Claim for Overtime Compensation

An accounting officer at Rocky Mountain Arsenal requested an advance decision as to whether former and present security guards at the arsenal are entitled to overtime compensation for their preshift activities. The guards claim compensation for an additional 15 minutes of overtime upon their allegtions that they were required to report to work 15 minutes prior to guard mount in order to check out weapons, ammunition, and equipment. An investigation revealed that, although the arms room was open 15 minutes before the beginning of guard mount, the majority of guards arrived within the 10-minute period immediately prior to guard mount. The agency reported that it took up to 2 minutes for each guard to be issued his arms and equipment; it took 10 to 15 munutes for the entire shift to be issued weapons and equipment. GAO has held that only overtime which is ordered or approved in writing or affirmatively induced by an official having authority to order or approve overtime is compensable. The agency report stated that the preliminary duties performed by the guards occurred with the knowledge of the agency officials with the authority to order or approve overtime. GAO found the guards' performance of the preshift duties was induced by proper authority and was thus ordered or approved within the meaning of applicable legislation. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) advised that, under the Fair Labor Standards Act Amendments of 1974, it is the employer's responsibility to keep accurate records of employee's work hour. Under the Act, only those hours worked in excess of a 40-hour workweek are compensable as overtime. OPM stated that, since the agency did not keep records of the time spent by the guards in performance of the preshift duties, the burden of proof is on the agency to show why the claims are not warranted. GAO believed that the record created a just and reasonable inference that the average reporting time of each guard was 7.5 minutes prior to the beginning of each guard mount. Thus, the employees may be allowed overtime compensation for 37.5 minutes for each workweek in which they actually worked a full 5 days.