Article 4
Flexible Work Plans
History

Section 1. General

a. All currently negotiated flexitime plans in existing Supplemental Agreements will continue under this Article, except as provided in 1.c. below. All employees not already on a negotiated flexitime plan will be covered by one of the schedules defined in Section 2 below.
b. A minimum of sixty (60) percent of the employees will be covered by a Variable Work Week Schedule or a Maxi-Flex Schedule.
A maximum of forty (40) percent of the employees will be covered by one of the following: Flexitour, Modified Flexitour, Gliding Schedule, Modified Gliding Schedule, Compressed Work Schedule, and the Variable Day.
c. Under any of the authorized schedules, any employee may continue working a standard workday. All plans currently not in conformance with this Article will be brought into conformance, and a plan to be negotiated for the Office of the Solicitor will be implemented, within seventy-five (75) calendar days from the signing of this Agreement. Each Agency under this program may have not less than fifteen (15) percent of the bargaining unit employees in that Agency on a Variable Work Week Schedule or Maxi-Flex Schedule.
d. This Article and any Supplemental Agreements will be administered according to Title 5 U.S. Code, Chapter 61, Subchapter 2, and 5 CFR 610 Subpart D.

Section 2. Definitions

a. For the purposes of this Article, the following definitions shall apply:

(1) Maxi-flex is a flexible schedule which contains core time bands on fewer than ten (10) workdays in the biweekly pay period and in which a full-time employee has a basic work requirement of eighty (80) hours for the biweekly pay period. An employee may vary the number of hours worked on a given workday or the number of hours each week, within the limits established for the organization.
(2) Variable week is a flexible schedule containing core time on each workday in the biweekly pay period in which a full-time employee has a basic work requirement of eighty (80) hours for the biweekly pay period. An employee may vary the number of hours worked on a given workday or the number of hours each week, within the limits established for the organization.
(3) Flexitour is a flexible schedule containing core time on each workday in which an employee, having once selected starting and stopping times within the flexible time band, continues to adhere to these times. Opportunities to select different starting and stopping times may subsequently be provided by the Agency. Modified Flexitour is the same as Flexitour except that the employee may modify his/her schedule with the prior approval of the supervisor.
(4) Gliding Schedule is a flexible schedule containing core time on each workday in which a full-time employee has a basic work requirement of eight (8) hours in each day and forty (40) hours in each week, and may select an arrival time each day and may change the arrival time daily as long as it is within the established flexible time band. Modified Gliding Schedule is the same as gliding schedule except employees must ensure minimum coverage is maintained during customer service hours.
(5) Variable Day is a flexible schedule containing core time on each workday in the week and in which a full-time employee has a basic work requirement of forty (40) hours in each week. An employee may vary the number of hours worked on a given workday within the week, within the limits established for the organization.

b. In the above schedules, the following definitions shall apply:

(1) Credit hours are earned for the time voluntarily worked in excess of an employee's basic work requirement. Employees may not "borrow" credit hours in advance between pay periods. Employees may carry over up to twenty-four (24) credit hours from pay period to pay period. Credit hours are earned and may be used in fifteen (15) minute increments. However, time spent in Absent Without Leave (AWOL) status will not count toward the basic work requirement for the purpose of accumulating credit hours.
(2) Core hours are those designated times and days during the biweekly pay period when an employee must be present for work. Core hours shall be five (5) hours a day. Core hours will normally be 10 a.m. until 3 p.m., unless decided otherwise by the appropriate Agency committee. With the supervisor's approval, an employee may use credit hours or leave during core hours.
(3) Overtime hours are all hours in excess of eight (8) hours in a day or forty (40) hours in a week which are officially ordered in advance, but does not include credit hours.

c. For the purposes of a compressed work schedule, the following definitions shall apply:

(1) Compressed schedule:

(a) In the case of a full-time employee, an eighty (80) hour biweekly basic work requirement which is scheduled for less than ten (10) workdays;

(b) In the case of a part-time employee, a biweekly basic work requirement of less than eighty (80) hours which is scheduled for less than ten (10) workdays;

(c) The compressed schedules used most often are the 5-4/9 and the four (4) day week. In the 5-4/9 full-time employees work eighty (80) hours for the biweekly pay period five (5) days in one week and four (4) days the next week. In the four (4) day week full-time employees work forty (40) hours, four (4) days each week.

