Seattle Police Manual

4.090 - Overtime

Effective Date: 12/12/2003

I. Definitions

A. Overtime work: Work performed in excess of the time regularly required or scheduled for the performance of the duties of a particular position.

1. Extraordinary overtime: Work necessitated by emergency caused by fire, flood, or danger to life or property; or work so urgently necessary that its nonperformance will cause serious loss or damage to the City.

2. Ordinary overtime: Work not covered under the definition of extraordinary overtime.

B. Paid time (holidays, sick leave, vacation, and compensatory time) shall be considered as hours worked for overtime calculations.

II. Authorization

A. No employee shall be ordered to perform overtime work unless such work is authorized by the Chief of Police or a person designated to authorize overtime, or

B. An emergency exists.

III. Collective Bargaining Agreements

A. In the event of a conflict between the provisions of this manual section and those of a properly authorized collective bargaining agreement, the provisions of the bargaining agreement shall prevail insofar as members of the bargaining unit covered by the agreement are concerned.

IV. Rates of Pay

A. Extraordinary overtime (except police officers) shall be paid at the rate of double time.

1. Police officers ordered to work extraordinary overtime shall be paid at the rate of time-and-one-half for all such overtime worked.

B. Ordinary overtime shall be paid at the rate of time-and-one-half; provided, however, that part-time employees and temporary workers shall be paid at their straight-time rate for all hours worked up to and including forty hours per week.

1. For non-represented employees:

a. Overtime that is an extension of shift shall be computed to the nearest quarter hour, and

b. When overtime is not an extension of a normal shift, the minimum credit shall be for two hours.

V. Overtime Restrictions

A. Paid overtime shall not be approved for employees on sick leave, military leave, or on suspension for disciplinary reasons.

B. Employees shall not submit an overtime request for a block of time for which the City is already paying them. An employee cannot use paid time, e.g., vacation, compensatory overtime, sick leave, holiday, delayed furlough, or advanced furlough, to work a Department event for City paid overtime.

C. Employees shall not alter their shift hours to be eligible for an overtime event without prior approval of their Bureau Chief.

VI. Overtime Requests

A. Overtime shall be documented using an Overtime Request (form 1.33). The appropriate overtime activity code, obtained from the Overtime Activity Codes reference, (form 1.32) shall be recorded for data collection and timekeeping purposes.

B. Employees shall forward Overtime Requests via their supervisors for approval by the respective Section/Precinct Captain.

C. Overtime for Lieutenants and above shall be subject to prior approval by a Bureau Chief. Bureau Chiefs shall review such requests for overtime before they are forwarded to the Timekeeping Squad.

D. Employees are directed to submit all overtime request forms and any overtime-related paperwork to their supervisors without delay. This requirement will be considered the same as that which requires all personnel to complete necessary “arrest, case, and other” paperwork before going off his/her daily work shift. Personnel unable to complete overtime request forms within the specific pay period when the overtime was earned shall complete and attach to each overtime form a me-morandum explaining to their chain of command the reason for the delay in the submittal of that overtime form, for that particular pay period.

E. Sergeants, Lieutenants, and Captains shall review and forward overtime forms of their employees in a similar timely fashion within the same pay period. Those supervisors employed in an “acting” capacity should ensure that overtime slips are submitted within the pay period worked and should not wait for the permanently assigned supervisor to return. Those Sergeants, Lieutenants, and Captains not processing overtime forms of their employees within the pay period earned are also directed to submit a written explanation to their chain of command.

VII. Event Overtime

A. Special Event Overtime. A special event is a City approved, pre-planned event that requires po-lice services, which go beyond normal daily assignment duties. These include sporting events, parades, fun runs, dignitary protection details, and community or neighborhood events, such as, fairs, exhibits, and celebrations.

1. These events may have a straight time, or overtime component, or both.

2. All time worked at a special event, even if only one employee is involved, shall be documented on an Event Overtime Summary (form 15.6).

a. Supervisors shall ensure that all fields describing the event and the individual hours worked are accurately recorded.

b. Supervisors shall record the correct activity code from the Overtime Activity Codes reference, and the correct Special Event Number, obtained from the Dep-loyment and Precinct Project Support Unit, in the labeled fields.

c. Traffic events usually have pre-assigned Special Event Numbers.

