THEATJTORNEY GENERAI.
OF T-E-
AUSVI-IN I~TEXAR
BVILY. WILSON
A~TOHNRY DSNKHAL
June 15, 1959
Honorable J. E. Peavy, M.D. Opinion No. ~~-644
Commissionerof Health
Department of Health Re: Under the Meat Ins ec-
Austin, Texas tion Law, Article fl
476-X
Vernon's Civil Statutes,
and the General Approprla-
tion Act, may the Depart-
ment of Health grant com-
pensatory time to inspec-
Dear Dr. Peavy: tion employees?
You have requested our opinion on whether, under the
Meat InspectionLaw, Article 4476-3, Vernon's'Civil Statutes,
and the General AppropriationAct, the Department of Health
may grant compensatorytime to inspection employees for work
%n,'excessof eight hours per day norforty hours per week, as
well as for work on official holidays.
Section 14a oftArticle 4476-3, Vernon's Civil Statute~s,
reads as follows:
'Sec. 14a. Any person, flrm,~assoclatlon,or
corporationdesiring to use~the 'Texas State Ap-
pro.ved'meat label in representing,publishing,
or advertisingany meat or meat food products
offered for sale or to be sold in this State for
human consumptionshall pay for the necessary in-
spection service, and the State Board of Health
shall adopt rules and regulationsrelating to such
inspection charges which will,.in effect, provide
that the fees charged shall be fixed as nearly as
possible with reference to the cost of maintaining
the Inspection service by the State Health Depart-
ment which is necessary to permit the use ~ofthe
'Texas State Approved Meat for Human Food' label.
Any such moneys charged and collected for such
Inspection service shall be payable to the State
Health Departmentand shall be deposited In
the State Treasury in a special account to
the credit of the State Health Department and
used for the purpose of carrying out the program
of inspectionwhich is necessary before the
Honorable J. E. Peavy, M.D. page 2. (~~-644)
issuing of permits for the use of the 'Texas
State Approved Meat for Human Food' label."
Your request indicates that, because of the irregular
hours required by packing plant operations,the inspectors
are often required to work more than forty hours per week,
and in some instances as much as fifty to sixty hours per
week. It is our understandingthat the meat inspectors
are salaried annual employees,paid In twelve equal monthly
Installments.,
Section 26 of Article VI of House Bill 133, Acts
55th legislature,Regular Session, 1957, chapter 385, page
870 (:the current General AppropriationBill), provides the
employmentpolicies for State employees,relating to hours
of work. Subsection (a) of Section 26, provides in part
as follows:
“a. Office hours of State agencies will
be from g:OO a. m. to 5~00 p..m., Monday through
Friday of each week except holidays authorized
In this Act. The responsibleexecutive head
will arrange for the State headquartersof each,
agency to be open on each Saturday from 8:OO a.m.
to 12:00 noon with an administrativeassistant
on duty in order to carry out,any business of
the a ency. Regular employees of the State shall
work &0 hours a week excepting official holidays.
It is further provided that exceptionsto the
minimum length of work week may be made by the
operating head of a state agency for house parents
and other employees whose duties require them to
reside in a State hospital or Institution;for
guards, firemen, and other employeeswhose services
are required for longer periods in the public
Interest; and pursuant to Article II of this Act."
In ouropinion, the Legislaturehas authorized the
various departmentsto prescribe the hours to be worked by
regular State employees consistentwith the nature of the
duties to be performed, es ecially when these duties will
not fall Into the regular 8 ~00 a.m. to 5~00 p.m. work day,
or the forty hour week. In view of the nature of the duties
to be performed by the Inspectors in question,you are ad-
vised that you are authorized to establish the hours such
employeeswill work, and the hours they may be let off, so
long as such employees meet the minimum requirement that
Honorable J. E. Peavy, M.D. page 3. (~~-644)
regular State employees work at least or in excess of an
average of forty hours per week.
Your question is answered in the affirmative, so
long as the work hours of the employees in question con-
form to the minimum requirement of the General Appropria-
tion Bill.
SUMMARY
Under Article 4476-3, Vernon's Civil
Statutes, and the General Appropria-
tion Bill, the Department of Health
has authority to establish a policy
granting compensatorytime off for
employees who work in excess of eight
hours per day or forty hours per week.
Yours very truly,
WILL WILSON
Attorney General of Texas
BY&~'~~
Tom I. McFarllng
TIM:& Assistant
APPROVED:
OPINION COMMITTEE
Geo. P. Blackburn, Chairman
Robert T. Lewis
C. Dean Davis
J. Arthur Sandlin
Henry G. Braswell
REVIEWED FORTHE ATTORNEY GENERAL
BY: W. V. Geppert