01 02 07 - Emergency Pay Policy
CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA
ADMINISTRATIVE POLICY MANUAL
CHAPTERPolicy No. 01.02.07
: 01 Administration
SECTION
: 02 Administrative Directives Page 1 of 4
SUBJECT
: 07 Emergency Pay Policy
PURPOSE AND SCOPE
To establish levels of compensation for regular, part-time and seasonal employees who
are released from work or who are retained or called back to perform City work during
the threat or occurrence of a hurricane, severe storm, civil disaster, or other emergency
conditions affecting the City Of Boynton Beach.
A local emergency shall be deemed to have commenced when the City Manager (or an
acting City Manager when the City Manager is not available to act) files with the City
Clerk a declaration that the City is in a state of local emergency.
The provisions of this Emergency Pay Policy shall become effective immediately
following the declaration of a state of civil emergency by the City Manager, and are
considered from that point to take precedence over all other Personnel Rules and
Regulations, policies, ordinances and collective bargaining agreements of the City of
Boynton Beach in the matters of pay, compensation and leave as hereinafter set forth.
The provisions of this Emergency Pay Policy shall apply for the entire time period during
which the declared state of civil emergency exists, as determined by the City Manager.
POLICY
In a manner to be determined by the City Manager or his/her acting designee, all
City employees (regardless of full-time, part-time, seasonal, exempt or non-
exempt status) will be classified into one of the following three categories:
A = Essential/Mandatory Personnel
: The assistance of these employees is
considered essential to the City’s ability to function and provide public services in the
event of a civil emergency.
Employees who are classified as category “A” (Essential/Mandatory Personnel) are
expected to report for work at the beginning of their assigned shift, work their entire
shift, and be prepared to work any overtime hours as may be required under emergency
conditions. Category “A” employees may also be required to report for work on
unscheduled days or hours, and should be prepared to perform tasks outside their
normal scope of duties. Category “A” employees may be required to remain at a
designated facility during some portion of the emergency event.
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B = Essential Personnel
: Depending on circumstances and needs, the assistance of
these employees may be required in the event of a civil emergency.
Employees who are classified as category “B” (Essential Personnel) should be
prepared to report for work, and should be prepared to work any overtime hours
if required to do so. Category “B” employees may also be required to report for
work on unscheduled days or hours, and should be prepared to perform tasks
outside their normal scope of duties. Category “B” employees may be required
to remain at a designated facility during some portion of the emergency event.
C = Non-Essential Personnel
: The assistance of these employees is normally not
required during a civil emergency event.
Employees who are classified as category “C” (Non-Essential Personnel) may
be released from their normal work duties and schedules as circumstances
dictate, subject to the following conditions:
1. the employee is to remain in periodic contact with their supervisor or
other designated representatives in accordance with departmental
procedures;
2. be available to respond to call back assignments as directed; and
3. be prepared to work any overtime hours that may be required in
advance of or following an emergency event.
The City of Boynton Beach retains the right to change at any time an employee’s
designation (as either “A”, “B” or “C”), based upon the type of civil emergency
that exists, and upon the level or stage of response that is deemed appropriate
by City management to address the civil emergency.
Duty to Work
An employee who is directed to report for work during a declared civil
emergency, and fails to do so, is subject to being disciplined, up to and including
termination. In addition to any disciplinary action, the employee shall forfeit any
compensation payable under these policies, except compensation for hours
actually worked.
Employee Compensation
Any employee classified as either “A” (Essential/Mandatory) or “B” (Essential),
who is not exempt from the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act,
will be compensated as follows during a period of local emergency:
1. The employee will be paid their regular compensation of all hours
they are scheduled for work, but released from work.
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Example: If an employee’s is scheduled to work from 8:00
A.M. to 5:00 P.M., but is released from work at 3:00 P.M.,
the employee will be paid as though the employee worked
until 5:00 P.M., however, only those hours actually worked
will be counted for overtime purposes.
2. The employee will be compensated at a premium rate of double
their regular base rate of pay for all hours actually worked, including
hours which would otherwise qualify for overtime pay (time and one-
half).
Example: If an employee who earns $10.00 an hour is
scheduled and required to work at 8:00 A.M. but a local
emergency was declared at 7:00 A.M., the employee shall
be paid $20.00 an hour for all hours actually worked until
the local emergency ends.
Any employee who is exempt from the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor
Standards Act, except the City Manager, will be compensated as follows: the
employee will be paid their regular weekly pay plus one (1) hour of straight time
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for each hour of work over 40 hours of work provided each hour of additional
pay corresponds to an hour worked during the period of emergency.
Example: If a local state of emergency takes effect 8:00
a.m. on a Tuesday and ends 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday and
the exempt employee is required to spend Tuesday night in
the Emergency Operations Center (5:00 p.m. Tuesday to
8:00 a.m. Wednesday), the employee is entitled to 15 hours
of additional pay at straight time, provided they work the
balance of their ordinary work week (Monday through
Friday).
Standby and Call Back Pay
No employee is entitled to nor shall receive standby pay or call back pay during
a period of local emergency.
Record Keeping.
All employees are responsible for keeping accurate time logs/records for hours
worked during a declared state of emergency. The submission of a request for
compensation for time worked when the employee did not actually work during a
period of local emergency is grounds for termination of employment.
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It is presumed, solely for the sake of the calculation of emergency pay, that an exempt status employee
works an average of 40 hours per work week.
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Handling of Leave Requests During a Declared Emergency.
Leave requests approved prior to a declared emergency will be honored if, in the
opinion of the employee’s department director, the employee’s absence will not
adversely affect the City’s ability to effectively respond to the emergency.
However, all employees are subject to having previously approved leave
cancelled, and new requests for leave denied, based upon an overriding
organizational need to have the employee report for duty to fulfill their job
assignments during an emergency.
Any off-duty employee who anticipates being unavailable to respond to a call
back assignment associated with an emergency has a responsibility to discuss
their plans with their department director and request to be relieved from call
back responsibilities for the anticipated duration of the emergency. The
department director will evaluate the employee’s reasons for the request to be
relieved of possible call back responsibilities and notify the employee of his/her
decision as soon as possible.
All employees who request sick leave immediately prior to, during, or in recovery
from a declared emergency may be required by the department director to
submit appropriate medical documentation to verify their sick leave request.
*Special Note: An employee who is on a previously approved leave that was not
revoked prior to the specified civil emergency time period is not eligible for
administrative leave with pay or any other form of special compensation that may
be made available under the provisions of this policy.
Holiday Pay.
If the declared emergency time period should encompass a holiday, an
employee is eligible to receive any applicable holiday pay they are due in
addition to any special compensation that is to be paid to under the conditions
outlined above.
(Reference: City of Boynton Beach Ordinance No. 05-036)
DEVELOPED BY: City Manager’s Office
REVISION DATE: August 1, 2011
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Lori LaVerriere
Interim City Manager
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