Reply to How to fit school days into Gov Larry Hogan's ridiculous policy on school start and stop dates

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Reply to "How to fit school days into Gov Larry Hogan's ridiculous policy on school start and stop dates"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
It is a strange method used.  Teachers are paid a salary for the year.  By contract that salary is based on days they work (195).  There are no paid days (Thanksgiving for example). Those 195 days are what their salary is based on.

However, those 195 days are paid equally from start of their 1st work day to the last one.  This year that's 215 days.  Some years it's as many as 216 and some as little as 211.  That's why once the full paychecks start each years they are consistent every two weeks.   Their salary for 195 paid days is divided by 215 (this year 20 unpaid days).  That keeps the checks even.  it's why there is a common misperception that teachers are paid for days they are on vacation.

So that's anywhere from 16 to 21 days that teachers are off work and aren't paid for as part of their salary.  Teachers don't get paid for Thanksgiving.  They do get paid very well, with very generous benefits.

Now one could argue that those 15-21 unpaid days are really paid vacation days because the salaries are so high.  That's an entirely different (and fair) argument, but not really what is being discussed here.  
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This is classic misdirection.  That may be how the union wants to describe it.  This allows them to advertise higher hourly salaries which is just a feel-good technique.  The point is that there is NO other industry that uses this type of misdirection to describe payment.  You are salaried and exempt.  Your work period covers the first day of school to the last day of school plus any professional days that are included outside of the student school year.  You are paid a salary that covers that time.  You are paid evenly and that covers holidays.  Your pay does not go down over holidays when you are not at school.  What you are describing as unpaid holidays is just accounting legerdemain.  As I pointed out, if everyone did that, then most people who work a standard 260 day schedule, would get to bump their hourly rate up by dividing their salary by 250 instead of 260 and claim that they are unpaid for 10 federal holidays.  It doesn't work that way in any other industry.

Exempt employees hourly rates are for information only.  Unless you have billable hours for some reason to another entity, your hourly rate is merely a convenience of accounting between you and your employer.  Contractors or consultants who bill clients by the hour have an hourly rate.  Professionals who bill customers by the hour use an hourly rate.  In those situations, the employee does not have a standard exempt salary that is stable over time.  Those individuals have paychecks that vary week to week by the amount of time that they bill.  They do not record billable hours on holidays and their salaries and paychecks account for that.  If they work on the day, they get paid, if they don't work on that day, they don't get paid and they're paychecks show that.  Non-exempt employees don't get paid when they don't work.  If they work on a regular holiday, they are supposed to get shift deferential and increased pay for hours worked on the holiday.  If a teacher works on a holiday, their pay is not adjusted and they do not get shift deferential for hours worked.  In fact they get no additional compensation if they work or do not work.  That's part of being an exempt employee.  And that is why you have a salary that is paid across a holiday that does not get lowered when you do not work on the day.  And that is why you get paid holidays.
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I don't believe that is true. Teachers are not salaried/exempt, but subject to a negotiated agreement. If a teacher works fewer than the required hours and does not submit for time off, that teacher is docked hourly rates.[/quote]

Teachers are most definitely exempt employees unless they are substitute or part-time employees or contractual, e.g. they are only hired for one class or one set of duties.  Standard teachers are explicitly exempted in the FLSA.
[url]https://nmpsia.com/docs/The%20FLSA.docx[/url]
[quote][b]4. Do you have to pay certified employees (teachers) the minimum wage for extracurricular activities (coaching, class sponsor, organization or club sponsor) if it is a requirement of the school district that certified employees perform such activities?[/b]
[u]No. Teachers are specifically exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act if it is a duty that requires their professional expertise.[/u] (See page 6 of WH Publication 1391, 553.32 (c).)

[b]5. Do you have to pay certified employees (teachers) the minimum wage for extra duties required by the school district such as ticket taking, timekeeping, scorekeeping, security, etc.?[/b]
No, unless such employee’s time in such activity exceeded 20 percent of their total hours for that specific work week. If the employee exceeds the 20 percent, compensation would be computed as described in Question #26. 
[u]However, if the teacher gets a salary of $250 or more per week, he or she is exempt from the FLSA if at least 51 percent of his or her time is spent teaching.[/u] ( See pages 5 & 6 of WH Publication 1391, 553.30 (c) (5) and 553.32 (c).)

[/quote]

As for holidays, turn it the around the other way.  You are expected to be off the federal holidays.  If you were to work, would you get additional pay?  Regular rate?  Or Shift differential for working outside the standard shift?  If it doesn't matter and your pay is the same if you work or don't work, it is considered a paid holiday that is incorporated as part of your salary.  By not not counting it in the 195 hours, you are only artificially inflating the hourly wage, by dividing the salary by 215 for payment of the salary but dividing by 195 for calculation of the hourly rate.  If you are not paid extra when you actually work on the day, then it is a paid holiday.  Non-exempt employees who work on a holiday, must, by law, be paid extra.  As I said, the way the teacher's unions calculate hourly rates and holidays is completely unique to their industry and counters the way the rest of the work-force calculate paid holidays and hourly rates.  It's misleading and disingenuous.  [/quote]

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