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 resoruces for a complete set of guidelines:

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

Fair Labor Standards Act - Anticipated Changes Effective January 1, 2025

Oregon Equal Pay Act

Rest and Meal Period

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.