Payroll FAQs

You can always contact one of the Payroll staff members who are identified on the General Payroll Information page. Additionally, we have provided access to the University Payroll Guidelines Policy, the Payroll Calendar, and the online Support Personnel Timesheet which includes instructions on the second page and for OPS employees the Web Time Entry Manual. If you have a question that has not already been addressed below, please contact us by either calling a member of the Payroll staff or send your question to the following email address - payrolloffice@fgcu.edu. 

The factor 26.1 is based on the following formula:

  365 days per calendar year

- 104 weekend days

  261 working days (note: this includes paid holidays)

÷ 10 working days per bi-weekly pay period

= 26.1

Florida Gulf Coast University Department of Human Resources determines if an employee’s position is exempt or non-exempt as outlined by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

A non-exempt SP employee is paid in accordance with the overtime provisions of the FLSA. In lieu of cash payment for overtime, the University provides compensatory leave at time-and-a-half. Overtime is defined as the hours of actual work over 40 in a work week. At FGCU, the work week begins on Sunday and ends on Saturday.

An exempt SP employee is not paid cash for overtime hours worked, however they receive compensatory leave on an hour-for-hour basis.

Employees who work from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. are permitted one hour for lunch. The time you take for a meal break is not counted as hours worked, and you should leave your work area during meal breaks. If your supervisor required you to work through lunch, he/she may approve a flexible schedule for the day which would allow you to leave work one hour prior to your normal scheduled time.

Your supervisor determines the scheduled work hours for your job. You are expected to be at your job on time and remain during the established hours. If you are in a non-exempt position you should not begin work before the established starting time or work after the established quitting time unless it is specifically required and/or authorized in advance by your supervisor.

The assignment of additional work hours which may result in overtime and/or earning of compensatory leave must be approved by the dean or department head prior to an employee working in excess of 40 hours during the established workweek. Emergency conditions, in which prior approval could not be secured, may be retroactively approved by the dean or department head.

Your supervisor may allow you to take one 15 minute work break during the first half of your work shift and one 15 minute work break during the second half of your work shift. Work break time, which is considered compensable, cannot be used to make up for late arrival or early departure from work. Employees do not accumulate unused work breaks.

Your time sheet should reflect the actual hours worked for the day beginning when you arrived at your desk and rounded to the nearest quarter hour. In this case, you have two options. You could arrange with your supervisor to adjust your work schedule to “make up” the 15 minutes or you should record 7 and ¾ hours on your timesheet for that day.

No, overtime is defined as the actual hours of work in excess of 40 hours during the established workweek, excluding holidays and leave with pay. In the event your supervisor must assign you to work in excess of 8 hours in a workday, the supervisor should attempt to alter the remaining work schedule within the current 40 hour workweek to avoid an overtime compensation obligation. All hours worked must be compensated, including overtime, when you are not granted equal time off within the same workweek.

The University requires the maintenance of accurate daily records of work time for all Support Personnel (SP) and hourly OPS employees. Your timesheet must document the hours that you actually worked, rather than the hours you are scheduled to work. It is never acceptable for SP or OPS employees to maintain hours worked “off the books”.

Any agreement between an employee and a supervisor to maintain records of hours worked that are not reflected on the timesheet is neither permissible nor condoned by FGCU and should be reported to the Payroll office.

If you’re unsure how best to handle this situation, contact the Payroll office at payrolloffice@fgcu.edu.

It is not recommended that you take work home to complete after hours. However, in emergency situations your supervisor may assign you to do so. In these approved cases, you may enter the hours worked on your time sheet for appropriate compensation.

No, overtime is defined as the actual hours worked over 40 during the established workweek. SP employees earn annual and sick leave that can be used to bring the total hours of work and leave time to 40 during the workweek. In this scenario, you would report the use of only 8 hours of sick leave on your timesheet.

You may check email from home on a voluntary basis, which is not compensable. If your supervisor requires email to be monitored during non-work hours, with advance supervisory approval you may enter the hours worked on your time sheet.

SP employees will earn special compensatory leave when an employee observed (did not work) the holiday but worked 40 hours the week during which a holiday occurred, the holiday falls on the employee's regularly scheduled day off, or the employee is required to work the holiday. You will receive special compensatory leave for those hours according to your approved schedule.