College Practices: Working Hours, Rest Breaks, Meal Breaks & Overtime
Human Resources Department

2/21/2012

With our new time and attendance tracking system up and running, the Cabinet would like to clarify campus-wide guidelines on some related topics. We trust that employees will manage their time to accomplish their work within the time allotted. Also, we know that with our varied campus, there are a number of special issues that require flexibility. With that in mind, we hope that employees and supervisors will work together to create a work schedule and environment with the following guideline s in mind:

Working Hours: Full-time staff employees at Augustana are expected to work a 40-hour work week. Part-time staff employees are assigned a specific number of hours that should generally be worked each week and may have a specific schedule of hours. The most common work day is 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. five days per week with a 30 minute lunch break. As possible, and with the approval of the supervisor, employees may start their work day as early as 7:30 a.m. and end as late as 5:30 p.m. to accommodate a longer lunch period. As always, the needs of our students and campus community should be taken into account when deciding work hours.

Rest Breaks: In some departments, formal rest breaks are taken. These 15 minute breaks are paid and may not be available on very busy days. In many departments, these breaks are taken in an informal manner at a time convenient for the employee rather than scheduled by the supervisor. Rest breaks cannot be combined with lunch/meal breaks and cannot be used to leave early. We will depend on employees and supervisors to decide whether a formal or informal break system will be used

Lunch/Meal Breaks: As required by Illinois law, Augustana employees who are paid on an hourly basis are required to take a lunch/meal break of at least 20 minutes whenever working at least 6.5 hours in a day. While most employees take a 30 minute meal break, these breaks can range from 20 minutes to 90 minutes based on the preference of the employee and agreement of the supervisor. No matter the length, lunch breaks are unpaid and cannot be combined with other breaks, used to leave early or skipped.

Overtime: Staff employees receive overtime pay when working over 40 hours during the workweek. Employees anticipating that they will need to work more than their normal hours in order to accomplish work outcomes should alert their supervisors and receive approval for this extra work time. All overtime hours must be approved in advance and before the work occurs.

Administrative Employees: Full-time administrative employees are paid on a salaried basis rather than an hourly basis. Administrative employees are generally expected to be at work during normal business hours but do not receive additional compensation for hours worked beyond 40 in any workweek. Administrative employees do not need to track their lunch break. Anytime administrative employees are not at work, they are expected to use the time and attendance tracking system to report usage of sick or vacation time.