Inquiry of the Week (4/26/99)

Question:

May a city set a cap on accumulation of compensatory time and what limits do other cities put on comp time accumulation?

Answer:

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) limits the accumulation of comp time to 240 hours for non-public safety employees and 480 hours for public safety employees (police and fire). It does not prohibit local governments from setting a lower limit on the accumulation of comp time. It is a recommended practice to limit comp time accumulation.

Limits may be placed on the number of hours of comp time accumulated and the time by which it must be used. A sampling of comp time restrictions from other cities shows that 40 hours is a common limit on accumulated time. The range is from 24 to 160 hours. Limits on the time period for the use of comp time (or overtime is paid instead) include 30 days, 60 days, 12 months, and within the same pay period.