News Notes: Public Employers Can Require Workers To Use Accumulated Comp Time

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal has ruled that public employers may insist that employees use some of their accumulated compensatory time off when they’ve reached a limit on how much can be banked. The Spokane Valley firefighters’ union contract caps accrued comp time at 144 hours and requires overtime pay once the limit is reached. A group of firefighters who had logged the maximum hours sued after the fire district required them to use up their comp time so they wouldn’t have to be paid for additional overtime. The court sided with the district and said that under federal law, public employees don’t have absolute discretion over comp time use.