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SOP-18 Timekeeping for Departmentally Required TrainingRevised: January 21, 2021 Police Services Division SOP-18 April 4, 2013 SUBJECT: Timekeeping for Department Required Training PURPOSE: To establish guidelines for documenting and crediting the Public Safety employees who have been directed to attend Department Mandated Training. POLICY: It is the policy of the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety to provide personnel with training that is required by applicable laws, POST, CA State Fire Marshal, or other governing procedures. In addition, Agency management may identify other required training for the enhancement of job-relevant knowledge and skills. Time spent attending required training and travel to and from such training will be compensated in a manner consistent with MOAs, State, and Federal laws. I. PROCEDURE: A. Defined Mandated Training: Any Training or School the Agency has directed the employee to attend is considered mandated. The Police and Fire Academy is a mandated assignment and has its own rules and considerations separate from this SOP and the City’s Travel and Expense Policy. Local Training/Schools: 1. Local Training/Schools that do not require overnight accommodations and are out of the immediate area will incorporate travel time into the daily work hours. Out of the immediate area is further than fifty (50) miles from the RPDPS Main Station. 2. The time spent travelling will be totaled in the daily work schedule on the timesheet as stated in Section E. 2. a. The time will either be calculated as base pay or overtime if it exceeds the employee’s regular scheduled shift or is on a scheduled day off. 3. When attending training, the training course may include a break in the schedule for meals which will not be included in the total work hours. Revised: January 21, 2021 B. Out of Area Training/Schools: 1. Travel on the day before to out-of-area training/schools will be scheduled. Compensation for travel could be at either a straight time rate or at the overtime rate as described in Section (E). a. In general, travel time to schools should allow the employee to arrive at a reasonable time to prepare for the class. Overnight accommodations should allow time for travel, check-in, car rentals, etc. 2. Return travel on the last day of the course will be included in that day’s total hours worked. 3. Return travel on any other day will be included in that work weeks total. 4. Travel time will include the actual travel time including reasonable breaks based on the duration of the travel. 5. The training course may include a break in the schedule for meals which will not be included in the total work hours. C. Training Adjustment (TA): 1. Whenever the cumulative total of training hours, or combination of training hours, plus hours performing regularly assigned work or while on paid leave, is less than the total number of hours in the employee’s regularly assigned schedule for the week during which the training occurred, the employee will be compensated by the Agency for the difference. 2. The code TA will be documented on the last line on the timesheet to bring the weekly total where it is equal to the employee’s regularly assigned schedule. TA will be assigned as needed based on the week, not on any given day. 3. An employee assigned to a police schedule who attends a school less than 40 hours, may be required to work part of their original shift(s) in order to meet the FSLA requirement of a minimum 40 hour workweek. 4. An employee assigned to the fire 2x4 schedule who attends a school less than their normally assigned hours for the week, may be required to work part of their original shift(s) (not less than 12 hours) to reach the total scheduled hours of their normal work week. Revised: January 21, 2021 5. While not all scenarios can be addressed, the general rule is to limit TA to less than 12 hours. It is not the intention to have employees work partial shifts (less than 12 hours) in place of using TA. D. Travel Compensation: 1. Travel compensation will be in conjunction with FLSA laws. 2. All travel to and from schools will be calculated to and from the RPDPS Main Station, 500 City Center Drive, and will be measured in time. 3. An employee, who travels on a scheduled workday where the employee was adjusted from normal work to traveling for all or part of their shift, will only be entitled to overtime when their travel exceeds their normal scheduled hours. 4. An employee who travels on a scheduled day off will be compensated at their overtime rate. It in important to recognize that when attending training, employees will often be assigned a schedule for the week that varies from their normal schedule. When this SOP references scheduled days, it is referring to this schedule and not the employee’s normal schedule. If an employee has questions regarding their schedule, they should clarify with Training.