7. Work Hours

701 Work Schedules

The standard work week is 35 hours. An unpaid 30-minute meal period is expected to be included when defining the work schedules (i.e., the starting and ending times must result in 7.5 hours per day for a five-day work week.)

Normal work days and shifts for positions within each department will be established by the supervising Director. Employees will be informed about the expected work day when they are hired, however, hours may be changed as required by the WRLC at any time.

The WRLC supports alternate work arrangements for staff whose responsibilities can be accomplished outside of the WRLC office and/or outside a traditional work schedule, so long as the WRLC’s work requirements can be met effectively. The responsible Director must justify these work arrangements. Participation in alternate work arrangements is a privilege and not a right, and will only be granted to eligible employees in eligible positions. See Policy 703 for details.

702 Overtime

When operating requirements or other needs cannot be met during regular working hours, non-exempt employees may be required to work overtime. The WRLC complies with the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FSLA) and other applicable laws when calculating and paying overtime to employees. Supervisors must approve all overtime by non-exempt employees before the hours are worked. Exempt employees may be asked to work beyond the normal work week, but are not entitled to overtime pay or compensatory time off.

Overtime compensation is paid to all non-exempt employees in accordance with federal and state wage and hour restrictions. Overtime is paid for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours in one workweek. Overtime pay is calculated at a rate of 150% of the employee’s regular rate of pay for actual hours worked and does not include time off for medical leave, vacation leave, or any leave of absence.

Exempt, technical positions may require on-call availability during nights and weekends. Exempt employees are not paid or awarded compensatory time for on-call status or on-call work.

703 Alternative Work Arrangements

The WRLC supports alternate work arrangements for staff whose responsibilities can be accomplished outside of the WRLC office and/or outside a traditional work schedule, so long as work requirements can be met effectively.

These arrangements can be either temporary or ongoing, and are subject to change as business needs change. Participation in alternate work arrangements is a privilege and not a right, and will only be granted to eligible employees in eligible positions as defined below and only in cases where WRLC’s overall work requirements can be met.  All requests for, or changes to, alternative work arrangements must be approved annually by the employee’s Director and by the Executive Director.

This policy applies only to formal, regularly-scheduled alternate work arrangements.  It is understood that there will be times when any employee may need to adjust his/her work schedule (with Director approval) on any given day because of unexpected events, or when an employee may be asked to work an alternative schedule for a short period of time related to a particular project or problem. These minor variations do not need to be recorded as a new alternative schedule.

Nonexempt staff are subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act and other federal and state wage and hour laws.  Nonexempt staff must be paid time and one-half for any hours in excess of 40 worked in the employee’s work week, and time cannot be banked during one week to compensate for time off in a future work week.  Flexible scheduling for nonexempt staff that would cause overtime to occur will not be approved without written permission of the executive director.

To promote easy interaction among staff and to ensure employee safety, regularly-scheduled working hours should take place Monday through Friday, 6:00 am to 7:00 pm, whether the employee works a standard 5-day week or a variant schedule, or whether the employee is on-site or teleworking. A work schedule outside these core hours must be approved by the Executive Director.

The two most common examples of alternative work arrangements are:

• Flexible scheduling
• Telework

Flexible Scheduling

Flexible scheduling refers to a variation in the standard 5-day 35-hour week.  WRLC allows eligible employees to work alternative schedules, the most common being a 4-day week. All flexible scheduling must be approved by the Executive Director on an annual basis.

Note:  All employees must include 30 minutes for lunch when defining their work schedules.  That is, the starting and ending times must result in daily hours equal to:

• 7.5 hours per day for a 5-day week
• 9.25 hours per day for a 4-day week

Use of a full day’s leave time must correspond to the employee’s approved schedule (not including lunch).  That is, a full day of annual leave would equal 7 hours for a 5-day week and 8.75 hours for a 4-day week.

Telework

Telework is a work arrangement in which an employee regularly performs officially assigned duties at home or at another work site outside of the traditional on-site work environment.

A formal telework arrangement should not be viewed as a means for the employee to provide substantial ongoing care for young children or other dependents.  An employee participating in a telework arrangement is responsible for fully performing his/her job duties and to achieve the same high level of productivity that is expected at the office.

Telework schedules for one or more employees should not create additional work for other employees. Telework requests will not be approved in cases where telework would increase the burden on on-site staff.

Should on-site meetings be requested, the telework employees are expected to attend in person.

Eligibility

All employees seeking approval for alternative work arrangements must meet the following criteria:

• The employee has demonstrated self motivation, independence, and dependability in accomplishing work assignments.
• The employee’s overall performance evaluations are “good solid performer” or higher.
• The employee has clearly defined performance standards.
• The employee has satisfied offsite workstation requirements, including availability of necessary equipment and ability to maintain security and confidentiality of data and intellectual property.

In addition, the employee’s position must meet the following criteria:

• Face-to-face contact with co-workers and customers is predictable and contact can be managed through telephone or email communication during periods when the employee is not on-site.
• Performance can be judged either through quality and timeliness of assignments or quantity of tasks completed or a combination of these factors.

For telework arrangements, the specific work activities of the position are portable and can be performed as effectively outside the office. New employees may request an alternative work arrangement after the probationary period, assuming their probationary performance appraisal is evaluated “good solid performer” or higher. New employees that accept a position having negotiated an alternative work arrangement as a condition of accepting the position are eligible immediately.

Positions which are not eligible for telework alternate work arrangements are those in which:

• The position requires handling material or equipment which cannot be taken offsite (i.e. shared collection operations), or
• The position requires that the employee be available daily for face-to-face communication on an unpredictable as-needed basis by other WRLC staff or clients.