Question:  We have been paying our teller employees who work on Saturday time and a half per hour. They would prefer to get "comp time".  Can we do that?

 

Answer:  The Fair Labor Standards Act prohibits the use of "comp time" as a means of compensation for a non-exempt employee. The normal rate for paying overtime is at one and a half times the base hourly rate. However, overtime has to be paid only when a non-exempt employee actually works in excess of 40 hours during a given workweek. 

 

Question:  Our tellers are not working 40 hours a week - even with the Saturday work.  Now can we give them "comp time"?

 

Answer:  Yes...but don't call it "comp time"!  This is really just a matter of adjusting the work week.  On the other hand, if you want to pay a "premium rate" to reward working on Saturdays (or holidays) even though that work week is still not over 40 hours, that is certainly okay.