The Tomball City Council voted unanimously to approve revisions to the city employee handbook that establish a 12‑hour shift schedule for police officers and change overtime calculations to an 80‑hour work period under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) provision for law enforcement.

"The proposal is that overtime will be paid, in excess of 80 hours in a 2 week work period," Christie, a city staff member presenting the handbook changes, told the council. The revisions update multiple handbook sections to reflect the new work period, overtime procedures, shift definitions, and adjustments to probationary periods and holiday leave for affected employees.

Why it matters: The change uses the FLSA exemption that permits law enforcement agencies to compute overtime over a work period longer than a single week (up to 28 days). Switching to an 80‑hour biweekly threshold means overtime is paid only after an officer works more than 80 hours in that two‑week period rather than automatically counting weekly overtime for hours over 40.

Background and rationale

City presenters said the three main goals of the change are to ensure better coverage across shifts, reduce overtime costs and improve recruitment and retention. Christie noted that Tomball had operated on a 4‑10 compressed schedule for about three years, and earlier had used different compressed schedules when staffing was lower.

Council discussion and action

Council members asked about prior trial periods and the effects of earlier compressed schedules; staff responded that prior schedules had varied and in earlier years included a 3‑12 model. After discussion, the council approved the handbook revisions with a unanimous vote.

What changes where

Staff said the handbook amendments update references to the work period, define 12‑hour shift designations, revise overtime and leave language to reflect the 80‑hour two‑week threshold, and adjust probation and holiday leave rules where necessary. The city did not present a phased trial at this meeting; staff described it as a policy change adopted into the handbook.