a. Basic Work Requirement
The basic work
requirement of a compressed work
schedule is the number of hours, excluding overtime hours, an employee is required to work or to
account for by charging leave or otherwise:
(1) A full-time employee is required to work 80 hours in a biweekly pay period.
This work must be scheduled for fewer than 10 days in a biweekly
pay period. (See 5 U.S.C.
6121(5)(A).)
(2) A part-time employee works fewer than 80 hours in a
biweekly pay period. This work must be scheduled for fewer than
10 workdays in a biweekly pay period. (See 5 U.S.C. 6121(5)(B).)
b. Tour of Duty
The tour of duty for employees under a CWS program is defined by a fixed
schedule established by the agency.
See the definition of "compressed schedule" in 5 U.S.C. 6121(5), which
states that the basic work
requirement is scheduled for less than 10 work days. Also,
see the definition of "regularly scheduled" in 5 CFR
610.102.
Compressed work schedules are
arranged to enable employees to fulfill their basic work
requirements in less than 10 days during the biweekly pay period.
(Examples of these schedules may be found in Appendix C.)
Although agencies may change or stagger the arrival and departure
times of employees, there are no provisions for employee
flexibility in reporting or quitting times under a CWS program.
Note: Compressed work schedules are always fixed schedules.
(See B-179810, Comptroller General's Report to the House
Subcommittee on Compensation and Employee Benefits, Committee on
Post Office and Civil Service, pg. 2, footnote 1, December 4,
1979. Also, see the definition of "compressed schedule"
in 5 U.S.C. 6121(5) and 50 FLRA No. 28, February 23, 1995. )
c. Credit Hours
There is no legal authority for credit hours under a CWS program. The law provides for
credit hours only for flexible work
schedules. See 5 U.S.C.
6121(4).
d. Overtime Work
For a full-time employee
under a CWS program who is exempt
from the FLSA, overtime hours
are all officially ordered and approved hours of work in excess
of the compressed work schedule. For
a full-time employee who is covered by the FLSA (non-exempt),
overtime hours also include any hours worked outside the
compressed work schedule that are "suffered or
permitted." For a part-time employee, overtime hours are
hours in excess of the compressed work schedule for a day (but
must be more than 8 hours) or for a week (but must be more than
40 hours).
e. Compensatory Time Off
Employee requests for
compensatory time off in lieu of overtime pay may be approved
only for irregular or occasional overtime work by an employee (as
defined in 5 U.S.C.
5541(2)) or by a prevailing
rate employee (as defined in 5 U.S.C. 5342(a)(2)).
Compensatory time off may not be approved for an SES member.
Mandatory compensatory time off is limited to FLSA-exempt
employees (who are not prevailing rate employees) whose rate of
basic pay is greater than the rate for GS-10, step 10, and only
in lieu of overtime pay for irregular or occasional overtime
work. See 5 U.S.C. 5543(a)(2).
f. Night Pay (General
Schedule and Other Employees Covered by 5 U.S.C. 5545(a))
The regular rules under 5 U.S.C. 5545(a) and 5 CFR 550.121 and 122
apply. An employee is entitled
to night pay for regularly scheduled nightwork performed between
the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.
g. Night Differential (Prevailing Rate Employees)
The regular rules under 5 U.S.C. 5343(f) apply
in determining the majority of hours for entitlement to night pay
for prevailing rate
employees.
h. Holiday Pay (When No
Work Is Performed)
(1) A full-time employee on
a CWS who is relieved or prevented
from working on a day designated as a holiday (or an "in
lieu of" holiday under 5 U.S.C. 6103(b) or (d)
or section 3 of E.O. 11582) by Federal statute or Executive order
is entitled to his or her rate of basic pay for the number of
hours of the compressed work schedule
on that day. (See 5 CFR 610.406(a).)
(2) If a holiday falls on a day during a part-time employee's
scheduled tour of duty and
the employee is relieved or prevented from working on that day,
the employee is entitled to his or her rate of basic pay for the
number of hours he or she normally would have been scheduled to
work that day. (See 5 CFR 610.406(b).)
(3) Determining "in Lieu of" Holidays when Holidays
Fall on Nonworkdays
(i) Nonworkdays Other than Sunday. Except as provided in
subparagraphs (ii) and (iii) below, if a holiday falls on a
nonworkday of the employee, the employee's preceding workday will
be the designated "in lieu of" holiday. (See 5 U.S.C.
6103(b).)
(ii) Sunday Nonworkday. Except as provided in subparagraph
(iii) below, if the holiday falls on the Sunday nonworkday of an
employee, the subsequent workday will be the employee's
designated "in lieu of" holiday. (See section 3 of E.O.
11582.)
(iii) Agency rules. Under 5
U.S.C. 6103(d), the head of an agency may prescribe rules under
which a different "in lieu of" holiday is designated
than would be required under 5 U.S.C. 6103(b), E.O. 11582, or the
terms of any collective
bargaining agreement, for full-time employees on compressed work schedules when the head
of an agency determines that a different "in lieu of"
holiday is necessary to prevent an "adverse agency
impact." The term "adverse agency impact" is
defined in 5 U.S.C. 6131(b).
