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USA Operations Centers Shift Pay May 2017
As this policy is reviewed, please note the following State/Area for which exceptions exist:
Not Applicable
Specific details on each exception may be found within the General Information section of this text.
Shift pay (which is sometimes referred to as “shift differential”) applies only where department needs require weekend shift hours or more than one shift of employees per day on a long term (i.e. multi-year), continuous basis.
Eligibility Departments eligible for shift pay are only those with a business need to regularly schedule employees to a 2nd, 3rd, or weekend 1st shift on a long-term (i.e. multi-year), continuous basis. Employees in departments offering voluntary or mandatory overtime at nights or on weekends due to volume of work, for example, are not eligible for shift pay if they are not in an approved department.
If shift pay is approved for a department, then all full-time and part-time non-exempt/overtime eligible and exempt employees are eligible for 2nd, 3rd, and weekend 1st shift pay. Weekend 1st shift pay is available to any exempt employee with assigned work hours, defined below, and any non-exempt/overtime eligible employee who works 1st shift hours on Saturday or Sunday as long as they are in an approved department.
Employees who are NOT eligible for shift pay include Salary Non-exempt and benefits ineligible employees.
Explanation of common terms used within the Shift Pay Policy:
Assigned Shift: The shift an employee is assigned.
Assigned Work Hours: Assigned work hours include an employee’s standard workday but may also include hours an employee has been requested or volunteered to work which constitute a full shift; i.e. a specified start and end time determined with management approval. Assigned work hours do not include “additional hours” worked.
Standard Hours: The number of weekly hours shown in the official employee record, such as 40 Standard Hours per week.
Additional Hours: Hours worked beyond an employee’s standard workday or the specified start and end time of their shift if the shift is in addition to their standard workweek schedule.
Standard Workday: The total time from the start of an employee’s regular workday to the end of the employee’s regular workday; includes the employee’s unpaid meal period. This time does not take into account any “additional hours” an employee may volunteer or be requested to work beyond his/her regular/standard workday.
Standard Workweek Schedule: The days and hours an employee is normally scheduled to work each day and each week. This is often referred to as the employee’s "regular/normal work schedule".
Determining Assigned Shift When the policy refers to an employee’s “assigned shift”, it is referring to the shift an employee is assigned in their official employee record.
Shift Pay for Non-Exempt/Overtime Eligible Employees
Shift pay for non-exempt/overtime eligible employees is determined on a per day basis. For purposes of determining shift pay, each work day begins at 12:00 am and ends 24 hours later at 12 midnight.
Shift pay is determined on a per day basis based on where the majority of the hours (time worked and paid/unpaid absences, if applicable) fall each day. Paid breaks and non-paid meal periods are included in the total daily hours when determining if shift pay applies. Therefore, only ONE shift applies to each calendar day.
Note: The time when paid breaks and non-paid meal periods occur during the workday have no bearing when determining the shift pay to apply for a particular day.
*Shift Pay applies to hours recorded on the timesheet during the 1st shift by non-exempt/overtime eligible employees when their hours during a 24 hour calendar day cross over 1st and 2nd shift, or cross over 1st and 3rd shift, AND the majority of their hours during the 24 hour calendar day fall within either 2nd or 3rd shift. If the majority of the employee’s day falls within 1st shift hours, then the employee is NOT eligible for shift pay for any hours recorded on the timesheet for that particular day even if the minority of the hours fall within the 2nd or 3rd shift.
*2nd and 3rd shift premiums are not stacked on top of the Weekend 1st shift premium.
Application of Shift pay for Non-Exempt/Overtime Eligible Employees:
If the majority of hours recorded on the timesheet for the same day fall within 1st shift hours Monday through Friday, then shift pay is NOT paid on ANY hours on that particular day.
If the majority of hours recorded on the timesheet for the same day fall within 1st shift hours Saturday or Sunday, then ALL hours on that particular day are paid at the Weekend 1st shift rate of pay, including any hours that may fall within the 2nd or 3rd shift.
If the majority of hours recorded on the timesheet for the same day fall within 2nd shift hours, then ALL hours on that particular day are paid at the 2nd shift rate of pay, including any hours that may fall within the 1st or 3rd shift.
If the majority of hours recorded on the timesheet for the same day fall within 3rd shift hours, then ALL hours on that particular day are paid at the 3rd shift rate of pay, including any hours that may fall within the 1st or 2nd shift.
