Governor’s order reveals long time practice of not recording OT on time cards

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — “It is the general policy of the American Samoa Government not to incur overtime or compensatory time if avoidable,” declared Gov. Lemanu P. S Mauga in his Jan. 05 executive order, released last Friday by the Governor’s Office.

“Directors are ultimately responsible for management of work schedules to avoid overtime or compensatory time,” according to the governor’s order, which also revealed an ongoing practice that was to have been halted some four years ago but its appears to be still ongoing.

The order noted that in the past, some agencies developed a practice of only submitting 80 hours per pay period and then maintaining internal logs to keep hours in excess of the standard 80-hour pay period.

“Directors were instructed that this practice was to cease immediately” under a 2017 Executive Order, the governor said, adding that this “practice shall not be resumed and is forbidden” under the new executive order.

“Time cards are to reflect all of the hours worked during the indicated pay period,” he said, and noted that directors and management staff are responsible for preparing weekly work schedules to help ensure that forty-hours will not be exceeded and anticipate whether overtime will be required.

And they must closely track the hours worked by each employee to gauge potential overtime and to take corrective actions available to ensure that employees do not exceed 40 hours of work during the week as often as possible.

“It is imperative that directors pay close attention to actual time cards to determine that any unavoidable overtime or compensatory time does not cause personnel compensation expenditures above what is allowable in their current budget,” the executive order states.

“Before any unavoidable overtime is incurred or compensatory time is accrued,” directors were instructed by the governor that they “must be able to justify the necessity of such and determine that such additional personnel compensation can be funded within the agency's current budget.”

Furthermore, the use of overtime and compensatory time, when unavoidable shall be in compliance with the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

According to the governor’s order, directors shall take ownership of the overtime and compensatory time for their respective agencies.

Additionally, directors and their management staff will create procedures to monitor, review, approve, and account for overtime and compensatory time.

And if personnel costs are being funded through grants received, directors should ensure those funds are being used to pay personnel consistent with the rules and regulations governing the respective grant program.

“All Directors should understand that overtime and compensatory time use above and beyond their current budget is not allowed,” the governor said.

Each department, agency, and office shall provide a monthly report on the 15th day of the month following the reported month to the Governor, of all overtime and compensatory time accrued by their employees broken down by the accruing employee and the amount of overtime and compensatory time accrued.

The executive order points out that, those in the directors’ and management staff positions are expected to diligently address overtime and compensatory time and take necessary steps to prevent or reasonably manage its occurrence.

“The management of overtime and compensatory time is essential to the stability, management, and financial stewardship of the American Samoa Government,” Lemanu said in a separate news release issued last Friday afternoon officially announcing the new policy.

“I commend the work of the men and women who have gone above and beyond to ensure the continued success in the last two years of this administration,” the governor said.

“And I encourage all directors to accommodate and compensate accordingly to your respective agencies' budget and the law,” he said.

Lemanu’s new executive order supersedes the 2017 order issued by the Lolo Administration on this matter.

As word of the new policy spread through Executive Branch agencies, some employees questioned what will happen to their unpaid overtime from last year.

Samoa News has received over the past weeks complaints from government employees of not getting their overtime pay.