HRDG 4610 - Tours of Duty - Section K

Supervisors may require employees to be available for work when their presence is needed at the duty station. Supervisors may schedule their employees during certain days and hours in order to meet work requirements.

For flexible schedules, efforts should be made to keep requirements to a minimum so that the benefits (such as gliding, core time deviations, earning or using credit hours, etc.) of the flexible schedule will be preserved; however, work requirements take precedence over the convenience of the employee.

Schedule changes are effective at the beginning of a pay period and cannot be approved retroactively.

Schedule changes must be approved in writing before the pay period begins and documentation must be attached to the T&A report.

Exceptions:

• Employees on flexible schedules (i.e., maxiflex and flexitime) are not precluded from using glide time and core time deviations once the pay period has started. (Flexitour employees may use core time deviations but may only glide up to a maximum of 15 minutes on either side of the arrival time).
• Changes within 5-4/9 and 4/10 compressed schedules are limited to changes to the day off required by the work situation.

Operating guidelines are provided for each tour of duty available in the appropriate section of this Guide. The features of each separate schedule are not interchangeable. Follow plans as written.

Example 1: Credit hours can be used only under maxiflex, not under compressed work schedules (5-4/9 or 4-10).

Example 2: Employees under a compressed 5-4/9 plan cannot vary arrival times. Only flexitime, flexitour, and maxiflex allow employees to vary arrival times.

Supervisors may restrict an employee to a fixed standard tour of duty if the employee fails to meet the requirements for the flexible or compressed schedule or if the work situation so requires. Each case will be documented in writing and a copy given to the employee.

The following table shows the tours of duty and hours of service established for headquarters employees in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area:

Offices may establish tours of duty under the flexible or compressed work schedules established in the appropriate section of this Guide as long as:

• They have the prior approval of the appropriate official to whom this authority has been delegated, and
• The office or duty location meets the legal and any additional agency requirements for use of the selected schedule as provided in the appropriate section of this Guide.

Note: Flexible schedules may not be used by APHIS employees who are eligible to perform overtime work paid under the provisions of the Import/Export Act, Title 7 U.S.C. 2260, because compensation is computed on the basis of the set hours of the employees' tour.

Flexible and compressed work schedules may be approved only when the appropriate official ascertains that the schedule will not result in:

• A reduction of the productivity of the agency,
• A diminished level of service furnished to the public by the agency, or
• An increase in the cost of agency operations (other than a reasonable administrative cost relating to the process of establishing a flexible or compressed schedule).

Responsible officials to whom authority has been delegated are authorized to establish any of the flexible or compressed work schedules outlined in this Guide if they show that the schedules meet the criteria for approval, that they benefit the agency, and that the impacted employees (or the union if the work unit has an exclusive representative) have been consulted.

The authorizing official will complete and maintain this for record keeping purposes.

Exception: APHIS work units that perform Import/Export work that is paid under the provisions of Title 7 U.S.C. 2260 may not implement any form of a flexible work schedule.

(1) For work units without a bargaining unit, a majority of employees must agree to a compressed tour, otherwise employees may not be required to participate. Title 5 U.S.C. 6132 protects employees against coercion when voting for or against inclusion of the work unit in a compressed tour and affirms the right of employees to request, because of hardship, not to participate in a compressed tour (see 5 U.S.C. 6127[b]).

Employees may contact the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) to file a complaint regarding allegations of coercion prohibited by 5 U.S.C. 6132. Violations of 5 U.S.C. 6132 are subject to investigation by the OSC.

Questions concerning filing complaints may be directed to the servicing employee relations specialist or directly to the OSC.

Each program is responsible for designating a responsible management official(s) (RMO) to decide personal hardship cases. (This could be a 1st/2nd level supervisor. If the decision is made to deny the waiver, then the employee may grieve the decision in accordance with the agency's grievance directive.) If it is decided that a personal hardship exists, the employee will be excluded from the schedule or be reassigned.

Both the law and its legislative history are silent with respect to the definition of “personal hardship.” The RMO should be sensitive to the possibility that a compressed tour could have an adverse effect on certain employees, particularly disabled employees and those who are responsible for the care of disabled family members, or dependent children or adults. Depending on the facts and circumstances in the individual case, other valid personal hardship situations may occur that could be grounds for excusing an employee from working under such a tour.

(2)a. In the case of employees in a unit represented by an exclusive representative, any flexible or compressed work schedule, and the establishment and termination of any such schedule, will be subject to the provisions of Chapter 61, Subchapter II, of Title 5 U.S.C. and the terms of a collective bargaining agreement between the agency and the exclusive representative.

(2)b. Employees within a unit represented by an exclusive representative will not be included within any program under Chapter 61, subchapter II, of Title 5 U.S.C., except to the extent expressly provided under a collective bargaining agreement between the agency and the exclusive representative.

(2)c. An agency may not participate in a flexible or compressed schedule under a collective bargaining agreement that contains premium pay provisions that are inconsistent with the provisions of Section 6123 or 6128 of Title 5 U.S.C., as applicable.

Locations requesting approval for flexible or compressed work schedules other than those listed in this Guide must include the following information in their request to the Director, HRD:

• The flexible or compressed work schedule selected;
• The number of employees who will be on the schedule;
• The work schedule in effect at the work unit before the flexible or compressed schedule;
• The current hours of service at the duty location and the hours of service under the proposed schedule;
• A certification that the new schedule will not increase costs to the Government or to industry (if costs will decrease, this should be noted);
• The benefits to the agency, industry, or to employees that will justify approval of the flexible or compressed schedule; and
• A certification that the same or better service will be provided to the public/industry under the flexible or compressed tour.

Locations that select one of the tours listed in this Guide should retain the above information locally as part of their documentation for adopting a flexible or compressed tour.

Maxiflex schedules allow for glide time, core time deviations, and credit hours. Employees are not charged leave if they work 80 hours in the pay period during flexible and core hours. Employees must sign in and out at the beginning and end of the day and for the meal break, if a deviation to the regularly scheduled tour of duty occurred, e.g., if the lunch was longer than 30 minutes and/or the workday was extended due to the earning/taking of leave, credit hours, compensatory time, or overtime.

Note: Full-time employees working under maxiflex who do not work 80 hours in a pay period must be charged annual leave, sick leave, leave without pay, or absence without leave or use previously earned credit hours, as appropriate, in order to make up the 80 hour requirement.

Note: AMS employees must maintain a daily time log.

When an employee starts a flexible or compressed schedule, timekeepers must code the T&A in accordance with instructions given in the T&A manual.

The T&A block must be completed in the first pay period in which the flexible or compressed work schedule begins or changes. A code will not have to be entered for subsequent pay periods unless the employee's tour changes or he/she is returned to a regular work schedule.

When an employee stops a flexible or compressed schedule, a code must be entered in the appropriate block of the T&A. If the employee is subsequently returned to a flexible or compressed schedule, he/she must again be coded with the appropriate schedule code shown for starting a tour.

Follow instructions in the T&A manual for coding credit hours earned or used. Note that different codes are used for each purpose. See Section K, subsection e, for additional information.

Note: Credit hours cannot be earned until the employee has completed the basic work requirement of 80 hours in the pay period.