Human Resources

Wage and Hour Laws and Guidelines

The university complies with wage and hour regulations as defined by federal and state laws, which establish standards for minimum wage, overtime, overtime exemption, meal and rest periods, among others. Refer to the following resources for a complete set of guidelines:

Fair Labor Standards Act

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is a federal law that establishes rules for minimum wage, overtime pay, and record-keeping for work hours. Under the FLSA, “non-exempt” employees are entitled to certain protections, including overtime pay. In contrast, “exempt” employees are not entitled to overtime pay, as their roles meet specific criteria related to duties and salary thresholds.

The FLSA has several exemptions that are common to employment in Higher Education (i.e. Teachers, Coaches, Learned Professionals, and Administrative, Academic Administrative, and Executive Employees. Please refer to the following resources for complete guidelines, including rules and responsibilities:

Wages and the Fair Labor Standards Act provided by the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor
Rights at Work Resource Guide provided by Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries
SOU FLSA FAQ page.

November 15, 2024 – UPDATE to Anticipated Changes to FLSA Regulations

A federal judge ruled to strike down the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime final rule. As a reminder, the final rule implemented a two-phase approach to increasing the minimum salary threshold under the FLSA overtime regulations. The first increase took effect on July 1, 2024 increasing the minimum salary threshold from the current level of $684 per week ($35,568 per year) to $844 per week ($43,888 per year). The second increase was set to take effect on January 1, 2025, and it would have increased the minimum salary threshold again to $1,128 per week ($58,656 per year). The final rule also adopted automatic updates to the minimum salary threshold that would occur every three years.

With the decision, the salary threshold set in the 2019 regulations ($35,568 per year or $683 per week) will be the salary threshold employers should adhere to. Any July 1 adjustments provided to SOU employees will remain intact and not reversed.

2016 Prior FLSA Overtime Rule Change Information

On November 22, 2016 employers were informed that a federal court in Texas issued an order that makes it uncertain as to if the new FLSA overtime rule will go into effect as expected on December 1, 2016. This means that certain positions will remain exempt from overtime (not eligible) until further notice. While we await direction as to how this applies to public and private sector employers nationwide, SOU will proceed by having previously identified employees track all hours worked beginning with the December pay period. This tracking will provide critical information that may be necessary pending the rule’s outcome. Under the current FLSA guidelines, The Department of Labor states in the 2004 overtime exemptions preamble to the final regulations that employers may require exempt employees to record and track hours. Exempt employees meet the salary basis, primary duties, and salary level tests and therefore, are not eligible for overtime even when tracking hours worked.

Campus FLSA Overtime Rule Implementation Efforts

Human Resource Services hosted an informational session on June 28, 2016 to discuss the new FLSA Overtime changes, higher education exemptions, how managers can prepare, and next steps prior to implementation. The presentation slides are provided below as a resource.

On May 18, 2016, the Department of Labor released its Final Rule, which goes into effect December 1, 2016, revising the FLSA overtime exemption regulations by increasing the annual salary threshold from $23,660 ($455/week) to $47,476 ($913/week) for executive, administrative, and professional employees. This includes an automatic escalator every three years to keep up with inflation. Additionally, the total annual compensation threshold for Highly Compensated Employees (HCE) increased from $100,000 to $134,004. No changes were made to the standard job/primary duties test.

What does this mean for SOU?
Those employees who are currently designated as exempt unclassified (administrative) personnel and who will not meet the December 1, 2016 salary level test of $47,476 will be eligible for overtime; unless they meet any of the regulatory exemptions (e.g. teaching, academic administrative or employees practicing law or medicine).

Next Steps
HR will partner with managers and employees to certify employee position descriptions (via PeopleAdmin) and review applicability of exemptions based on the standards duties test. Managers will begin considering the overall impact on affected positions within their department. Employees will be asked to engage in discussions around workload distribution/seasonal demands, schedule changes, tracking hours worked, and prioritization of work. HR will hold open forums in November to further communicate the new rule and answer employee questions. Please contact hrs@sou.edu for detailed information.

Oregon Equal Pay Act Overview

Governor Kate Brown signed the Oregon Equal Pay Act into law on June 1, 2017. The law extends pay equity protections to a variety of protected classes, prohibits employers from seeking and asking about an applicant’s salary history, and expands employee remedies for discriminatory pay disparities. The following information highlights key elements of the law:

Salary History Inquiry Prohibited (as of October 6, 2017)

The law prohibits employers from screening job applicants based on current or past compensation and from determining compensation for a position based on a prospective employee’s current or past compensation. The only exception is that the employer may ask an applicant for permission to confirm prior compensation after the employer extended an offer of employment outlining the proposed compensation.
The law prohibits employers from inquiring about a candidate’s past or current salary information before an offer, including a compensation amount, has been made. There is an exception in that employers may consider compensation during an internal transfer, move, or hire into a new position.
The law allows employers to ask candidates if a salary range is acceptable or what a candidate’s desired salary is.

