As many of you know, the Agency has in the past had “summer hours,” which have allowed employees to request a modified work schedule during the summer. In addition, employees have been able to request a change in scheduled work hours to their supervisor once every quarter. Going forward, the Agency will instead use a “Flexible Scheduling” policy. Employees will be allowed to request reconsideration of their scheduled hours and length of lunch (30 or 60 minutes) with supervisor approval at any time, instead of just the summer or on the quarter. Decisions regarding scheduled work hours will take into consideration issues such as impact on students, programs and services, administration of flexible scheduling and any budget implications. When considering approval of scheduled hours, priority will be placed on coverage of work functions over staff preference. Therefore, there may be some variation of individual schedules within or across workgroups. In regional offices, regional directors set office hours based on the needs of the region. Regional directors will schedule staff accordingly and will communicate their office hours to their districts, their staff and the Agency receptionist. A flexible schedule is not guaranteed in the first instance, and if granted one time, may not be approved other times or on an on-going basis. Flexible scheduling arrangements will be evaluated on a periodic basis.
As a reminder, Heartland AEA’s official hours of operation are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Also, for most staff members who complete timesheets, the regular workweek (Monday through Sunday) consists of 5 days of 7.5 hours each. An unpaid lunch period should be taken near mid-work day and can be 30 minutes to 1 hour based on supervisor approval. Timesheets must accurately reflect start, end, lunch break and leave times. Staff members whose timesheets don’t accurately reflect this information may be subject to disciplinary action.
Flexible Workweek
In addition, in order to increase consistency and allow the maximum flexibility for Classified staff, the Agency will be introducing a new “Flexible Workweek” policy. Should the need arise, employees may request a flexible workweek. A flexible workweek would not be an ongoing schedule, but rather a departure from the normal employee schedule.
Example 1: An employee may need to work 2 hours extra on a Monday. Instead of taking overtime, the employee may request to leave early another day of the week, so as to not go over 37.5 hours for the work week.
Example 2: An employee may have a doctor’s appointment on a Monday and only work 6.5 hours. A request could be made to the supervisor to work an extra hour later in the week, rather than put in a leave request for the initial hour off.
Supervisors may approve or deny requests for a flexible workweek based on issues such as impact on students, programs and services, administration of flexible scheduling and any budget implications. When considering approval of a flexible workweek, priority will be placed on coverage of work functions over staff preference. Therefore, there may be some variation of individual schedules within or across workgroups.
If a flexible workweek is used, all actual time worked should be recorded on the timesheet. Anytime a flexible workweek is used, it should be marked as “Flex Hours” on the timesheet.
All flexible workweek instances must be approved by a supervisor in advance. Flexible workweek hours can only be used within a single workweek. For example, if a staff member has an appointment at 3 p.m. on Friday afternoon, he or she can not make the time up the following week. Remember, the workweek is Monday through Sunday. In all cases, if a staff member works more than his or her typical hours with approval, he or she would still be eligible to take overtime or compensatory time if applicable.
This policy will be for instances where partial days of leave are needed or overtime is worked only, and is not intended for use where full days of leave are needed.
If you have any questions about these changes, first contact your supervisor, then direct any questions to Tony Chiaramonte, Human Resources Manager.
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