General Overtime Procedures and Regulations.
Milwaukee Code of Ordinances § 350-4
in effect350-4. General Overtime Procedures and Regulations.
1. REPORTING OVERTIME REQUIRED. a. To Employee Relations. A report of all overtime employment, whether compensated for in cash or by compensatory time-off allowed by each department, shall be submitted to the director of employee relations with the payroll for the period in which the overtime was authorized for a review of the necessity of the overtime employment. The director of employee relations shall prescribe the form of the report of overtime worked or compensatory time taken off, and the number and disposition of copies. In case of departmental error or omission in reporting overtime worked or time taken off, supplementary reports shall be submitted by the departments in order that payroll checks shall reflect correct amounts, and overtime records shall indicate the exact number of hours of overtime worked or time taken off.
b. To Common Council. From the departmental reports of overtime worked or compensatory time taken off, the director of employee relations shall prepare consolidated reports of the overtime worked or time taken off, and shall submit the consolidated reports together with other appropriate information to the common council at regular intervals.
c. Accumulated Overtime. If an employee accumulates a total of 180 hours of compensatory time-off, or 120 hours of overtime worked for which time-off may be taken, the director of employee relations shall initiate a schedule to eliminate the overtime backlog, investigate the cause and justification of the overtime work and, when possible, institute such recommended procedures as may be necessary to eliminate the need for overtime work. In each case, the director of employee relations shall provide to the common council a report of the overtime and the recommendations made or action taken to reduce or eliminate the overtime work.
d. Overtime Studies. On the basis of regular and special reports, the common council shall regularly review the overtime worked by each department, require the presence of department heads or supervisors empowered to authorize overtime work for supporting or explaining its need, and establish rules as may be deemed necessary for controlling overtime work.
2. EARNED OVERTIME UPON SEPARATION. All earned overtime, whether earned as cash or compensatory time, shall be paid as cash upon separation from city service.
3. OVERTIME NOT TO BE USED FOR RETIREMENT CREDIT. No overtime period of service, nor the compensation received, shall be counted as accruing toward credit or deduction on any annuity or pension rights.
Source: City of Milwaukee Legislative Reference Bureau, Milwaukee City Charter and Code of Ordinances (city.milwaukee.gov master PDFs)URL: https://city.milwaukee.gov/ImageLibrary/Groups/ccClerk/Ordinances/Volume-3/CH350-sub1.pdf#page=3Fetched: 10/26/2026