It is the Board of Education’s policy to comply with the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and its implementing regulations. The Board shall pay at least the minimum wage required by the FLSA and Ohio law to all covered, non-exempt employees, unless an employee’s individual contract or the terms of an applicable collective bargaining agreement provide for greater benefits than mandated by Federal, State or local law.

Non-exempt employees are hourly employees, or salaried employees who do not qualify for a professional, administrative, executive, computer, or any other exemption under the FLSA.

Non-exempt employees who work (i.e., perform work on behalf of or for the benefit of the Board) more than forty (40) hours during a given work week will receive overtime pay in accordance with the FLSA for all hours worked in excess of forty (40). Work week is defined as a fixed and regularly recurring period of 168 hours (i.e., seven (7) consecutive twenty-four (24) hour period).

The Superintendent shall determine the necessity and availability of overtime work. Overtime may be authorized only by a supervisor and will be used primarily to address circumstances of an emergency or temporary nature. Non-exempt employees who work overtime without prior approval from the Superintendent or a supervisor may be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination.

Exempt employees are individuals who are exempt from the FLSA minimum wage and overtime provisions. These employees include, but are not limited to, persons employed in bona fide executive, administrative, and professional positions, and certain computer employees. To qualify for the exemption, employees generally must meet certain tests regarding their specific job duties and be paid a minimum per week salary as established by the Department of Labor. The salary requirement does not apply to teachers. Exempt computer employees must also meet a minimum per week or per hour salary established by the Department of Labor. 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. Additionally, the predetermined amount cannot be reduced because of variation in the quality or quantity of the employee’s work. Subject to the exceptions listed below, an exempt employee must receive the full salary for any work week in which the employee performs any work, regardless of the number of days or hours worked.

Deductions may be made to an otherwise exempt employee’s salary in certain circumstances without jeopardizing the employee’s exempt status. Deductions may occur under the following circumstances:

In addition to the foregoing, exempt employees who accrue personal leave and sick leave may have their pay reduced or may be placed on unpaid leave for absences due to personal reasons of less than one (1) full day when leave is not used by the employee because:

Deductions from an exempt employee’s pay for absences due to a budget-required furlough shall not disqualify the employee from being paid on a salary basis except in the workweek in which the furlough occurs and for which the employee’s pay is accordingly reduced.

The Board shall also not be required to pay the full salary in the initial or terminal week of employment if the employee does not work the entire week, or for weeks in which an exempt employee takes unpaid leave under the Family & Medical Leave Act.

The Board recognizes that with limited legally permissible exceptions as described, no deductions should be taken from the salaries of exempt employees. If an exempt employee believes that an improper deduction has been made to his/her salary, the employee should immediately report this information to the Treasurer, or his/her immediate supervisor. Reports of improper deductions will be promptly investigated. If it is determined that an improper deduction has occurred, the employee will be promptly reimbursed for any improper deduction made, and the Board will make a good faith commitment to avoid any recurrence of the error.

This policy shall be distributed to employees upon initial hire, and to all employees on an annual basis.

29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.
29 C.F.R. Part 541
R.C. Chapter 4111