General Union Meeting AFGE Council 238 v EPA (FLSA)

1. General Union MeetingAFGE Council 238 v EPA (FLSA) AFGE Local 3607 August 5, 2010

2. Agenda • AFGE Council 238 v EPA (Snider & Associates) • FLSA Classification (Exempt vs. Nonexempt) • Those phone calls you’ve received • One EPA • The Regional Administrator’s Email box • What is your involvement and interest?

3. FLSA Overtime Presentation • The Law Office of Snider & Associates, LLC are located in Baltimore, Maryland • Have been hired by AFGE Council 238 • AFGE Local 3607 is part of AFGE Council 238 • Snider and Associates have implemented outreach plans • Snider and Associates are planning to visit Denver in the near future

4. What is FLSA? • Exempt vs. Nonexempt • Has been routinely identified as GS-9 and above • AFGE’s contention is that many bargaining unit employees have been erroneously exempted from the FLSA • Have been recent cases with other federal agencies which were successful (e.g., HUD and SSA)

5. Exempt employees • Are paid overtime under Title V at management discretion • Salary is capped at 1 ½ time hourly salary at GS-10 Step 1 • Do not get to choose between compensatory time and overtime • Unused compensatory time expires if not used • Not paid for ‘suffered and permitted’ overtime • Only paid for ‘ordered and approved’ overtime

6. Nonexempt employees • Entitled to be paid overtime at time-and-a-half • Cannot be forced to take compensatory time instead of overtime • Unused compensatory time is paid out in cash at time-and-a-half • Get paid for ‘suffered and permitted’ overtime

7. ‘Suffered and Permitted’ Overtime • Overtime which has been ‘suffered and permitted’ is time which has been worked outside of a regular work schedule and which the Agency knew or could have known about • Working through lunch • Arriving before your scheduled start time • Leaving after your scheduled end time • Any work performed outside of your regular work schedule

8. Typical Damages in FLSA Cases • Reclassification to correct FLSA status • Retroactive payment of underpaid overtime • Compensatory time damages • Payment for ‘suffered and permitted’ overtime • ‘Liquidated damages’, i.e., double damages

9. What are those phone calls about? • Snider & Associates in in the Damages Phase • Collecting information from employees who are potentially misclassified as Exempt • Identifying employees who may have ‘uncompensated overtime’

10. What is ‘uncompensated overtime’? • Uncompensated overtime can include: • Compensatory time for which you received straight time pay rather than time-and-a-half • Time which you worked outside of your normal work hours which was not compensated • Work you performed at outside of scheduled work hours • Work you performed during your scheduled lunch break

11. What is ‘uncompensated overtime’? (continued) • Compensatory time which expired for which you were not paid • Travel time outside of normal business hours

12. What is Snider & Associates looking for? • Information which will help establish a pattern of uncompensated overtime • Leave & Earning Statements • Emails you sent outside of normal work hours • Calendars • Agendas for meetings you attended • Any documentation which can be used as evidence that you performed work outside of your normal work hours, including during lunch

13. What can you do now? • You can begin collecting such documents and evidence from this point forward • Recommend keeping a separate journal and copies of documents which describe any time you work outside of your normal work schedule • Conference calls during lunch? • Public Meetings after hours? • Travel outside of your normal schedule?

14. Questions? • Snider & Associates, LLC • Phone: 410-653-9060 • FAX: 410-653-9061 • Email: yehuda@sniderlaw.com • Check www.sniderlaw.com/flsasurvey for FLSA overtime surveys • Or Contact your local Union representative