TABLE OF CONTENTS FRONT PAGE NEXT ARTICLE PREVIOUS ARTICLE
A recent survey found that nearly half of University employees not covered
by wage and hour laws are unhappy about the overtime hours they are routinely
required to work without pay or time off.
The survey was conducted by the Employee Forum's Personnel Issues
Committee in response to numerous complaints from staff members who are exempt
from either the State Personnel Act or the federal Fair Labor Standards Act,
which require hourly workers to get overtime pay or compensatory time for hours
worked in excess of 40 hours a week.
The results of the survey were presented at the Employee Forum's Nov. 3
meeting. A total of 590 employees responded to the survey. All staff members at
pay grades of 70 or above are exempt from the State Personnel Act. Some staff
members between the pay grades of 65 and 70 are excluded as well.
Staff members included in the survey fell into several categories, from
mid-level managers to technical and professional positions to staff working in
customer or patient service to librarians to non-faculty members involved in
research.
Among the highlights:
* 45 percent of respondents said they were dissatisfied with the hours
they were required to work without pay or compensatory time off;
* 22 percent of respondents said they need to work outside of their
regular schedule every week;
* 51 percent said they put in more than
40 hours every week; and
* 85 percent said they worked more than
40 hours a week about two times a month.
Some respondents reported that they had been forced to take leave or
vacation time for hours they did not work during their regular schedule even
though they had worked more than 40 hours for that week. That practice is
against the law and was one of the concerns that prompted the survey, the
committee said.
Peter Schledorn, a Personnel Issues Committee member who presented the
survey results to the forum, said the goal is to raise the consciousness about
the potential for abuse. Another key aim is to encourage supervisors to devise
work schedules for their employees that help them juggle the demands of their
jobs with their personal lives.
A bright spot that Schledorn found in the survey was that the majority of
employees -- 81 percent -- were happy with the flexibility of their schedules.
Schledorn said that result is evidence that many managers are doing a good job
helping employees to lead balanced lives.
One thing that would help supervisors do an even better job would be for
more of them to credit their employees fully for time spent working at home,
Schledorn said. Of the employees surveyed, 83 percent reported taking work
home. Only 27 percent of these respondents said their supervisor gave them full
credit for hours worked at home.
Schledorn said that most exempt employees accept overtime without pay as
part of the job. Many talented people choose working here for a host of reasons
other than money -- from a belief in public service to the appeal of working in
a university environment.
"Most of the people are not here primarily for the money," Schledorn said.
"If you are in it for the money you will probably go somewhere else. But that
doesn't mean that money is unimportant."
Schledorn has been employed at the University for 21 years and works as a
computing consultant in the Office of Research Services.
The committee also presented a list of recommendations that garnered
preliminary approval from the forum. If officially approved in December, they
will be forwarded to the chancellor for his endorsement.
The recommendations call for supervisors and managers "to create a climate
that will encourage equitable treatment for all employees, resulting in a lower
employee turnover rate, higher productivity and better overall job
satisfaction."
Martha Barbour, chair of the forum's Personnel Issues Committee, said
support from the chancellor for the recommendations will help keep these issues
in the forefront and ensure that the potential for abuse is not
forgotten.
To UNC-CH Home Page