HOME & COMMUNITYPolicy No.: HR-4-30
SUPPORT SERVICESRevised: Nov. 2015
--OF GREY-BRUCE--Effective Date: Nov/04
Page: 1 of 4
SECTION: HUMAN RESOURCES
TOPIC: COMPENSATION
POLICY TITLE: OVERTIME & LIEU TIME
Policy STATEMENT
Home & Community Support Services of Grey-Bruce recognizes that it may be necessary for employees to work in excess of their regularly scheduled hours in unusual circumstances such as the unplanned absenteeism of a coworker, an unforeseen emergency situation or inclement weather which makes traveling dangerous or illegal, in the case of a closed road. HCSS will fairly compensate employees for this time. Whenever possible, this type of situation should be immediately discussed with the employee’s supervisor, in advance of overtime occurring if possible and a course of action agreed upon; in order to ensure the well-being of all concerned. Employees will not work beyond their regularly scheduled hours on any given days in order to accommodate an increase or surge in their workload.
Purpose
The purposes of this policy are to provide managerial and payroll staff with the authority and framework to ensure that only authorized overtime is compensated and that only authorized lieu time will be accumulated. This policy will also provide a framework for how employees will be compensated when a situation occurs which requires an individual to work more than 12 hours.
Eligibility
All Home & Community Support Services of Grey-Bruce employees are covered by this policy.
Individuals working for Home & Community Support Services of Grey-Bruce on an employment contract basis and for a specified period of time should refer to the terms of their particular contract.
Legislative Requirements
The Employment Standards Act of Ontario permits a maximum of 44 hours of work per employee per week. Employees must be paid at a rate of 1.5 for any hours in excess of 44 in a one week period. No employee may be regularly scheduled to work in excess of these limits, unless the Agency has been granted a permit for additional hours (more that 8 hours per day but not in excess of 12 hours per day) by the Director of Employment Standards and the employees and employer jointly agree. The Executive Director is responsible for maintaining any permits and monitoring Agency compliance.
Definitions:
Overtime
Overtime refers to pre-approved extra hours worked in excess of 44 hours in a one week period. This time will be paid at 1.5 times the employee's regular hourly rate.
Lieu Time
Lieu time is accumulated when an employee works more than their regularly scheduled hours but less than 44 hours in a one week period. Lieu time is paid time off at the employee’s regular hourly rate and is based upon the number of accumulated lieu hours the employee has banked. Employees may not take off paid lieu time before it is earned. Employees may utilize accumulated lieu time with the permission of their supervisor using the time off request form HR-7. Accumulated lieu time will be used within the pay period with which it was earned and may be scheduled by the employee's supervisor in order to ensure employees do not accumulate an excessive bank of lieu time. If an employee earns lieu time at the end of the pay period due to unforeseen circumstances, they must use this accumulated lieu time within the next pay period. When an employee is unable to work their regularly scheduled number of hours within a pay period due to unforeseen or unpreventable circumstances, their supervisor may use the employees accumulated lieu time to top up their hours to their regularly scheduled number of hours.
Entitlement
Management Staff and Team Leaders
Eligible Managers and all Team Leaders are entitled to receive lieu time for all preauthorized hours worked in excess of their regularly scheduled hours within a pay period to a maximum 44 hours in any one week period.
Other Permanent Full-Time and Part-Time Staff
All other Full –Time and Part-time employees (those who are regularly scheduled for a defined number of hours per pay period ) will be paid their regularly hourly rate for preauthorized hours worked in excess of their regular schedule to a maximum of 44 hours in a one week period.
Staff working longer than 12 hours without being relieved
Staff who work in the Overnight Relief Program will be allowed to work 13 hours without being relieved on the weekend in October when time is changed back to Standard Time.
Due to unforeseenand/or uncontrollable situations, employees are sometimes required to work beyond their regularly scheduled shift and in extreme cases longer than 12 hours. Examples of an employee working longer than 12 hours could be when a paid driver is traveling several hours to a client’s medical appointment and the client’ssituation changes without notice and the driver may be in limbo for an undetermined amount of time, waiting to see if the client will be discharged. Inclement weather or mechanical failure of a vehicle may cause a similar situation. If this occurs outside of regular hours, the manager on call will immediately be contacted to determine the most reasonable course of action in consultation with the driver. The other situation which may result in an employee(s) working in excess of 12 hours would be inclement weather which makes traveling too dangerous or illegal and clients are stranded at an ADP site. Reasonable effort will be made to try to relieve staff, however if this is not possible employees may be required to work until it is safe to travel.
In some situations it may be desirable to arrange a motel room for the employee affected if it does not put the client’s safety in jeopardy. Employees will not be compensated for hours worked after a motel room has been arranged and the employee has arrived at the motel.
Option
When staff is required to work longer than 12 hours without being relieved, due to the type of situation described above, they will have the option of being compensated at 1.5 times their regular hourly rate for any hours in excess of 12. The other option is being compensated at their regular hourly rate and accumulating paid lieu time for all hours in excess of 12. In this specific situation, the employee exercises their right to either one of these choices regardless of their regularly scheduled hours or how many hours they actually work during that pay period unless an employee works more than 44 hours in any one week period in which case they must be compensated at 1.5 times their regular hourly rate for any hours above 44.
Approval
The employee’s supervisor is responsible for ensuring that employees do not work in excess of their regularly scheduled hours unless there is no alternative. An employee's supervisor and the Payroll HR Clerk is responsible for monitoring and reporting on accumulated lieu time and overtime worked.
All overtime must be pre-approved by the immediate supervisor. Supervisors are responsible for maintaining a record of the reasons for overtime worked.
Lieu Time
Lieu time earned is banked on an hour for hour basis. The number of lieu time hours an employee may bank cannot exceed the employee’s regular scheduled weekly hours at any given time. Lieu time should be used within the pay period it was earned or within the following pay period.
In exceptional circumstances where it is not possible to schedule additional time off for an employee with banked lieu hours, the Executive Director may opt to pay out and employees accumulated lieu time prior to fiscal year-end.
Reporting and Recording
The employee is responsible for reporting and recording all time worked on the electronic hourly timesheet on the HCSS website.The supervisor is responsible for monitoring overtime/lieu time and ensuring that payroll records are up-to-date.
Contact
For more information, please contact the Payroll Clerk or your immediate supervisor.