compensatory time
1
4.9
- noun
- /kəmˈpɛn.səˌtɔːr.i taɪm/
- Specialized
:
tiempo compensatorio
- She understood that, even though she might frequently have to work more than forty hours a week, the hospital had a policy of giving compensatory time off (comp time) for any hours worked over forty.
Examples
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The guidance also notes that public colleges that qualify as "public agencies" under federal labor law may provide employees with compensatory time off in lieu of cash overtime premiums.
Academic text (2016) -
Another example is to provide stipends or compensatory time off for teachers to meet with parents after school hours.
Academic text (2008) -
Teachers can thus schedule the meeting with parents after work, and schools pay stipends or compensatory time off for teachers' extra work.
Academic text (2008) -
Employees can choose to take compensatory time off instead of receiving overtime pay.
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The company allows its workers to accumulate compensatory time for the extra hours they work each week.
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After working over 40 hours, she was granted compensatory time to use at her discretion.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'compensatory' means designed to compensate and 'time' is a period of leave, so 'compensatory time' literally denotes time granted to compensate (e.g., for overtime). Although the phrase is formal/administrative, the semantic combination is predictable and cross-linguistically paralleled, so a learner who knows both words can infer the meaning.
Etymology
Compensatory time comes from the idea that compensatory means 'to make up for' and time means hours off. The image is an employer giving you extra time (a day or hours off) to 'pay back' extra work instead of paying money, so the phrase means 'paid time off instead of extra pay'.