Wage Disparities for Work of Comparable Character are Unlawful (As of January 1, 2019)

Employers must compensate employees the same as other employees doing comparable work (including wages, bonuses, benefits, and more).*
It’s illegal to pay an employee less than another employee because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, marital status, veteran status, disability, or age.
Employers may not cut an employee’s pay to make it equal with other employees’ pay.

*Any difference in pay must be based entirely on one or more of the following factors and there must be a consistent and verifiable system for the pay structure.:

a seniority system;
a merit system;
a system that measures earnings by quantity or quality of production, including piece-rate work;
workplace location;
travel if necessary and regular for the employee;
education;
training; and/or
experience;
Any combination of these factors, if the combination of factors accounts for the entire compensation differential.
Temporary variance for modified work resulting from a workplace injury is also a potential exemption.

Definitions

Protected class includes race, sex, veteran status, disability, age, color, religion, national origin, marital status, and sexual orientation.
Compensation includes wages, salary, bonuses, benefits, fringe benefits, and equity-based compensation.
Work of comparable character is “work that requires substantially similar knowledge, skill, effort, responsibility and working conditions in the performance of work, regardless of job description or job title.”
Work conditions include “work environment, hours, time of day, physical surroundings and potential hazards encountered by an employee.”

Information and Resources

An employee with concerns about their individual pay should contact Human Resources at hrs@sou.edu or 541-552-8553. Similarly, we encourage employees who believe their pay has been impacted by prohibited discrimination to contact the Office of Equity Grievance. The State of Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries is responsible for the enforcement of the law beginning January 1, 2019.

Rest and Meal Periods

Rest and meal periods are required under Federal and State law for non-exempt (overtime-eligible) employees including all student employees paid hourly.

Numbers of Meal and Rest Periods Required Based on Length of Work Period

Length of Work Period	Number of Rest Breaks Required	Number of Meal Periods Required
2 hours or less	0	0
2 hours 1 min – 5 hours 59 min	1	0
6 hours	1	1
6 hours 1 min – 10 hours	2	1
10 hours 1 min – 13 hours 59 min	3	1
14 hours	3	2
14 hours 1 min – 18 hours	4	2
18 hours 1 min – 21 hours 59 min	5	2
22 hours	5	3
22 hours 1 min – 24 hours	6	3

BOLI Standards for Work Break Length:

Employees working a shift of four consecutive hours are entitled to a paid break not less than ten minutes in length (every 4 hours). Employees working six or more hours in a day are required to take an unpaid meal break not less than 30 minutes in length.

Supervisors are responsible for ensuring employees take required breaks.
Best practice is for employees to leave the work space when on break to ensure they are relieved of all duties and are not interrupted.
Breaks should be planned based on scheduled hours.
Employees may not skip or combine breaks in order to arrive late, leave early, or extend their meal period.
Rest periods are considered time worked for purposes of calculating overtime. Meal periods are not considered time worked.

Overtime

Overtime for Pay

Exempt employees are not eligible for overtime compensation.
Non-exempt employees are overtime-eligible. Non-exempt employees receive overtime pay at the rate of time and one half for working over 40 hours in a work week. Non-exempt employees covered by the SEIU Collective Bargaining Agreement may also qualify to receive contractual overtime payments when working over 8 hours or over 10 hours in a day depending on their assigned work schedule of Regular, Irregular or Flexible as outlined in the SEIU contract. Employees in this group may choose to save their overtime as “compensatory time off” rather than receiving payment for it. When an employee chooses to save their overtime for later use as compensatory time off, the overtime accrues into the leave system at the rate of time and one half to be used at a later date.
Student employees: Student employees are only eligible to work 20 hours per week or less, unless approved for a temporary exception (refer to the Student Employee Handbook for more information). For academic breaks, however, student employees are eligible to work up to 40 hours a week, if operational needs support it and the department has the budget. Students are not authorized to work overtime. Additional terms and conditions may apply to international student employees and the Office of Internal Programs will advise accordingly.

Overtime as Compensatory Time Off

Compensatory Time, time off for overtime hours worked, may be granted in lieu of payment to employees under certain conditions. Eligible non-exempt (overtime-eligible) employees may accrue time off at time and one half in accordance with federal and state laws and applicable collective bargaining agreements.

Overtime-exempt employees are not compensated for hours that exceed 40 hours per week. If special circumstances occur which require an exempt employee’s workweek to considerably exceed 40 hours, or which requires the employee to work on the weekends, a supervisor or manager is encouraged to provide work schedule flexibility, within a reasonable time frame, to accommodate for the exceptional situation.

