ADMINISTRATIVE MEMORANDUM

COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

NUMBER: B-23

SUBJECT: OVERTIME USE POLICY

RESPONSIBLE DEPARTMENT: County Manager

DATE: June 19, 2000

Purpose: The purpose of this new policy is to establish Countywide guidelines for use of overtime that balances the need to provide services withe health, safety and well-being of employees and those we serve.

Coverage: This policy applies to all County positions except for sworn law enforcement and Correctional Officer positions in the Sheriffs Office. The Sheriffs Office General Orders cover overtime usage for sworn personnel and Correctional Officers in the Sheriffs Office.

Background: One of the major reasons the County utilizes overtime is to staff POST positions (e.g., Deputy Sheriffs, Group Supervisors, Nurses, etc.) that are vacant due to ongoing recruitment challenges. Although the County makes every effort to fiJI vacant positions, a certain vacancy rate is unavoidable. Other reasons for utilizing overtime are outlined in the “Guidelines” section below.

Guidelines: The following guidelines are designed to provide for the health and safety of County employees and the public they serve. As a general guideline, individual employees should not work more than four extra shifts in a pay period. Exceptions may include:

• Emergencies
• Mandated special projects of a limited duration
• Time sensitive tasks
• Peak workload demands that are not chronic
• Disasters
• Other situations as identified by the department head

Department Heads or their designee must review and approve any overtime requests where an employee is working over four extra shifts in a pay period. In the event that the overtime required is of a long duration, every effort must be made to spread the overtime among employees.