(iv) Under its authority to determine the administrative
workweek (5 CFR
610.111), an agency may change an employee's schedule (and
scheduled days off) for operational reasons. Schedule changes
must be documented and communicated to employees in advance of
the start of an administrative workweek except when the criteria
in 5 CFR 610.121(a) apply. (Also, see 5 CFR 610.121(b)(2).)
i. Pay for Holiday Work
(1) A full-time employee
under a CWS program who performs
nonovertime work on a holiday (or a day designated as the
"in lieu of" holiday under 5 U.S.C. 6103(b) or (d)
or section 3 of E.O. 11582) is entitled to basic pay plus premium
pay equal to his or her rate of basic pay for the work that is
not in excess of the employee's compressed
work schedule for that day. (See 5 CFR 610.407.)
Note: Since CWS schedules are fixed schedules, employees
must not be required to move their regularly scheduled days off
solely to avoid payment of holiday premium pay or to reduce the
number of holiday hours included in the basic work requirement.
See 5 U.S.C. 6101(a)(3)(E).
(2) A part-time employee under a CWS program is entitled to
holiday premium pay only for work performed during his or her
compressed work schedule on a holiday. A part-time employee
scheduled to work on a day designated as an "in lieu
of" holiday for full-time employees is not entitled to
holiday premium pay for work performed on that day, since
part-time employees are not entitled to "in lieu of"
holidays. (See 5 CFR 610.406(b).)
j. Pay for Sunday Work
(1) A full-time employee who
performs nonovertime work during a tour of duty, a part of which
is performed on Sunday, is entitled to Sunday premium pay for his
or her entire tour of duty on that day. (See 5 U.S.C. 6128(c).)
(2) A part-time employee is not entitled to premium pay for
Sunday work. (See 5 U.S.C. 5546(a) and 46 Comptroller General 337
(1966).)
k. Paid Time Off
Paid time off during an employee's
basic work requirement
must be charged to sick or annual leave unless the employee
used other paid leave or accumulated compensatory time off, or
unless excused absence is approved.
l. Excused Absence
The head of an agency may
grant excused absence with pay to employees
covered by a CWS program under the
same circumstances as excused absence would be granted to
employees covered by other work schedules.
m. Temporary Duty
When an employee covered by
a CWS program is assigned to a
temporary duty station using another work schedule--either
traditional or AWS--the agency may allow the employee to
continue to use the schedule used at his or her permanent work
site (if suitable) or require the employee to change the schedule
to conform to operations at the temporary work site.
n. Travel
(1) When an Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)-exempt or
nonexempt employee under a CWS program is in a travel status
during the hours of his or her regularly scheduled administrative
workweek, including regularly scheduled overtime hours, that time is
considered to be hours of work and must be used for the purpose
of overtime pay calculations, as applicable. Note, however, that
overtime hours are initially scheduled for work, not travel.
(2) For employees under a CWS program, "regularly
scheduled administrative workweek" means the compressed work schedule applicable to
an employee and any regularly scheduled overtime work. An agency must also determine the
number of corresponding hours for an employee on a nonworkday for
the purpose of determining hours of work for travel under the
FLSA overtime provisions in 5 CFR 551.422(a)(4). For
this purpose, agencies may apply the guidance under "Excused
Absence," above. Also, see 5 CFR 610.111(d).
(3) For FLSA-exempt employees under compressed work schedules,
hours of work for time spent in a travel status outside the
regularly scheduled administrative workweek and away from the
official duty station is determined in accordance with 5 CFR
550.112(g) or 5 U.S.C.
5544 (for prevailing
rate employees). For nonexempt employees, the total number of
hours of work for travel outside the regularly scheduled
administrative workweek and away from the official duty station
is determined by applying both 5 CFR 550.112(g) or 5 U.S.C. 5544
and 5 CFR 551.422. (See 5 CFR 551.401(h).)
(4) An agency may require an
employee to follow a traditional fixed schedule (8 hours a day
and 40 hours a week) during pay periods he or she travels.
o. Application of
Compressed Work Schedules in Unorganized Units:
(1) Under 5 U.S.C. 6127,
a compressed work schedule may not
be established in an unorganized unit unless a majority of employees in the organization who would be
included vote to be included. For purposes of this vote, a
majority is obtained when the number of affirmative votes exceeds
50 percent of the number of employees and supervisors in the
organization proposed for inclusion in a compressed work
schedule. (If participation in the CWS
program is voluntary for each employee, a vote is unnecessary
because employees who elect not to participate are not included
and are unaffected.)
(2) In organizations in which employees are exclusively
represented by a labor organization, but in which certain
employees (e.g., personnelists) are excluded from the bargaining
unit, only those employees in the unit are bound by the terms of
negotiations establishing a CWS program. Employees in the
organization not in the unit are entitled to vote for or against
inclusion in the schedule. All employees who would be affected by
the outcome should have an opportunity to cast a vote, and the
outcome of the vote is binding upon all employees except those
exempted by management because of personal hardship.
p. Determining Hardships
Under Compressed Work Schedules
(1) Section 6127(b)(2) of title 5, United States Code,
requires that any employee for
whom a compressed work schedule
would impose a personal hardship be excluded from the schedule or
be reassigned. Each agency should
have a procedure for an employee to request exclusion from a CWS based on personal hardship. The
agency must determine whether the CWS imposes a personal
hardship.
(2) Both the law and its legislative history are silent with
respect to the definition of "personal hardship."
However, agencies should be sensitive to the possibility that a
CWS 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.
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 a CWS
program.
q. Appeals to the Office of
Special Counsel (OSC)
(1) Section 6132 of title 5, United States Code, protects an employee against coercion when
voting for or against inclusion of his or her work unit in a CWS program and affirms the right of
the employee to request, because of hardship, not to participate
in a CWS program. (Also see 5 U.S.C. 6127(b).)
(2) 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 Special Counsel.