Assessment of Overtime Activity

Overtime pay is a premium that eligible employees receive when they perform work in excess of eight paid hours in a day, or 40 paid hours in a week. Per union contracts, regular overtime is paid at one and one-half times an employee’s hourly rate to non-exempt employees, while penalty overtime is paid at double an employee’s hourly rate under specific conditions. Employees must be paid for all overtime work they perform, even if that time was not authorized. Unauthorized overtime occurs when an employee’s clock time exceeds eight hours in a day or 40 hours in a week without prior authorization from a manager. Our objective was to assess Postal Service controls over managing overtime.