If the hours recorded on the timesheet for the same day are evenly split between two shifts, the employee receives shift pay for the HIGHER of the two shifts. For example, if the hours recorded on the timesheet for the same day are evenly split between the 1st and 2nd shift, the employee receives 2nd shift pay (which is the higher of the two shifts) for ALL hours on that particular day including the any hours that may fall within 1st shift.
Shift Pay for Exempt Employees
Eligibility for Shift Pay In order for an Exempt Employee to be eligible for shift pay the following must apply
Employees must work in a department authorized to offer shift pay.
To receive shift pay for 2nd or 3rd shift, the majority of the employee’s assigned work hours on any day of the week, including Saturday and Sunday, must fall within the 2nd or 3rd shift hours.
Employees working on Saturday or Sunday are eligible to receive a weekend shift pay for 1st shift hours if the majority of the employee’s assigned work hours fall within 1st shift.
If the majority of the employee’s assigned work hours fall within the 1st shift hours Monday - Friday, the employee is not eligible for shift pay for any hours worked for that particular day.
Employees working additional hours beyond their assigned work hours on any given day does not impact the eligibility for shift pay on that day nor is the employee eligible for additional hours of shift pay for that day.
Shift pay for an exempt employee assigned to 2nd or 3rd shift on their employee record will receive the applicable amount of shift pay every week. Exempt employees assigned to 1st shift on their employee record who work 2nd, 3rd, or weekend 1st shift hours on a regular or temporary basis must complete the Shift Pay Worksheet each pay period to receive the applicable amount of shift pay.
When an exempt employee completes the Shift Pay Worksheet use form, the total hours reported for each week cannot exceed the employee’s standard hours.
If an employee is in a department eligible for shift pay and the employee’s assigned work hours crosses over more than one shift, the employee’s shift pay for that particular day is based on the shift that contains the majority of the employee’s assigned work hours. For example, if an employee’s assigned work hours crosses over 1st and 2nd shift and the majority of the employee’s assigned work hours falls during 2nd shift hours, the employee would receive 2nd shift pay for that particular day(s).
Exceptions There are limited circumstances in which exceptions apply for 2nd and 3rd shift exempt employees when an employee will continue to receive his or her 2nd or 3rd shift pay. These situations include
Participating in or conducting training programs, special projects, development assignments, or volunteering or being directed to assist with heavy workloads, etc., on a lower shift for one to four weeks.
Filling in on a lower shift for employees who are absent for one to four weeks
Assisting/working at a catastrophe site for one to four weeks
*The exceptions apply only to 2nd and 3rd Shift exempt employees as indicated on their official employee record. These exceptions apply to a very limited number of employees, since very few employees are actually assigned to work on 2nd and 3rd shift for extended periods of time. These exceptions do NOT apply to employees who are assigned to the 1st shift and may or may not work 2nd or 3rd shift on a "per day" or occasional basis.
Absences Shift pay (if applicable) will apply to all paid absences.
Overtime Pay Calculation when Shift Pay is Received The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) weighted average method is used to calculate overtime pay including when an employee receives shift pay for one or more days during the workweek and also has overtime pay for the same workweek.
Shift Pay and PTO Payout at Termination or Retirement Shift Pay will apply to a PTO Payout ONLY when an employee is assigned to 2nd or 3rd shift in their official employee record, assuming they are also in a department approved for shift pay. If an employee can reasonably be expected to work the majority of their standard hours during 2nd or 3rd shift hours on every day of the employee’s standard workweek continuously for one (or more) years, then it is appropriate for the official employee record to reflect the employee is assigned to 2nd or 3rd shift as applicable. Exempt and non-exempt employees assigned to 1st shift in their official employee record, including those employees receiving 2nd, 3rd, or weekend 1st shift pay on a per day basis, are NOT eligible for shift pay when PTO is paid out upon termination, retirement, or moves to a benefits ineligible position.
Refer to the PTO Policy for more information about PTO and PTO Payouts.
Employees in jobs/departments eligible for shift pay should discuss the application of the shift pay policy with their supervisor.
The supervisor explains shift assignments and shift pay.
The supervisor must verify the accuracy of the time reported on the timesheet for non-exempt/overtime eligible employees to ensure the appropriate application of shift pay. Supervisors are also responsible for reviewing their direct reports’ timesheets for timely submission.