Extended Work Week (EWW) Pay for Employees Working on Contracts

The purpose of this policy is to establish guidelines for granting and processing overload pay premiums for Wright State University employees who are (1) being paid from external contracts on projects or missions that are designated as critical, which may include working from a temporary location other than the regular work site (2) exempt from the FLSA’s overtime requirements (3) working on episodic, specific, work activity exceeding the customary University work week and (4) are working on operations in flight or afloat that is continuous in nature and cannot reasonably be interrupted or completed otherwise.

Exempt staff may be required to work substantial hours beyond the customary 40-hour week in support of customer-driven schedule requirements or critical needs for specialized capabilities for contract deliverables for a specified period.  At such times, the university may compensate exempt employees for the number of hours worked within each week at a straight-time rate, charging Overhead and G&A to the customer for these additional hours.

In addition to allowing for improved cost recovery, these provisions for an Extended Work Week (EWW) enable the University to be competitive as an employer.  To attract and retain an effective, committed work force, WSU strives to offer competitive levels of pay and compensation to eligible employees when there is a compelling need that requires additional and sustained works hours over a defined period of time.

This policy specifies the conditions that employees must satisfy to be eligible for EWW Overload Pay and the process by which the additional income will be paid.  This approach is for unique circumstances and allowable under the Fair Labors Standard Act whereby such employees still maintain their exempt status.

This policy applies to all Wright State employees who are:

• exempt (salaried) employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA); and
• working additional overload hours on direct charge contracts; and
• working on contracts or subcontracts with approved extended work week provisions; and
• working hours during an approved EWW period that do not include use of vacation leave, holiday pay, sick leave or personal leave.

 Extended Work Week (EWW): a planned schedule, required by a customer or granting agency for successful program execution, exceeding the customary 40-hour workweek.

EWW Overload Pay: additional compensation payment made to an exempt staff member for working on episodic, customer-driven schedule requirements or critical need for specialized capabilities, specific, chargeable work activity exceeding the customary University workweek.

An approved request for EWW overload pay meets the following criteria:

• The EWW affects only full-time salaried employees with 40-hour scheduled workweeks.  Extended work schedules and actual hours worked must be in excess of the customary 40-hour weekly schedule and also in excess of 80 hours in a two week period.
• The EWW begins at the start of a pay cycle and concludes at the end of the pay cycle.
• Employees who are regularly scheduled to work less than forty hours a week are not eligible for EWW pay.  EWW is only for direct hours and is for episodic, customer-driven schedule requirements or critical needs for specialized capabilities that are needed for a specific period of time within a defined period of time only; normally two or more consecutive workweeks.
• The request demonstrates a compelling business need requiring additional work hours in order to meet client deliverables or deadlines.
• Each occurrence of EWW has documented approval from the customer contract officer prior to approval of EWW request by program manager.
• The additional hours are direct labor, chargeable, billable, with OH and G/A or F/A with no additional fringe beyond the standard rates applicable for such EWW period and are fully recoverable under the contract agreement.

• The EWW request is made in writing by the Wright State University supervisor, program manager or PI on a contract, defining the time-period and business necessity for the request prior to work commencing.
• The requisite Dean or Vice President approves the request in writing.  Approval of the EWW applies only to the individual(s) named and is not transferable to others.
• The additional hours are paid via the WSU Overload Pay process at the exempt employees straight time hourly rate (calculated as monthly base salary divided by 173.33 hours per month).
• The additional pay and associated OH/GA or F/A is processed separately through the University overload payroll process with specific notation as EWW and billed separately to the client/customer.