1. Regular Work Schedules
All employees of Volunteer State Community College who are considered to be regular full-time shall work a minimum of 37.5 hours per week throughout the year. Regular working hours for most employees are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. This schedule provides for 7.5 duty hours per day. This work schedule shall include a one-hour lunch/meal break and shall recognize the existence of up to two (2) fifteen (15) minute miscellaneous breaks during each work day as workflow permits. All classified employees are required to conform to this working schedule except those offices that provide services beyond the normal working office hours. Specific campus office hours and exceptions shall remain at the discretion of the President.
2. Miscellaneous Breaks
Employees may be given a miscellaneous break of fifteen (15) minutes each half day, workload permitting, as scheduled by department heads or supervisors. Miscellaneous breaks are considered work time for pay purposes. Employees may not accumulate unused miscellaneous breaks.
3. Lunch/Meal Breaks
Employees shall be provided a one (1) hour lunch/meal break in the above schedule at a time established by department and activity heads. Lunch/meal breaks shall not be taken the first hour or last hour of the work schedule. For the purpose of calculating hours worked each week, lunch/meal breaks shall not be counted as “time worked”.
4. Special Schedules - Service Areas
Offices that provide services beyond the normal working office shall establish work schedules for their departments within the framework of 37.5 hours per week. The Chief of Campus Police shall establish the work schedule based on a 40.0 hour per week schedule.
5. Compensatory Time and Overtime
On November 13, 1985, Congress enacted the Fair Labor Standards Amendments (FLSA) of 1985 (P.L.99-150). These amendments changed certain provisions of the FLSA as those provisions apply to certain employees of state institutions. Volunteer State Community College has taken steps to ensure that it complies with the FLSA as amended.
Volunteer State Community College shall compensate regular contracted classified staff employees by giving compensatory time off. Compensatory time shall be kept to a minimum. Employees may accrue up to 240 hours of compensatory time (480 if the employee is engaged in Campus Police activity). All compensatory/overtime time worked must be pre-approved by the appropriate department head.
The official work day shall be 7.5 hours (8.0 hours for Campus Police Officers and Dispatchers); and therefore, all attendance records, time sheets, leave records, payroll documents, and other record-keeping instruments shall be kept only in hours and tenths of hours reflecting the actual hours worked each day and week. In most cases, these should indicate 7.5/8.0 hours per day and 37.5/40.0 hours per week. Other documents, such as employee recruiting materials, orientation sessions, and comparative salary studies, should reflect this work week. The following schedule of tenths of hours shall be followed in the documenting of time worked per day.
.1 hour = 1 - 6 minutes
.2 hours = 7 - 12 minutes
.3 hours = 13 - 18 minutes
.4 hours = 19 - 24 minutes
.5 hours = 25 - 30 minutes
.6 hours = 31 - 36 minutes
.7 hours = 37 - 42 minutes
.8 hours = 43 - 48 minutes
.9 hours = 49 - 54 minutes
1.0 hours = 55 - 60 minutes
6. Compensation and Overtime Pay
Pursuant to the establishment of the 37.5-hour workweek, there is established a 7.5-hour normal workday and a 5-day workweek, providing that exceptions are permissible. The normal fiscal work year shall be 1,950 hours.
Compensatory time and overtime payments are available to non-exempt employees only. Compensatory time shall be accrued and used in lieu of monetary overtime pay, unless Volunteer State Community College determines otherwise, (or the Fair Labor Standards Act requires monetary payment because the employee has accumulated the maximum number of compensatory time hours).
Both compensatory time and overtime pay shall be granted at straight time for hours worked up to 40 in a workweek and at time and one-half for any hours in excess of 40 in a workweek. Accrued time worked shall include hours actually worked and holiday hours. Any hours other than holiday hours and work hours are excluded from overtime compensation.
In accordance with TCA § 8-50-801, when an employee requests annual leave and compensatory time is available, the compensatory time shall be used first, unless the accumulated annual leave balance at the beginning of the pay period is within two (2) days of the maximum accrual rate for the employee. When an employee is within two (2) days of the maximum, annual leave may be used throughout the pay period. Any employee whose annual leave balance is not within the two (2) day maximum at the beginning of the pay period must use compensatory time during the entire pay period. Otherwise, the employee’s request for compensatory time off shall be honored unless it would be unduly disruptive to Volunteer State Community College’s operations.
When monetary payment is made for overtime, it shall be calculated at the rate earned by the employee at the time of the payment. When meals and/or lodging are provided as part of the base pay, then the value of such must be included in determining the hourly overtime rate. However, where monetary payment is made upon termination, the employee shall be paid for accrued compensatory time at the higher of the following:
- The average regular rate received by the employee during the last 3 years of employment;
- The final regular rate received by the employee.
TBR Source: August 24, 1981 TBR presidents meeting; September 18, 1981 TBR meeting. Revised presidents meetings: July 1, 1984; November 14, 1984; August 16, 1988; November 6, 2002; August 17, 2004 Note: This guideline became effective on January 1, 1982.
VSCC Source: November 11, 1987, President; November 9, 1998, President; January 8, 2009, President's Cabinet; June 5, 2017, President’s Cabinet.