B. Extra-Duty Events. An extra-duty event is work performed on a day off, holiday, when called in off-duty, or an extension of a regular work shift to handle normal police duties. Examples of these events include, but are not limited to: unusual occurrences, demonstrations, protest marches, search warrants, buy-bust operations, completing other arrests, special emphasis patrols, administrative duties, court, training, testing, community relations activities, and attendance at meetings.

1. Extra-duty events may have a straight time factor, but typically have both straight time and overtime components.

2. Extra-duty events may be documented on the Event Overtime Summary as a convenience when more than one employee is involved.

VIII. Overtime for Civil Actions

A. “Civil Action” is any civil lawsuit, civil claim, or insurance claim (including judicial proceedings, depositions, interviews, or other associated activities) related to an incident officially investigated by an employee or an incident about which an employee has knowledge gained through the performance of official duties.

B. An employee who makes an off-duty appearance related to a civil action shall submit an Overtime Request in accordance with DP&P 5.010-Civil Actions.

IX. Overtime by Police Officers Off-Duty

A. Off-duty police officers involved in incidents requiring immediate police action on their behalf shall be granted paid overtime.

1. An on-duty supervisor shall review the circumstances prior to authorizing such overtime pay.

2. Off-duty officers are not eligible for Department paid overtime for work performed for a private employer, except when the normal hours for which that employer has agreed to pay the officer has expired. Upon approval by an on-duty supervisor that there is an immediate need for the concerned officer to perform further duties for the Department, such overtime shall be paid on a shift-extension basis.

a. Example: Officer DOE is off duty and is working a four (4) hour shift at Metro. Halfway through his shift, Officer DOE becomes involved in an incident requiring police action. Officer DOE investigates the incident, and makes an arrest. Officer DOE is required to handle the incident as Primary Officer and complete all of the appropriate paperwork, i.e., General Offense Report, Superform, etc. If Officer DOE is unable to complete the incident prior to the end of the Metro shift, Officer DOE must contact an on-duty SPD supervisor. After briefing the SPD supervisor a decision will be made concerning further action. If Officer DOE continues handling the incident, overtime compensation shall be paid on a shift-extension basis.

b. Officers shall not delay the handling of incidents until the end of their off-duty work shift. Handling of incidents shall be commensurate with the event.

c. Officers completing incidents on a shift-extension basis shall submit, in person, all related documents to an on-duty SPD supervisor. Related documents include, General Offense Reports, Superforms, Overtime Requests, etc.

B. Employees required to appear at any Department hearing, panel, board, medical examination, re-training, interview, or conference as either a designated representative, or to give information, shall be eligible for overtime per the rate applicable to their off-duty status.

X. Compensatory Time Off in Lieu of Overtime Pay

A. When mutually agreed upon by the employee and the Department, compensatory time off, equivalent to the amount of overtime earned, may be taken off in lieu of overtime pay. EXAMPLE: One hour of overtime worked would equal 1.5 hours of compensatory time off.

XI. Standby Pay

A. Off-duty standby time shall be defined and compensated according to the terms of collective bar-gaining agreements or City ordinances in effect at the time standby is approved. Off-duty standby time shall be:

1. Approved in advance by a Bureau Chief or in their absence by a Section Captain,

2. Reported on an Overtime Request, and

3. Computed to the nearest quarter hour, and shall include the actual number of hours spent on authorized standby time.

B. When called back to duty from standby status, the regular overtime rules shall apply.

C. Off-duty standby assignments which are requested by official agencies other than the Police Department, i.e., Superior Court judges, or the Prosecutor’s Office, shall be reported immediately to the employee’s Section Captains for authorization of the standby time.

XII. Overtime for Eligible Professional, Administrative, and Executive Employees

A. Regular professional, administrative and executive officers and employees with a top salary step of less than 36.5 on the City of Seattle’s pay scale who are ordered to work more than forty (40) hours in one workweek shall be compensated at the rate of time-and-one-half for all hours worked in excess of forty, except for:

1. Employees exempt from or not covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act, and

2. Employees who are working pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement.

B. Employees with a top salary step of 36.5 on the City of Seattle’s pay scale, who are exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act, and are not entitled to receive overtime or compensatory time shall be covered by the Executive Leave program (SMC 4.20.300).