The Department shall, within funds appropriated to the Department, provide either monetary overtime compensation or compensatory leave at an hour-for-hour rate, at its discretion, to the employees of the North Carolina Forest Service who are exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act and involved in fighting forest fires for overtime earned while conducting fire suppression duties as defined in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 106-955 If the Department provides compensatory leave for overtime earned, it shall be provided in a manner consistent with the State‘s general compensatory time policy for exempt employees established by the Office of State Human Resources. ?(1983, c. 761, s. 119; 1989, c. 727, s. 66; 2005-386, s. 1.5; 2011-145, s. 13.25(p); 2013-155, s. 13; 2021-78, s. 4(a).)