Purpose

Lindenwood University is committed to maintaining compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which is a federal law establishing minimum wage, overtime, pay eligibility, recordkeeping, and child labor standards affecting full-time and part-time workers in the private sector and in federal, state, and local governments.

Scope

This policy applies to all faculty, staff, and individuals employed by or seeking employment with the University.

Policy

Non-Exempt Employees

Non-exempt employees are those whose job duties make them subject to the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). They are paid on an hourly basis and entitled to overtime pay at a rate of 1.5 times their regular rate of pay for any hours worked in excess of 40 per workweek.

Employees should not work any hours outside of their scheduled workday unless the employee’s supervisor has authorized the additional hours to be worked in advance. Employees should not start work early, finish work late, work during a meal break, or perform any other extra or overtime work unless they are authorized in advance to do so and that time is recorded on their timecard. Employees are prohibited from performing any “off-the-clock” work. “Off-the-clock” work means work they may perform but do not report on their timecards. Any employee who fails to report or inaccurately reports any hours worked will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination. Additionally, non-exempt employees are not eligible to teach in addition to their regular full or part-time positions.

All hours worked by non-exempt employees must be accurately recorded and reflected in Workday as part of the total hours worked each day. All employees are responsible for clocking in and out and for notifying their supervisor if an error is made or if a time punch needs to be adjusted. Timecards must accurately reflect all regular and overtime hours worked, any absences, early or late arrivals, early or late departures, and meal breaks. At the end of each week, employees should review their completed timecards for verification and approval. When paychecks are received, employees should verify immediately that they were paid correctly for all regular and overtime hours worked each workweek. As set forth in the Salary Basis/Safe Harbor Policy, all discrepancies must be reported immediately by the employee to the Office of Human Resources.

It is a violation of the university’s policy for any employee to falsify a timecard or to alter another employee’s time card. It is also a serious violation of university policy for any employee or manager to instruct another employee to incorrectly or falsely report hours worked or to alter another employee’s timecard to under- or over-report hours worked. If any manager or employee instructs another employee to (1) incorrectly or falsely under- or over-report hours worked, (2) alter another employee’s time records to inaccurately or falsely report that employee’s hours worked, or (3) conceal any falsification of time records or (4) to violate this policy, the instructed employee should not follow orders. Instead, the incident should be immediately reported to the Office of Human Resources.

Assignment of Overtime to Non-Exempt Employees

Overtime work may be assigned to non-exempt employees by supervisors to meet the operational needs of the university. Supervisors shall request the use of overtime by submitting the overtime request in Workday. Employees are prohibited from working overtime unless authorized in advance by the supervisor to do so.

Lindenwood’s workweek begins on Monday at 12 a.m. and runs through Sunday at 11:59 p.m. Any absence within any given workweek, whether paid (sick leave or vacation) or unpaid, is not counted as hours worked when computing overtime.

Exempt Employees

Exempt employees are those whose positions are supervisory, administrative, professional, or fall under another exemption as defined by the Fair Labor Standards Act. Exempt employees are paid a fixed salary and are not entitled to overtime pay.

Employees classified as exempt will be paid no less than the minimum weekly salary required by law and on a salaried basis. Note that this salary requirement does not apply to employees whose primary duty is teaching, tutoring, instructing or lecturing. This predetermined salary is intended to be compensation for all hours that may be worked for the university. This salary will be established at the time of hire or when the employee becomes classified as an exempt employee. While it may be subject to review and modification from time to time, such as during salary review times, the salary will be a predetermined amount that will not be subject to deductions for variations in the quantity or quality of the work performed, subject to certain exceptions described below.

Employees will receive full salary for any workweek in which work is performed. However, under federal law, it is permissible for Lindenwood to make certain deductions from an exempt employee’s salary. For example, in a workweek in which work was performed, salary can be reduced for the following reasons:

• Full-day absences for personal reasons, including vacation.
• Full-day absences for sickness or disability, since Lindenwood has a sick day pay plan and short-term disability insurance plan.
• Full-day disciplinary suspensions for infractions of safety rules of major significance (including those that could cause serious harm to others).
• Unpaid Family and Medical Leave absences (either full- or partial-day absences).
• To offset amounts received as payment for jury and witness fees or military pay.
• The first or last week of employment in the event less than a full week is worked.

Salary also may be reduced for certain types of deductions authorized by the employee, such as for the employee’s portion of health, dental, or life insurance premiums; state, federal, or local taxes; social security; or voluntary contributions to a 403(b) or pension plan. In any workweek in which the employee performed any work, salary will not be reduced for any of the following reasons:

• Partial-day absences for personal reasons, sickness, or disability (except as set forth above.)
• Absence because the facility is closed on a scheduled work day.
• Any other deductions prohibited by state or federal law.

Please Note: Employees will be required to use accrued vacation or other forms of paid time off for unpaid full- or partial-day absences for personal reasons, sickness, or disability.

Salary Basis Requirement

To qualify for exemption, employees generally must be paid at not less than $844 per week on a salary basis. These salary requirements do not apply to outside sales employees, teachers, and employees practicing law or medicine. 

Being paid on a “salary basis” means an employee regularly receives a predetermined amount of compensation each pay period on a weekly, or less frequent, basis. The predetermined amount cannot be reduced because of variations in the quality or quantity of the employee’s work. Subject to exceptions listed below, an exempt employee must receive the full salary for any workweek in which the employee performs any work, regardless of the number of days or hours worked. Exempt employees do not need to be paid for any workweek in which they perform no work. If the employer makes deductions from an employee’s predetermined salary, i.e., because of the operating requirements of the business, that employee is not paid on a “salary basis.” If the employee is ready, willing and able to work, deductions may not be made for time when work is not available.

Circumstances in Which the Employer May Make Deductions from Pay

Deductions from pay are permissible when an exempt employee: is absent from work for one or more full days for personal reasons other than sickness or disability; for absences of one or more full days due to sickness or disability if the deduction is made in accordance with a bona fide plan, policy or practice of providing compensation for salary lost due to illness; to offset amounts employees receive as jury or witness fees, or for military pay; or for unpaid disciplinary suspensions of one or more full days imposed in good faith for workplace conduct rule infractions.  Also, an employer is not required to pay the full salary in the initial or terminal week of employment; for penalties imposed in good faith for infractions of safety rules of major significance, or for weeks in which an exempt employee takes unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. In these circumstances, either partial day or full day deductions may be made.

University Policy

It is our policy to comply with the salary basis requirements of the FLSA. Therefore, we prohibit all company managers from making any improper deductions from the salaries of exempt employees. We want employees to be aware of this policy and that the company does not allow deductions that violate the FLSA.

What To Do If An Improper Deduction Occurs?

If you believe that an improper deduction has been made to your salary, you should immediately report this information to your direct supervisor, or to Human Resources. Reports of improper deductions will be promptly investigated. If it is determined that an improper deduction has occurred, you will be promptly reimbursed for any improper deduction made.