Alternative Work Schedules

Scope

This policy applies to all Staff and Temporary positions.

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Policy Statement

1. Indiana University encourages operating units to accommodate the childcare, family care, and other personal needs of Staff employees by establishing alternative work schedules to the extent possible and consistent with the requirements of the operating unit.
2. The workweek for all campuses and departments begins and ends at 12:00 midnight on Saturday.
3. Departments should not schedule Staff employees to work more than six days of the week on a regular basis.
4. The decision to establish an alternative work schedule is the sole discretion of the university. It is not required that alternative work schedules be uniformly available to all positions in a department or operating unit. Not every function is conducive to such alternative scheduling because of the requirements of operating units. This should not deter supervisors from approving alternative work schedules for positions where such scheduling can be accommodated.
5. Although alternative work schedules do not alter the responsibility and authority of department heads to establish and change work schedules, an alternative work schedule may be discontinued, temporarily suspended, or altered if work needs change or if service is impaired. Supervisors should make efforts to honor an agreed-upon alternative work schedule.
6. An alternative work schedule is a special arrangement and a privilege and is not subject to the grievance procedure.
   1. CWA covered Support Staff may take problem-solving concerns through the Fair Treatment in the Workplace policy.
7. Types of alternative work schedules - For purposes of this policy the following types of alternative work schedules include but are not limited to the following:
   1. For all Professional and Support Staff employees:
      1. Flexible schedule (often referred to as "flextime") means any supervisory-approved practice of permitting eligible employees to alter the standard hours on a daily basis. In such cases, operating units establish core hours when the employee must be present unless he or she is on an approved leave. In other words, employees approved for a flexible schedule may change their start and end times on a daily basis provided they work the established core hours.
      2. Variable schedule refers to a fixed work schedule that deviates from the standard work schedule and is mutually agreeable to the employee and the supervisor. This may include an agreement to alter the lunch break from the standard one-hour lunch. Unlike the flexible schedule (described above), this does not include the employee option to change the agreed-upon daily start and end work time.
      3. Alternate work schedule refers to a supervisory-approved practice that enables eligible employees to complete the basic work requirement of forty (40) hours per week in fewer or more than five (5) full workdays. The work schedule is standardized by mutual agreement of the employee and the supervisor.
   2. For AFSCME Police and AFSCME Service covered employees:
      1. Flex time refers to a change in a work schedule for a single event or series of events that may span several months, but is not a permanent change of a work schedule.

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Procedures

Requesting an alternative work schedules

1. Any Staff employee may request to work an alternative work schedule unless the employee's position is excluded either by the operating unit due to operating needs or by university policy.
2. When an employee desires a change in working hours, the employee will submit the request in writing to the supervisor.
   1. For all Professional and Support Staff employees, instead of receiving individual employee requests for alternative work schedules, departments may establish plans for alternative work schedules for their units and notify employees of the options and procedures for working such schedules.
   2. For AFSCME Police and AFSCME Service covered employees, when an employee desires a change in work schedule, the employee will submit the request to the Department Head, or designee, at least 24-hours in advance of the event or beginning of the series of events for which the request is made.
3. The supervisor will make a reasonable effort to accommodate the request.
   1. For CWA covered employees, requests based on needs related to childcare, family care or carpooling will be given primary consideration. Otherwise, the supervisor's estimation of the employee's ability to work independently and length of service will be the deciding factor.
4. To ensure that the departmental needs are being met, supervisors should review the alternative work schedule periodically (at least annually) or as circumstances which led to the approval of an alternative work schedule change; alternative work schedules should include a specific time-frame, such as a semester, to support the review process.
5. For CWA, and Professional and Service Staff employees, after having worked the alternative work schedule for a reasonable period of time, or at least annually, the employee will have an opportunity to request a change in their schedule. This includes an employee's request to return to the standard schedule.

Criteria for approving alternative work schedules

1. When considering requests for changes in work schedules for Staff employees, supervisors must comply with Federal and State wage and labor laws, as well as the following conditions:
   1. No alternative work schedule will be implemented that results in an employee working less than the position's budgeted FTE.
   2. An employee, other than Police Service Staff, should not be required to work more than six consecutive hours without a minimum of a one-half hour lunch period free from the job. By mutual agreement between the employee and the supervisor, an employee can work more than six consecutive hours without an unpaid meal break of 30 minutes or more, either as an occasional adjustment to the work schedule or on a regular basis as an alternative or flexible work schedule. In these situations every effort should be made to provide the employee the fifteen minute rest periods as provided in the Work Schedules policy (exempt,non-exempt).
      1. For Police Service Staff see Work Schedules policy for discussion of meal breaks.
   3. Alternative work schedules must not interfere with the efficient operation of the university nor adversely affect the services that are provided to students, other operating units, or the public.
   4. The quantity, quality, and timeliness of employee work must be maintained.
   5. Adequate supervision and employee accountability must be maintained.
   6. Alternative work schedules must not cause or contribute to the need for additional staff or overtime work.
   7. Rest periods are a normal part of the work schedule. Time allowed for rest periods is not cumulative, and therefore is not a basis for an alternative work schedule.
2. The presence of alternative work schedules does not alter the responsibility and authority of department heads to establish and change work schedules as described in the Work Schedules policy (exempt,non-exempt) and the Overtime policy.
3. Such a schedule is to be reviewed with the campus Human Resources Office before it is implemented and on an on-going basis to ensure that it is a full-time, bona-fide schedule maintained over a period of time and that overtime is appropriately compensated.

Recordkeeping

With such an established work schedule, Absence With Benefits (AWB) will be applied in any week in which the scheduled hours are less than 40 hours to ensure that the employee receives full time-off accruals for each pay period.  Time off accruals are not earned on hours worked over 40 in a week.  AWB will not be applied to cover any unpaid absences during the scheduled work hours unless qualified under another personnel policy.

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Definitions

1. Alternate work schedule refers to a supervisory-approved practice that enables eligible employees to complete the basic work requirement of forty (40) hours per week in fewer or more than five (5) full workdays. The work schedule is standardized by mutual agreement of the employee and the supervisor.
2. Flexible schedule (often referred to as "flextime") means any supervisory-approved practice of permitting eligible employees to alter the standard hours on a daily basis. In such cases, operating units establish core hours when the employee must be present unless he or she is on an approved leave. In other words, employees approved for a flexible schedule may change their start and end times on a daily basis provided they work the established core hours.
3. Operating unit means any university administrative unit including departments, divisions of departments, or work locations that report to a supervisor.
4. Variable schedule refers to a fixed work schedule that deviates from the standard work schedule and is mutually agreeable to the employee and the supervisor. This may include an agreement to alter the lunch break from the standard one-hour lunch. Unlike the flexible schedule (described above), this does not include the employee option to change the agreed-upon daily start and end work time.

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Sanctions

Managers, supervisors, and employees who violate this policy are subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination.

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History

Replaces all of the following policies:

Replaces parts of the following policies:

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