More than 100 employees in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's Baltimore, Md., and Norfolk and Richmond, Va., field offices may be entitled to overtime pay, according to the Federal Labor Relations Authority (AFL-CIO and EEOC, FLRA, No. 0-AR-3821, 1/28/05).

In reviewing an arbitrator's decision, FLRA noted that the arbitrator failed to distinguish between exempt and nonexempt employees in determining entitlement to overtime compensation. The arbitrator also did not discuss the different standards in the Fair Labor Standards Act, applying to nonexempt employees, and the Federal Employees Pay Act, applicable to exempt employees, FLRA said. The authority remanded so that the arbitrator could apply these two statutes to the appropriate individuals to determine their compensation for overtime worked.

FLRA also held that the arbitrator had incorrectly stated that nonexempt employees had the right to choose between overtime pay and compensatory time off--in actuality, employees have a right to overtime pay but an option to select compensatory time, if offered as an alternative. The authority remanded this part of the arbitrator's award as well, stating that the arbitrator needed to determine which employees were entitled to overtime pay but were forced to accept compensatory time by their employers in violation of the FLSA.