The custodian who changes the garbage in the middle of the night can receive overtime, while the professor who is staying up late to grade papers cannot.

“There are usually two [job] classifications – exempt positions and non-exempt positions,” said Michael Otis, human resource manager. “Exempt positions are typically more skilled positions and are exempt from overtime. This is why they call them exempt positions, so they are often salary positions. Non-exempt positions are generally referred to as hourly positions.”

The Fair Labor Standards Act ensures minimum wage and overtime benefits for non-exempt positions, but exempt positions aren’t ensured the same benefits.

At Iowa State, an American Federation of State, Country and Municipal Employees union contract is negotiated every two years and covers non-exempt employees. It includes benefits such as full health insurance, paid for by Iowa State, for the employee and his family, paid long-term disability, 401(k) savings plan, specifications for vacation and other benefits, according to the AFSCME Web site.

These employees, known as merit employees, are hired under a two-year-contract negotiated with the state. They are hired for positions including secretaries and custodians. Whether the employee is covered by the union contract or not depends on the job.

However, the employees do not even have to be part of the union to get the benefits.

“All the merit employees are covered by the contract,” said Deb Duncan, custodian and president of a local chapter of AFSCME. “Our state is a Right-To-Work state – which means we have to give them the benefits, but they don’t have to pay anything for them. They don’t have to be a member of our union to still get the raises.”

About 175 out of the 800 merit employees on campus are members of a union.

Being a member of the union requires paying dues, but it allows the employee to have a voice in the union’s negotiations, Duncan said. She said this can be beneficial to the employee by having the union negotiate for benefits more specific to that employee’s job type.

The union dues help pay for the negotiating process in which the union negotiates for raises and new benefits.

Because a union covers Iowa State, all full-time merit employees at Iowa State are given union benefits. This does not include the part-time student employees.

There are also unions covering Des Moines, Boone County, Polk County and many other states. Iowa State’s union-negotiated benefits encourage employees to come to Iowa State.

“We have excellent benefits there, and that’s because of the union,” Duncan said. “People think, ‘Oh yes, I want to get on at Iowa State because of their benefits.’ Iowa State’s a wonderful place to work.”

None of this means Iowa State’s exempt employees are without their own benefits.

“We have a lot of different benefits. We’re talking about the basic life and health benefits; it’s medical plans, life insurance, retirement plans and long-term disability. We have our own separate schedules for vacation and sick pay,” Otis said. “So a lot of them are the same type of benefits [as the union], but some are handled through the state and some are handled through us.”