(2) Overtime hours are any hours in excess of those specified hours which constitute the compressed schedule.

Section 3. Timekeeping

Serial sign in/sign out sheets showing times of arrival and departure will be used to record and report attendance. Under the serial sign in/sign out method, employees sign their name and record their time of arrival in order, one after the other. When departing from work at the end of the employees' work day, employees again sign their name and record their time of departure in order, one after the other.
In addition to the serial sign in/sign out sheets, individual logs will be located at employees' desks and maintained daily by employees. For each pay period, employees will submit the logs to their supervisors for certification. For each day, total time will be rounded up or down to the nearest fifteen (15) minutes.

Section 4. Committees

a. Each Agency shall have a joint Labor-Management Flexitime Committee which will be composed of equal numbers from each party. The Agency Flexitime Committee shall implement the provisions of this Article and oversee its functioning. All problems arising from implementation of the plan which cannot be resolved at a lower level shall be submitted to the Agency Flexitime Committee. The Committee will attempt to resolve any problems within the plan. The Committee will meet at any time at the request of either party. Decisions will be made by agreement of the parties.
b. There shall be a committee at the Departmental level composed of equal members from each party to oversee implementation and functioning of the plan.

Section 5. Hours of Work

Employees on the day shift may begin work as early as 6:00 a.m. and may work as late as 8:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Employees will not receive premium pay for hours worked past 6:00 p.m. unless such work is approved overtime.

Employee(s) will verbally inform their supervisor(s) of their personal plans to work both more than eight (8) hours and beyond the end of the official work day of the immediate supervisor by no later than the end of the core hours of the day on which the hours are to be worked, so that the supervisor may make or alter the employee's work assignment.

Section 6. Negotiations

Where either party has a problem with the functioning of a schedule, they may initiate negotiations to change, modify, or terminate the schedule.

Section 7. Part-Time Employees

a. The basic work requirement for a part-time employee is the number of hours which that employee is required to work or otherwise account for by use of credit hours, approved leave, compensatory time, or excused absence during a pay period.
b. The basic work requirement for a part-time employee is the number of hours that employee is scheduled to work on that day.
c. Core hours will not necessarily apply to part-time employees. Appropriate arrangements will be worked out between the employee and the supervisor, consistent with the needs of the office and the spirit of the program.

Section 8. Pay Administration

Employees will be paid for the number of hours worked plus the amount of leave used (except Leave Without Pay). For pay purposes, credit hours will be treated as a type of leave.

Section 9. Shift Work

Employees on all shifts will be covered under this Article.

Section 10. Coverage of Office Functions

a. Management will continue to have responsibility for seeing that the mission of the Department is carried out. Each office will determine adequate coverage during official hours for the purpose of assuring that the functions of the office are fulfilled. Some examples of the principal forms of coverage are:

(1) having phones answered;
(2) providing clerical, technical, and professional support;
(3) providing office representation at essential meetings;
(4) handling inquiries from the public; and
(5) providing program needs based on business necessity.

b. When coverage requirements are established, all employees are obliged to meet coverage requirements. The determination of who will work which particular hours to ensure such coverage is within the authority of the supervisor. Where practicable, personal preference will be honored in scheduling coverage. Where personal preference conflicts with the equitable sharing of the burden of coverage, personal preference shall give way. The opportunity of each employee to maximize his/her flexible work hours shall be consistent with the coverage of legitimate work unit functions. The official work day for office coverage shall be an 8 1/2 hour day, Monday through Friday.

Section 11. Abuse

Any problems of individual abuse of the timekeeping system provided in Section 3 will be reviewed and acted upon by the Department. Such action may include exclusion of employees from a flexible work schedule.