Why Convert to the Biweekly Pay Cycle?

Background

The biweekly pay cycle is used at our campus to pay all hourly paid employees classified as nonexempt by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the wage and hour law that covers the University. A classification of nonexempt provides an employee's position overtime eligibility and wage and hour protections as defined by the regulations within the FLSA.

FLSA Regulations

The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is the agency that interprets and enforces the FLSA. This agency occasionally issues rulings that update FLSA regulations, the most recent of which was a January 1, 2020 increase in the earnings threshold. Under these regulations, staff and academic employees in non-student, non-instructional titles whose prorated annual salary falls below $35,568 are considered nonexempt. 

Compliance

The University of California is obliged to comply with the FLSA provisions, therefore, employees identified as nonexempt under FLSA regulations will convert to the biweekly paycycle and report hours worked. Employees on the biweekly pay cycle are eligible to accrue overtime at a premium rate for any time reported over 40 hours within a standard work week (Sunday to Saturday). Overtime must be preapproved by the employee’s supervisor.