulate FLSA overtime credit of not more than 240 hours. Employees must be paid for FLSA overtime worked in excess of the limits on accumulation, at a rate equal to 1.5 times the employees regular rate of pay.