Work Week

Non-exempt (overtime eligible) employees work week begins Sunday morning at 12:01 a.m. and ends Saturday evening at 12:00 midnight. Employees in this group must report their exact number of hours worked on a daily basis. Schedules are established by supervisors and managers to accommodate departmental operational needs.
Exempt (not overtime eligible) employees must fulfill a professional work week. A professional work week is considered working the hours needed to fulfill the specific job duties. Often this is more than a 40-hour work week. SOU’s diverse array of exempt positions may require overnight travel, weekend or evening hours, a work-at-home component, or other variations to schedules. To avoid confusion and/or conflicts about schedules, employees must work with supervisors and/or managers to establish an agreed-upon schedule and the level of flexibility allowed in the schedule. As projects or activities require flexibility beyond an agreed-upon schedule, employees should seek out supervisory and/or managerial approval prior to experiencing deviations to the plan. Work schedules are established by supervisors and managers in a manner to provide the best customer and operational outcomes for each department.

Travel Time

Whether or not SOU must compensate a non-exempt employee for travel time depends largely on the type of travel involved. Compensable travel hours must be counted for purposes of calculating overtime. Time spent traveling during regular meal period time is not paid as time worked. Travel time payments are somewhat complex. The table below outlines various categories of travel and whether the time is compensable. Additional questions should be directed to SOU’s Office of Human Resources.

Category	Definition	Compensable Travel Time?
Portal-to-Portal Travel	Normal home-to-work/work-to-home travel at the beginning and end of one work day	No
Travel Between Work Sites	Travel in the course of a day’s work from one job site to another	Yes, however, the travel from home to the first location need not be compensated. Once the employee arrives at the first required location, the employee is “on the clock” and the subsequent travel time is compensable.
Special One-Day Assignment	Employee is sent on a one-day assignment to a city more than 30 miles from the employee’s fixed official workstation	Yes
Overnight Travel	Travel that keeps an employee away from home overnight	Yes, whenever travel cuts across an employee’s regular work hours (applies to all seven days of the week). For example, an employee regularly works Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.. Travels on Sunday from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Employee records 3.0 hours worked for Sunday (2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., normal working hours). No, if the employee is a passenger and travel falls outside of regular work hours. Travel time must be paid whenever driving is required.

Additional Information about Overnight Travel

On overnight trips, all the time an employee spends traveling during normal work hours must be compensated — even on weekends. SOU does not compensate for travel time that falls outside of the employee´s regular work hours, except when the employee is required to drive.
The physical act of driving a vehicle is always considered work time when an employee travels on university business.
An employee who normally works a shift other than normal business hours shall be changed to an 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. shift the during the business travel. The changing of the work shift for a classified employee requires the proper notification of shift change of at least 5 days. If the 5 day notice is not given, the employee is entitled to penalty pay (please refer to the SEIU CBA).
The time an employee spends at an airport before their flight leaves (1.5 hours is a reasonable amount of time) and during any layovers is considered travel time and is compensated if it crosses their normal work hours, including weekends or other days off.
Non-exempt employees may accrue overtime during periods of business travel.
Employees who travel on SOU business are compensated for all the time they work. When attending conferences, this will include meeting sessions and presentations by speakers. Employees shall not be paid for social activities, tours, personal vacation time, or leisure time spent in hotel rooms. If there is an employer expectation that a dinner or evening social sponsored by the conference host is attended by the employee, this is then compensable time. If non-compensable social activities or personal time occurs during the work day, the employee shall use appropriate leave (vacation, personal leave, compensatory time off). It is important to specify before the conference what activities the employees are required to attend so it is clear what hours are compensable.

Final Pay

Separation Type	Final Pay Due
Employee quits, with less than 48 hours notice (excluding weekends & holidays).	All wages due within 5 business days, or the next pay day, whichever comes first.
Employee quits, with at least 48 hours notice (excluding weekends & holidays).	All wages due on final day worked, or the following business day if last day worked falls on weekend or holiday.
Employee is terminated.	All wages due by end of next business day, but preferably in termination meeting, when possible.
Employee is laid off.	All layoffs must be coordinated with Human Resources. Contact your Human Resources if you anticipate needing to lay off employees.
Employee and employer mutually agree to terminate employment.	Same as termination above.

Supervisors are responsible for contacting Human Resources in advance in order to meet these final pay deadlines.
For more information on final pay, visit the Bureau of Labor and Industries website or contact Payroll Services.
Visit the Separating Employees webpage for more information.

Contact HR

Churchill Hall 159
1250 Siskiyou Boulevard
Ashland, OR 97520
Email: hrs@sou.edu
Phone: (541) 552-8553
Fax: (541) 552-8508
Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. [excluding university holidays]
Request an Appointment