Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/boundvolumes/529bv.pdf
Page Number: 656.0

529US2

Unit: $U53

[09-26-01 10:37:28] PAGES PGT: OPIN

Cite as: 529 U. S. 576 (2000)

581

Opinion of the Court

“[I]t is our position that a public employer may schedule
its nonexempt employees to use their accrued FLSA
compensatory time as directed if the prior agreement
speciﬁcally provides such a provision . . . .

“Absent such an agreement, it is our position that nei-
ther the statute nor the regulations permit an employer
to require an employee to use accrued compensatory
time.” Opinion Letter from Dept. of Labor, Wage and
Hour Div. (Sept. 14, 1992), 1992 WL 845100 (Opinion
Letter).

After receiving the letter, Harris County implemented a
policy under which the employees’ supervisor sets a maxi-
mum number of compensatory hours that may be accumu-
lated. When an employee’s stock of hours approaches that
maximum, the employee is advised of the maximum and is
asked to take steps to reduce accumulated compensatory
If the employee does not do so voluntarily, a supervi-
time.
sor may order the employee to use his compensatory time at
speciﬁed times.

Petitioners sued, claiming that the county’s policy violates
the FLSA because § 207(o)(5)—which requires that an em-
ployer reasonably accommodate employee requests to use
compensatory time—provides the exclusive means of uti-
lizing accrued time in the absence of an agreement or un-
derstanding permitting some other method. The District
Court agreed, granting summary judgment for petitioners
and entering a declaratory judgment that the county’s policy
violated the FLSA. Moreau v. Harris County, 945 F. Supp.
1067 (SD Tex. 1996). The Court of Appeals for the Fifth
Circuit reversed, holding that the FLSA did not speak to the
issue and thus did not prohibit the county from implementing
its compensatory time policy. Moreau v. Harris County,
158 F. 3d 241 (1998). Judge Dennis concurred in part and
dissented in part, concluding that the employer could not
compel the employee to use compensatory time unless the
Id.,
employee agreed to such an arrangement in advance.