Department Chair and Program Director Guide

Section Nine – Support Staff Wage and Hour Guidelines

Working Hours and Schedule – 9:1
Meal Breaks and Rest Periods – 9:2
Pay Periods and Timesheets – 9:3
Overtime for Support Staff – 9:4

The department chair is responsible for supervising the departmental administrative assistant, including overseeing attendance and assigning work tasks. For more detailed information, please refer to the online Staff Handbook (https://sites.google.com/gustavus.edu/staffhandbook/). As policies are subject to change, the Staff Handbook remains the official governing document.

Working Hours and Schedule – 9:1

Gustavus Adolphus College normally is open for business from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Each department is expected to ensure adequate service coverage during hours of operation. Staff will be assigned a work schedule and will be expected to begin and end work according to their appointed schedule. The College acknowledges that various positions may have a schedule which warrants a start and end time that differs from the standard hours of operation (e.g., Campus Safety, Facilities, etc.). The College reserves the right to alter individual work schedules and may need to change them on either a short-term or long-term basis, to accommodate the needs of the College.

Meal Breaks and Rest Periods – 9:2

Break/Rest Periods

A paid rest break of no more than 15 minutes is allowed each four-hour work period (excluding meal breaks) for non-exempt (hourly) employees at a time approved by the supervisor. Typically there is one rest break in the morning (first half of shift) and one in the afternoon (second half of shift). Attending a daily chapel service is not considered part of a break period. Unused rest breaks cannot be used to shorten the scheduled workday. Supervisors have the discretion to determine the length and time of break/rest periods within the above parameters based on departmental needs.

Meal Periods

Meal periods must not be less than 1/2 hour for all non-exempt (hourly) employees that work for eight or more consecutive hours and cannot be taken at the beginning or end of a shift to shorten the scheduled work day. Supervisors have the discretion to determine the length and time of meal periods within these parameters based on departmental needs.

Pay Periods and Timesheets – 9:3

Pay Periods / Workweek

A pay period for non-exempt (hourly) employees consists of two work weeks. Each workweek begins at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday and ends at midnight on the following Friday. Payment is made on the Friday following the end of a pay period unless the pay date falls on a College-observed holiday. There are 26 paydays each calendar year. Visit the Payroll Office website for the payment schedule.

Timesheets

All non-exempt (hourly) employees must accurately record their actual time worked including the beginning of a shift, the end of a shift, meal periods, and any departure from work for any non-work-related reason. It is the staff member's responsibility to enter time records and to certify the accuracy of all time recorded. To ensure the accuracy of the hours, employees should record their hours on a daily basis.

Both the employee and the supervisor must approve the timesheet. Submitted time records will be approved by an employee's supervisor at the end of each pay period so that payroll can then be processed for payment. Any errors in the time record should be reported immediately to a supervisor, who will attempt to correct legitimate errors. Deliberate altering, falsifying, or tampering with time records is considered misconduct and will subject an employee to appropriate disciplinary action.

The Department Chair or Program Director designated as staff supervisor must approve time cards by 12:00 pm on Monday. Be alert to email reminders regarding this important task. If approval does not happen on time, the supervisor will need to visit the Payroll Office to sign off on a hard-copy timecard. If you anticipate that you will not be able to approve the timecard on time, please contact Renae Stierlen (rstierle@gustavus.edu or x6314) as soon as possible.

Overtime for Support Staff – 9:4

Non-exempt employees are entitled to overtime pay at the rate of one and a half times the normal hourly rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a workweek unless otherwise required by law. The College experiences periods of extremely high activity and may require additional work to be performed that may result in overtime pay. Efforts will be made to provide staff with adequate advance notice in such situations.

For all hours above an employee's regular schedule, non-exempt employees must obtain written supervisor approval prior to working additional hours in order to control the budgetary impact of overtime pay. Non-exempt employees will receive overtime pay for “actual hours worked” over 40 hours. Part-time, non-exempt employees who work over the number of their designated hours do not receive overtime pay unless they work over 40 hours in a week. Payroll earning statements will reflect and differentiate between regular pay received and overtime pay received.

Non-exempt employees with an assigned FTE who are required to work on holidays will be compensated as referenced in the Holiday Pay Policy. While Non-exempt employees will be paid for all hours worked—including overtime hours—employees who fail to properly record hours or who work overtime without proper approval are subject to discipline, up to and including termination of employment.