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N.J.A.C. 4A:3-5.3 40 hours or less in a workweek: State service

N.J.A.C. 4A:3-5.3, 40 hours or less in a workweek: State service. Employees in the following groups may be eligible for overtime compensation for work performed beyond their regular work hours, but not more than 40 hours: Full text with 3 recorded amendments, 10 citing decisions, cited by 3 other r

Classification, Services, and Compensation · Overtime Compensation

Current through New Jersey Register, Vol. 58 No. 14, July 20, 2026. Reviewed as of July 26, 2026.

This is an annotated mirror, not the official publication. Verify against the Civil Service Commission before relying on it.

In plain language

The zone between a 35 hour workweek and 40 hours, which Federal law does not reach, is handled here. Employees in 35 and 3E titles earn overtime for time worked past their regular workweek up to 40 hours, either as cash at one and a half times the hourly proration of base salary or as an hour and a half of compensatory time per hour, at the appointing authority discretion with the Chairperson approval. Three conditions gate it: pay status for the full regular workweek, at least one hour beyond it, and work the job specification actually covers. Credit accrues in half hour units of continuous work past each work day. Employees in NL and NE titles meeting unusual work time requirements may be given flexible work patterns or time off up to one hour per hour, at the appointing authority discretion, but never cash, and department heads, deputy and assistant commissioners, division directors and unrepresented exempt staff at range 32 and above are excluded even from that. Temporary employees get nothing under this section.

Written by the NJ Civil Service Navigator editorial team from the text of N.J.A.C. 4A:3-5.3. It is a description of the rule, not the rule itself, and not legal advice.

(a) Employees in the following groups may be eligible for overtime compensation for work performed beyond their regular work hours, but not more than 40 hours: #

1. Employees in 35 hour fixed workweek titles (35, 3E) for time worked in excess of the regular workweek. #

2. Employees in 35 hour fixed workweek titles (35, 3E) who are participating in an approved alternative workweek program may be eligible for overtime compensation for work performed beyond 70 work hours in a 14 day work period. #

3. Employees in non-limited titles (NL, NE) who meet unusual work time requirements, at the discretion of the appointing authority. #

4. State Police law enforcement officers, at the request of the Office of Employee Relations. #

5. Part-time employees only when they work beyond the regular workweek established for full-time employees in their titles. #

(b) Temporary employees shall not be eligible for overtime compensation under this section. #

(c) An employee shall be eligible for overtime compensation under this section only when: #

1. The employee is in pay status for the full number of hours in his or her regular workweek; #

2. The employee works at least one hour beyond the regular workweek or approved alternative workweek program of 70 hours in a 14 day work period, for employees in 35 hour fixed workweek titles (35, 3E); and #

3. The work is covered by the job specification for the employee's title, except for emergencies as provided in N.J.A.C. 4A:3-5.7(d). #

(d) Overtime compensation under this section shall be paid as follows: #

1. Employees in 35 hour fixed workweek titles (35, 3E) shall be compensated either in cash payment or compensatory time off at the discretion of the appointing authority with the approval of the Chairperson or designee for time worked in excess of the regular workweek but not more than 40 hours, except that such employees participating in an approved alternative workweek program of 70 hours in a 14 day work period shall be so compensated for time worked in excess of 70 hours but not more than 80 hours. #

i. Cash compensation for overtime work shall be at the rate of one and one-half times the hourly proration of an employee's base salary. An overtime rate conversion table shall be published with the State Compensation Plan. #

ii. Compensatory time off shall be at the rate of one and one-half hours for each hour worked in excess of the regular workweek or approved alternative workweek program of 70 hours in a 14 day work period for employees in 35 hour fixed workweek titles (35, 3E). #

2. Employees in non-limited titles (NL, NE) who meet unusual work time requirements may, at the discretion of the appointing authority, be compensated through either a provision for flexible work patterns or a grant of comparable amounts of time off to a maximum of one hour for each hour of unusual work time, provided that employees serving as a commissioner or department head; an assistant or deputy commissioner; a division director or equivalent; and employees in exempt positions in titles which are not represented in collective negotiations with established salary ranges at or above range 32, and in such exempt positions in titles with single rates or no range who are receiving a salary at or above the first step of such ranges, shall not be granted such compensation. In no event shall employees in non-limited titles have any entitlement to cash overtime compensation. #

3. Work credited toward overtime compensation must be in one-half hour units of continuous work beyond each regular work day, or a work day in an approved alternative workweek program of 70 hours in a 14 day work period for employees in 35 hour fixed workweek titles (35, 3E). #

4. Employees in non-limited (NL, NE) positions who are not eligible for cash overtime compensation shall not receive a cash payment for unused comparable time off upon separation from service. #

Amendment history

Rule numbers, effective dates and New Jersey Register citations as published. 3 recorded changes.

  1. AmendedR.2017 d.100
    48 N.J.R. 2653(a); 49 N.J.R. 1182(a); 52 N.J.R. 1110(a); 52 N.J.R. 1307(b)
  2. AmendedR.1997 d.8
    28 N.J.R. 4295(b); 29 N.J.R. 123(b)
  3. AmendedR.1993 d.44
    24 N.J.R. 3588(a); 25 N.J.R. 290(a)

How this rule has been applied

10 decisions have cited N.J.A.C. 4A:3-5.3. The list below is citations to those decisions, not the decisions. We have not written summaries for this section. A citation with no summary is deliberate: we do not paraphrase a decision we have not read. Nothing here is legal advice.

Superior Court (2)
  • State, Dept. of Corrections v. Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO240 N.J.Super. 26; 572 A.2d 213
  • State, Dept. of Corrections v. Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO240 N.J.Super. 26; 572 A.2d 213
Civil Service Commission final determinations (8)
  • In re Overtime Program, Dep't of Law & Pub. Safety, Div. of State Police, CSC Docket No. 2023-24222023 N.J. CSC LEXIS 294Docket 2023-2422
  • In re Overtime Program, Dep't of Law & Pub. Safety, CSC Docket No. 2022-10892021 N.J. CSC LEXIS 522Docket 2022-1089
  • Divisions of Income Security, Information Technology, and Finance and Accounting. In re Overtime Program, Dep't of Labor & Workforce Dev., CSC Docket No. 2022-9352021 N.J. CSC LEXIS 517Docket 2022-935
  • In re Health Facility Survey & Field Ops., Dep't of Health2021 N.J. CSC LEXIS 516
  • In re Overtime Program, Dep't of Law & Pub. Safety, CSC Docket No. 2021-15272021 N.J. CSC LEXIS 204Docket 2021-1527
  • In re Overtime Program, Dep't of Law & Pub. Safety, Div. of State Police, CSC Docket No. 2021-4412020 N.J. CSC LEXIS 1007Docket 2021-441
  • In re Overtime Program, Dep't of Law & Pub. Safety, Div. of State Police, CSC Docket No. 2019-17922019 N.J. CSC LEXIS 22Docket 2019-1792
  • In re Overtime Program, Dep't of Cmty. Affairs, Bureau of Housing Inspection, Div. of Codes & Standards, CSC Dkt. No. 2017-15542017 N.J. CSC LEXIS 71

This rule points to

Rules that point here

Elsewhere in Overtime Compensation