Washington, DC

U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Fair Labor Standards Act Decision
Under section 204(f) of title 29, United States Code

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Robert D. Hendler
Classification and Pay Claims
Program Manager
Merit System Audit and Compliance


04/22/2013

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Date

As provided in section 551.708 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), this decision is binding on all administrative, certifying, payroll, disbursing, and accounting officials of agencies for which the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) administers the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  The agency should identify all similarly situated current and, to the extent possible, former employees, and ensure that they are treated in a manner consistent with this decision as provided for in 5 CFR 551.708.  There is no right of further administrative appeal.  This decision is subject to discretionary review only under conditions and time limits specified in 5 CFR 551.708 (address provided in section 551.710).  The claimant has the right to bring action in the appropriate Federal court if dissatisfied with the decision.           

The claimant occupies the position of Supervisory Correctional Officer, GS-0007-11, at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), Bureau of Prisons, U.S. Department of Justice, in Los Angeles, California.  The claimant requests overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for working an extra shift at the MDC on August 6, 2011.  We have accepted and decided this claim under section 4(f) of the FLSA of 1938, as amended, codified at section 204(f) of title 29, United States Code (U.S.C.).  

We received the claim on February 9, 2012.  In reaching our FLSA decision, we have carefully considered all information furnished by the claimant and her employing activity. 

Background

On August 6, 2011, the claimant worked her regularly scheduled shift from 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.  When the claimant's relief failed to show up for duty at the end of her shift, she was required to work an extra shift from 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.  When the claimant submitted her Overtime Authorization form to the Warden for approval, the overtime was denied.  Instead, eight hours of compensatory time was approved because the overtime was “not authorized or approved in advance.[1]”             

Exclusion from FLSA coverage

Section 551.201 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), requires an employing agency to classify employees as either “exempt” or “nonexempt” under the FLSA.  A nonexempt employee is entitled to collect overtime pay for all time worked in excess of 40 hours per week.  An exempt employee is not.  The three basic categories of exempt position are executive, professional, and administrative. 

The agency determined the claimant’s work is exempt from coverage under the FLSA based on the executive exemption criteria.  The claimant does not dispute the agency's exemption determination.  In an email to OPM dated July 26, 2012, the claimant states, “I am not challenging my exemption status.”   Based on our review of the record, we concur the claimant’s work was exempt during the claim period.

Decision

The claimant is statutorily exempt from the overtime pay provisions of the FLSA.  Thus, her FLSA overtime pay claim must be denied.   

 

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