E22CE16DE70BAB108725891700677DF9 Hearing Summary

PUBLIC
BILL SUMMARY For COMP TIME POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

JOINT COMMITTEE COMMITTEE ON LEGAL SERVICES
Date Dec 13, 2022
Location Old State Library

Comp time policy recommendations - Committee Discussion Only


	11:50:24 AM	Ed DeCecco, Office of Legislative Legal Services, discussed what the Office's comp time policy currently is and when the last time the committee approved that policy was
	11:55:04 AM	Mr. DeCecco explained the reason behind the comp time policy as attracting and retaining quality employees
	11:55:21 AM	Mr. DeCecco explained that the Office formed a committee to review the Office's comp time policy and what the Office's committee's findings were
	11:55:52 AM	Mr. DeCecco mentioned that comp time is standard for other Offices in the state capitol
	11:56:40 AM	Mr. DeCecco explained that comp time helps the Office compete with private attorney firms who offer bonuses to attorneys
	11:58:51 AM	Mr. DeCecco addressed possible concerns of comp time and what the potential costs are for the Office for having a comp time policy
	12:01:09 PM	Jennifer Berman, Office of Legislative Legal Services, explained why the Office is recommending for the committee to continue the comp time policy as it allows employees a proper work-life balance equilibrium
	12:03:28 PM	Ms. Berman explained how comp time can supplement other types of leave, such as parental leave, and provide an important safety net for employees
	12:04:15 PM	Ms. Berman shared a personal story of how comp time supplemented her own personal leave during a family medical emergency in the past
	12:05:10 PM	Ms. Berman discussed that when the Office's committee asked employees, employees expressed that comp time was very important to them and an important factor for them in deciding to stay with the Office
	12:06:34 PM	Ms. Berman explained that, per NCSL, comp time is a standard among other comparable legislative bill drafting offices across the United States
	12:08:12 PM	Senator Cooke expressed his belief that professionals of any sort, particularly attorneys, should not receive comp time, but that his belief does not reflect on his gratitude for the work of the Office
	12:10:08 PM	Senator Cooke asked if employees punch a clock when they come in
	12:10:16 PM	Mr. DeCecco explained that employees don't physically punch a clock but that they account for every minute of time worked or not worked
	12:10:54 PM	Senator Cooke asked how the 15-minute increments of comp time round up
	12:11:48 PM	Mr. DeCecco explained that the 15-minute increments are typically rounded down
	12:12:50 PM	Mr. DeCecco explained what the comparable states that provide comp time's policies specifically include
	12:15:56 PM	Ms. Berman followed up explaining the federal law, the Federal Labor Standards Act, concerning which employees should receive overtime pay and which employees are considered "professionals"
	12:16:51 PM	Senator Cooke went over the federal law and which employees are included in the term "professionals" who should be exempt from overtime pay
	12:18:20 PM	Ms. Berman responded by explaining that the Office's comp time is not paid overtime as outlined in the Federal Labor Standards Act and that the act does not prohibit overtime for professionals in any way
	12:20:00 PM	Senator Cooke asked if there is a cap on comp time
	12:20:55 PM	Mr. DeCecco responded by explaining there is no cap but that all comp time is subject to a supervisor's approval and that historically a supervisor has never allowed a departing employee to use a bunch of comp time before leaving
	12:23:49 PM	Ms. Berman discussed measures the Office has implemented in order to prevent employees from accruing a lot of overtime, which include a skeleton crew policy and hiring more employees for increasing workloads
	12:26:01 PM	Senator Gardner asked Sharon Eubanks to come to the table, stated his respect for the Office's work, and asked Ms. Eubanks what the most comp time an employee has ever earned has been
	12:27:54 PM	Sharon Eubanks, Office of Legislative Legal Services, explained that comp time data is not compiled for individual employees but office-wide and that data for an individual employee would need to be taken from each one of their time records
	12:28:20 PM	Senator Gardner asked if the Office can get him data on individual employees
	12:28:44 PM	Ms. Eubanks stated they can see if that data can be collected
	12:29:30 PM	Senator Gardner asked what the differences in comp time policies between the agencies in the capitol are
	12:30:00 PM	Mr. DeCecco explained that legislative council caps comp time for employees combined with a cap for their vacation time and also pays out comp time for departing employees and that their comp time is earned after the first four qualifying hours of each month with a weekly accrual cap. Joint Budget Committee staff receive comp time as a whole office at the discretion of their director, it can carry forward up to a capped amount, and it's payable upon departure. Audit staff get comp time for each hour after 45 hours and after working a certain number of consecutive weeks with an accrual cap at 10 hours a week
	12:34:08 PM	Senator Gardner expressed the need to ask all agencies to come up with a common comp time policy among the agencies
	12:37:01 PM	Representative Carver stated that, given the nature of the legislative staff and the requirements for them to work long hours during session, she believes that a comp time policy is warranted but that it concerns her there is no restriction other than discretion of the supervisor
	12:40:10 PM	Senator Cooke expressed concerns on the Office having, potentially, the most lax comp time policy among the agencies
	12:41:04 PM	Ms. Berman explained that the other agencies offer payouts while the Office doesn't, so the Office policy may not be the most lax of the policies and also that while there are similarities among the agencies, each agency does perform different functions and operates differently so the differing comp time policies fit the nature of each agency
	12:43:20 PM	Mr. DeCecco mentioned that all the agencies also have differing leave time policies, not just comp time, as the agencies are all different
	12:44:25 PM	Representative Weissman, chair, explained that staff should not be pushed to work long overtime hours without pay in the way that members might push themselves to work long hours by choice of being in their role and that he believes the Office deserves a robust comp time policy to be able to perform their work without burning out. He also stated that looking at other agencies' policies is not a conversation for today but a valid conversation for the future

Comp time policy recommendations - Committee Discussion Only

Colorado General Assembly