Last Updated: September 23, 2005
1. COMPENSATORY TIME OFF
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, public employers are permitted to offer compensatory time off to their employees in place of overtime payments. Employees must be notified prior to accepting and/or working extra hours that they will receive compensatory time off instead of paid overtime. Please be advised that it is not the practice of the District to offer or authorize compensatory time. Any granting of compensatory time off must be approved by the Superintendent or designee in advance.
2. OVERTIME COMPENSATION
Overtime compensation is paid to all hourly employees in accordance with federal and state wage and hour restrictions. As required by law, overtime pay is based on actual hours worked, except in those instances where provisions of a collective bargaining agreement may prevail. The District shall make every effort to pay overtime in the next payroll period but in no case later than the second payroll period after the hours are actually worked.
3. PAYDAYS
Frequency
Employees of the Wachusett Regional School District are paid biweekly on every other Friday. Teachers have three options for payment: twenty-six equal payments, twenty-one equal payments, or twenty-one payments with a balloon payment at the end of the fiscal year. For other salaried employees, the annual salary is divided into twenty-six equal payments. For hourly employees, each paycheck includes earnings for all work performed through the Friday before the date of the check.
Direct Deposit
Employees may have their pay directly deposited into an approved banking institution or credit union, if the District is provided with advance written authorization. Employees will receive an itemized statement of wages when the District makes direct deposits. The District strongly encourages employees to participate in the direct deposit program.
4. PAYROLL DEDUCTIONS
Mandatory
The law requires that the District make certain deductions from every employee's compensation. Among these are applicable federal and state income taxes. The District also must deduct the employee's share of retirement contribution according to the current rate set by law, Social Security and Medicare taxes on each employee's earnings up to a specified limit, and for absences not covered by paid leave.
Optional
The District offers programs and benefits beyond those required by law. Eligible employees may voluntarily authorize deductions from their paychecks to cover the cost of participation in these programs.
If you have questions concerning why deductions were made from your paycheck or how they were calculated, please do not hesitate to contact the District's Payroll Office.
5. TIMEKEEPING
Hourly Employees
Accurately recording of time worked is the responsibility of every hourly employee. Federal and state laws require the District to keep an accurate record of time worked in order to calculate employee pay and benefits. Time worked is all the time actually spent on the job performing assigned duties.
Hourly employees should accurately record the time they begin and end their work, as well as the beginning and ending time of each meal period, in the manner prescribed by the Office of Administrative Services. They should also record the beginning and ending time of any split shift or departure from work for personal reasons. Overtime work must always be approved before it is performed.
Tampering, altering, or falsifying time records, or recording time on another employee's time record may result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination.
Salaried Employees
All salaried employees are required to accurately and immediately report any absence, paid or unpaid, to the appropriate District personnel as provided for in the procedures promulgated by the Office of Administrative Services. All salaried employees are required to work for the aggregate number of days in a year for which they are contracted. The number of days of work per year is included in the collectively bargained agreement or individual employment contract.
6. EMERGENCY DELAYED OPENING/EARLY DISMISSAL
If it becomes necessary to delay the opening of school or to dismiss students early due to inclement weather or other unforeseen emergency, all employees are expected to report to work at the regular time or remain at their work stations until the usual end of the work day, unless specifically informed to report to work late or leave early or otherwise provided for in the collectively bargained agreement. Absent such notification, employees who report to work late or leave early will not be paid for any hour(s) not worked due to reporting late or leaving early.