761b8


tober 20, 1976 f t (

HEMRANDUM

O: DONALD R. FEASTER, Executive Director
OM: HERS GLASS, Director, Employee Relations Div sion
UBJECT: Fair Labor Standards Act


Due to the recent Supreme Court decision involving National League of
Cities vs Usery, a study was undertaken by both the Employee Relations
and District Legal staffs. Contacts have been made with the Wage and
Hour office as well as the firm of Alley and Alley. All parties In-
volved have concurred that as things now stand the District is exempt
from the Fair Labor Standards Act.
In his review of the transcript of the case, Jay has come up with the
following point which we feel needs to be given serious consideration.
The transcript indicates that the court was split five to four in
favor of striking the law. This is significant in that it is very
probable the court will soon hear another case on the matter. There is
-s no way to predict the future decision nor the ramifications it might
have on our overtime policy. It would not be advisable to change our
policy in conformance with the recent decision and then at some point
in the not too distant future find it necessary to initiate another
revision.
I have been in contact with our finance people and they have informed
me that overtime charges are averaging in the neighborhood of $345 bi-
weekly. This figure does not seem to be excessive, and, pending any
unforeseen developments, should remain fairly constant.
If we were to arbitrarily suspend all overtime payments, employee
discontent would be substantial and would certainly overshadow the mone-
tary cost savings involved. In summary we would recommend that for the
present District overtime policy remain unchanged. In those instances
where determinations regarding the overtime status of new positions is
concerned, we plan, for informational purposes only, to continue refer-
ring to those guidelines established by the FLSA. With your approval,
we will continue to closely monitor the situation and keep you advised
of any future developments.

HG/aTqy
cc: Jay T. Ahern
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