Hourly Pay for Faculty

In the past, adjunct faculty were compensated on a per course basis. Per course payments were challenged as a result of ambiguity of the labor codes in California. In response to litigation, private schools in California converted to hourly, non-exempt, classification for adjunct faculty. It is worth noting that public universities and community colleges in California are exempt from this requirement.

  • Oak Valley assumes you create a weekly schedule of 10 hours to conduct your class, grade papers, communicate to emails, etc. If you work your regularly scheduled 10 hours per week, there is nothing you need to do. You are paid your regular rate (20 hours) every two weeks over eight pay periods during the semester you teach. If you work less or more hours, you need to submit your hours via a tracking app (www.hourstrackerapp.com). You may submit your hours by taking a screenshot and send to President Blum via email.

  • Employees are classified as either "non-exempt" or "exempt" according to the Fair Labor Standards Act and corresponding state regulations. If an employee is classified as non-exempt it means that they are paid by the hour and are eligible for overtime pay (not exempt from overtime compensation). The classification is a legal distinction that reflects applicable state and federal law.

  • Your work time includes:

    • All instructional time spent teaching the course, grading assignments, papers, and exams, and entering grades.

    • All time spent reading and responding to student emails regarding your course.

    • All time spent communicating with students regarding your course via phone calls, text messages, and/or video conference.

    • Any time spent in mandatory department meetings, orientations, safety training, sexual harassment training, or other meetings where your presence is required.

    • Time spent directly preparing for the course.

  • All time spent directly preparing for a course is to be compensated as long as it occurs within the contract period.

  • If you forget to enter your hours, you need to request an off-cycle check from after submitting your time entry to receive your pay. However, late entries such as this will be noted as negligence and may result in disciplinary action.

  • Given the part-time nature of your appointment, we do not expect you will be incurring overtime. If, at any time during the semester, you believe that your work hours for this course will exceed the expected hours for your course, please alert the dean. In the rare instances where you work in excess of eight (8) hours in a day or 40 hours in a week, you become eligible for overtime pay at a rate of 1.5x your regular rate of pay.

  • If you anticipate the need to work more than eight hours in one day (or more than 40 hours in a week), please request approval from the dean.

  • If you choose to work on a College recognized holiday you will be paid at your regular hourly rate for those hours. You will not receive any additional compensation or holiday pay premium.

  • If you choose to work on a weekend you will be paid at your regular hourly rate for those hours and may incur overtime, as applicable.