Transitioning to an Hourly Schedule

Over the past several years, we’ve seen the federal government and New York State strengthen regulations to ensure workers are adequately compensated for both the level of responsibility of their job and the time worked to fulfill it. The net result of such changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and other legislation is that more employees are eligible for overtime pay. Effective December 31, 2020, the New York State threshold for an employee to be paid on a salaried basis increases to $48,750 ($937.50/week). University leadership expects similar changes to be applied to larger groups of employees in the future.

The decision is in response to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and started long before the COVID-19 crisis. The University implemented a proactive approach over the last several years to address the anticipated evolution of these laws and ease the disruption to our University workforce each year.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is a federal statute, passed in 1938, that introduced minimum wages and overtime pay, and created criteria for determining whether an employee is “exempt” from overtime pay requirements or is entitled to overtime pay. Both the FLSA and state law provide that overtime pay is 1.5 times an employee’s regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 hours in a work week.

Any salaried employee paid below the new threshold will be converted effective September 27, 2020.

The University decided to implement this change on September 27, 2020, to minimize the impact on employees:

• As indicated above, the transition from a salary to hourly pay schedule results in a disruption in pay because the bi-weekly schedule is paid on a slight delay to allow for payment and processing based on actual hours worked. The September 27, 2020 date was least impactful because it resulted in the fewest number of workdays delayed when transitioning from a salaried check to an hourly check.
• Implementing the change in the fall also allows employees some time to adjust to the new pay cycle prior to the holidays.

Both semi-monthly and bi-weekly pay cycles have two paychecks per month where standard deductions (medical, parking, etc.) are withheld. For these deductions, the semi-monthly deductions occur with each paycheck (mid-month and end of month) and bi-weekly deductions occur in the first two paychecks each month.

Bi-weekly standard deductions will occur with your first biweekly pay period, which begins September 27 and ends October 10, 2020.

Depending on your personal circumstances, you may decide to temporarily adjust other deductions (e.g. direct deposit to a savings account, voluntary contributions to a retirement program, etc.) to minimize the impact of the transition (see below for additional information on other types of deductions and how to make updates).

Changes to your retirement voluntary contribution must be completed by October 10 to be effective for the first biweekly hourly paycheck received on October 16.

Instructions to change your voluntary contribution election:

Online:

• Visit TIAA.org, click “Log In”
• Enter your TIAA user ID
• Enter password and security question
• Select “My Account”
• Select “Change my contribution” and follow the on-screen instructions
• Follow the on-screen instructions to complete changing your voluntary contribution amount

Or, you can contact TIAA by phone at (800) 410-6497.

A number of deductions will be adjusted automatically, including: United Way contributions, URGIFT donations, Athletic Center deductions, parking deductions, health care deductions, dental plan deductions, Flexible Spending Account and Health Savings Account deductions, Optional Life Insurance and Voluntary Benefits (VSP Vision, Hyatt Legal, and/or auto & home) deductions. Employees will not need to make any changes for these types of deductions.

If paycheck deductions are made on a flat dollar amount basis, employees will want to review their selections. Unless you change these selections, the same flat dollar amount will be deducted bi-weekly rather than semi-monthly or monthly. Examples of situations where employees often choose to make flat dollar amount deductions are direct deposit to a savings account, additional tax withholdings, and voluntary contributions to your retirement program. You may review your current deduction selections and direct deposit and make any adjustments through HR Self-Service in HRMS. For voluntary contributions to the University’s retirement program, you may call TIAA at (800) 410-6497 for assistance.

Responding to e-mails and voicemails is considered work time, and hourly employees must report and be compensated for all time worked. All overtime, including for responding to work emails, texts, or voicemails from home, must be approved by your supervisor in advance. It is recommended that all supervisors/managers and hourly employees discuss general manager expectations related to this in advance.

Yes, provided the arrangement has been approved by your supervisor and you are reporting all hours worked, including any pre and post shift work. As a rule of thumb, work schedules, including flexible work schedules, or arrangements to work from home on occasion, need to be managed and approved by an employee’s supervisor — just the same as when the employee was salaried.

Yes. Professional development activities apply to all employees, and there is no blanket prohibition on traveling or participation in professional development activities. However, hourly-paid employees must account for the hours of their travel time, and for the hours of conference attendance. It is expected that this will be managed at the departmental level to avoid incurring unnecessary travel time. Talk with your manager if you have specific questions or concerns.

Hourly-paid employees need to accurately record all work time and non-work time (e.g., vacation time, jury duty, bereavement, etc.) in the Human Resources Management System (HRMS). Guides for reporting time are located on the Compensation page. Hourly employees must be compensated for all hours worked, including overtime hours for time worked over 40 hours in a work week. Overtime hours are paid at 1.5 times the employee’s regular hourly rate of pay. The University’s policies related to additional compensation, such as those regarding Call-In Pay, On-Call Pay, and Shift Differential, also apply.

Additionally, New York State requires that all employees take a minimum 30-minute uninterrupted meal period for shifts over 6 hours. During the meal period, by law, employees may not perform any work whatsoever. Employees do not need to swipe in and out for meal periods as HRMS automatically deducts the designated amount for a meal period for an employee once the employee has worked more than six (6) consecutive hours. In the rare situation a meal period is not taken, the meal period must be paid and a meal override in HRMS is required. If the employee’s original meal period was missed or interrupted, you must document it on the University exception log and take at least a 30-minute uninterrupted meal period before the end of the scheduled shift. See University Policy 172: Work Schedules – Meal and Rest Periods.

Hourly-paid employees need to accurately record all work time and non-work time (e.g., vacation time, jury duty, bereavement, etc.) in the Human Resources Management System (HRMS). You should consult your supervisor on the method your team uses to record time in HRMS.