Legal Question in Employment Law in California
Compensatory time payoff
Although the United States Supreme Court has held that an employer may compel an employee to use compensatory time, can an employer establish a policy in which the CTE is paid off. For instance, my employer has established that any holiday cte that is not used within 180 days of accrual is automatically paid off. The employer also arbitrarily uses an employees cte when an employee requests to use vacation time. Is this the same as compelling the employee to use cte?
Thank you,
--name removed--
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Compensatory time payoff
Unless you are a government worker, or your employer falls under a very, very, narrow exception (which is unlikely) your employer MAY NOT provide compensatory time off (CTO) in lieu of overtime. Have you and your fellow employees:
1) agreed in writing to accept CTO instead of OT
2) work a guaranteed 40 hours per week
3) Be paid OT instead of CTO if CTO is more than 240 hours
4) Receive CTO at 1.5 hours for each hour of OT
5) Paid CTO at your regular rate if paid out.
6) Receive accurate statements as to your CTO
The question of whether or not your employer is providing all employees proper OT pay is more important than payout for CTO. I'd be happy to discuss this issue with you. However, in answer to your question, the employer MUST pay out if CTO exceed 240 hours. If requested by the employee, the employer must pay out CTO that has accrued for at least two pay periods. The employer is not required to pay out CTO otherwise.
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