Comp time in Texas......please explain

[boxerdog25]

Can someone please explain how comp time exactly works. thanks

[TexasAggieOfc]

Let's say you work 8 hours of overtime. Instead of getting paid at time and a half for that over time you receive a vacation credit of 12 hours (8X1.5). It's cheaper on a lot of departments to do it that way

[NTxSarge]

What Aggie said.

Also, many departments limit the number of comp time hours you can "bank" to use later.

[Dep D]

This is a great way for many departments to er.... how do you say this in a pc manner.... lets say you work overtime, but the department says they are going to comp you for it. They usually want to do this for two very good reasons.

1) The overtime budget is shot so they don't have the cash to pay.

2) The overtime budget is shot so they can't pay for the overtime they need the officers to do because they are short man power to do the daily job... So you get comp time for time off you can't really take because they need you out on the street, and are hoping you will not make an issue about taking the time off in the future, because they are short.... round and round..... ie. Free Labor.

Do you remember the long process it took to get hired.... Have you or some other officer you know been told there are lots of people out there who would love to be a law enforcement officer...

Some people may say this is a cynical point of view... Some may say it's realistic... Some will say their admin would NEVER take advantage of their employees like that. I know my admin would NEVER take advantage of it's members...

It's real simple. You work overtime... Get PAID for overtime, not comp time then there is NEVER an issue. Admin gets what they PAID for, and you get PAID for the overtime you worked.

Be safe pulling back into the thread....

[Rush817]

This is a great way for many departments to er.... how do you say this in a pc manner.... lets say you work overtime, but the department says they are going to comp you for it. They usually want to do this for two very good reasons.

1) The overtime budget is shot so they don't have the cash to pay.

2) The overtime budget is shot so they can't pay for the overtime they need the officers to do because they are short man power to do the daily job... So you get comp time for time off you can't really take because they need you out on the street, and are hoping you will not make an issue about taking the time off in the future, because they are short.... round and round..... ie. Free Labor.

Do you remember the long process it took to get hired.... Have you or some other officer you know been told there are lots of people out there who would love to be a law enforcement officer...

Some people may say this is a cynical point of view... Some may say it's realistic... Some will say their admin would NEVER take advantage of their employees like that. I know my admin would NEVER take advantage of it's members...

It's real simple. You work overtime... Get PAID for overtime, not comp time then there is NEVER an issue. Admin gets what they PAID for, and you get PAID for the overtime you worked.

Be safe pulling back into the thread....

My agency allows the employee to decide what they what to take. They are pretty squared away on the issue. They keep track of it on your pay stub so you know how much comp time is available to you. Its a good way to build up a some getaway time if your running short on vacation time. The max you can accrue is 980 hours but no one I know is even close to that. I normally take comp time when its only a couple of hours of OT on a pay period. It adds up pretty quick. Dep D not all agencies are out to screw their employees.

[crimescene4541]

DPD gives us the option ot vs. comp time. there is no maximum bank.
OUR COMP. TIME IF YOU DON'T USE IT, ROLLS OVER AND WE GET PAID FOR IT. EXAMPLE: let say you are due for a step increase in the next year...you can bank alot of comp. time and when it rolls over after your step increase you get paid at your current(higher)pay scale.

[NTxSarge]

My dept allows us to choose if we want money or comp time for the OT worked. There is no use it (comp time) or lose it catch. It stays on the books until it is used. However, we can only accrue 80 hours of comp time.

[df2338]

Ah you guys are lucky. Here the patrol dogs get comp....however its a straight one for one. i.e. 2 hours of OT is two hours of comp And you have to get 172 hours a month to even qualify for overtime. When I was on the road and got a couple of hours I would just roll it into my holiday, and never burn annual leave. But now that im in the schools, there is no rolling, use it or lose it, every month. Yeah VA!

edit. The dfw area good about giving you Ot for what youve done? Im applying to Irving in OCT.

[DH30]

With my dept I get a choice. If I work over I get my choice of OT or comp. I also get comp when I work during a holiday. If I work a holiday I get paid the eight hours, I also get eight hours of holiday in my holiday bank, and four hours of comp time in my comp time bank.

[katseiye]

Choices here ot or comp at 1.5, except for mandatory c.e.'s - straight comp. They dont like us to exceed 400 hrs in comp bank but don't make an issue till it scares 1000.

Holiday bank same scenario

Vacation bank cant exceed 760 hrs at anniv. or it gets automatically deducted.

And they pay 90 days of accrued sick time in addition if you leave or retire.

When I was on the lower step tiers I didn't mind banking the hours cause I knew they'd pay out at a higher rate when I do finaly pack it in

[SOI]

2) The overtime budget is shot so they can't pay for the overtime they need the officers to do because they are short man power to do the daily job... So you get comp time for time off you can't really take because they need you out on the street, and are hoping you will not make an issue about taking the time off in the future, because they are short.... round and round..... ie. Free Labor.

My agency did this until recently. We'd get a whoooooole looooooooot of comp-time that we could never take. But we kept VERY concise records of what was owed. And when people would leave, the county had no choice under law but to cut them a HUGE check for every penny the day they left. Well after a few people left after several years of putting up with this crap and they got checks big enough to buy them Harleys, houses, boats, etc. the county finally decided they liked paying people a few hours here and there rather than paying out huge lump sums. It's the same amount of money but it just seems like less when you pay a little at a time. And of course when they were being told they had 2 weeks before they had to write $30,000 checks to someone, they had to scramble for the funds. One time 3 people left at once who were all owed well into the 5 digits. So now we get overtime.

Now as bad as my experience with comp-time is, I have a lot of friends who love it. Of course they get to tell their agency when they get to use it. And some of them have the option of either taking comp or taking cash. So fi you have a good system it is a pretty cool system.

[Thisguy1996]

If your department offers comp time...... FLSA says it is the employee's choice whether they receive comp or ot. Just FYI