U· S· DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIO Sub.ieet Number: 

OFFICE OF SURF ACE MINING j.-:'P=ER'""""-

6

.;.._-----1 

RECLAMATION AND ENFORCEMENT Transmitw Number: 622 

DIRECTIVES SYSTEM Date: 7/10/90 

(AWS) 

Title: Director 

1·. PurJI(Ise: This Directive provides policy guidance in administering 

Alternative Work Schedules, i.e., Flexitour, the Four-Day Workweek and the 

5-4/9 Schedule. On December 23, 1985, the President signed Public Law 99-196 

to provide permanent authority for Federal employees to use Alternative Work 

Schedules under Chapter 61 of Title 5, United States Code. 

2. Sua.ary: This Directive reflects the following changes to OSM Temporary 

Directives 88-5 dated April 15, 1988, and 89-17 dated March 23, 1989. 

a. Employees can now earn credit hours if they are on approved 

flexitours. (Paragraph 3.f.) 

b. Personnel who remain eligible for AWS are reminded that 

supervisors and managers have wide discretion in granting AWS 

options or making changes as needed to ensure that adequate office 

coverage is maintained. (Paragraph S.c.) 

c. Deputy Directors, Assistant Directors, other SES, Field Office 

Directors, Schedule C's, Headquarters Staff Office Heads (in 

Director's Office): Applicant Violator System, Budget, 

Congressional Liaison, Equal Opportunity, Public Affairs, 

Regulatory Development and Issues Management and Operations 

Evaluation Staff are excluded from participation in the AWS 

program. (Paragraph 5.e.) 

d. Employees can no longer work a first 40 hour workweek. These 

employees will be eligible to participate in any AWS option. 

Directive No. PER-l, First 40 Hour Workweek Schedule dated 8/28/86 

is rescinded effective 07/01/90. 

3. Deflultlons: 

a. Alternative Work Schedule Plan. An alternative work schedule plan 

is a written description, or statement of policy, concerning the types of 

alternative schedules which are considered appropriate for the particular 

organization covered by the plan. 

b. Ten-Hour Schedules (Compressed). This is a fixed, nonflexible 

schedule, which means that it does not vary from day to day. The arrival and 

departure times are according to a set, written schedule requested by the 

employee and approved by the supervisor in advance. The schedule includes 

eight (8) workdays in each pay period. Each workday is ten (10) hours in 

length excluding any scheduled lunch period. A lunch period of at least 

thirty (30) minutes must be scheduled mid-day or mid-shift. Once the schedule 

is requested and approved, the length of the lunch period is fixed and may not 
vary from day to day. The pay period will also include six (6) nonworkdays, 

(including Saturday~ and Sundays). A ten~hour schedule may not include any 

combination of half-days or workdays of less than ten hours. 

c. Five-Four-Nine Schedule (5-4/9) (Compressed). This is a fixed, 

nonflexible schedule, which means that it does not vary from day to day. The 

arrival and departure times are according to a set schedule requested by the 

employee and approved by the supervisor in advance. The schedule includes 

nine (9) workdays in each pay period. Eight (8) of the workdays are nine (9) 

hours in length and one (1) workday is eight (8) hours long. A lunch period 

must be scheduled mid~day, or mid~shift, and be at least thirty (30) minutes 

in length. Once the schedule has been approved, the length of the lunch 

period is fixed and must be the same length each workday. The pay period will 

also include five (5) nonworkdays, (including Saturdays and Sundays). A 5-4/9 

schedule may not include any combination of half~days or workdays of less than 

eight hours. 

d. Flexitour (Flexible Eight~Hour Schedule). This is a flexible 

schedule which includes an eight-hour day, forty-hour week. The schedule 

includes ten (10) workdays in each pay period. The employee's arrival time 

should remain the same for at least ninety (90) days, after which he/she may 

propose a change to the supervisor. Each day will include set core hours 

rluring which all employees scheduled to work that day must be on the job. A 

lunch period must be taken mid-day or mid-shift. 

e. Premium Pay. This is additional pay authorized in instances such as 

overtime, nightwork between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., holiday or Sunday 

work. 

f. Credit Hours. Employees on an approved flexitour work schedule may 

earn credit hours for work in excess of their basic work requirement. 

Although credit hours and overtime hours both require the supervisor's advance 

approval, credit hours are employee~initiated and voluntary, whereas overtime 

hours are management-initiated and involuntary. Employees ordered to work 

overtime are entitled to overtime pay or compensatory time, subject to the 

provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Title 5, U. s. Code. An 

employee may not be ordered to work overtime and be compensated with credit 

hours. However, since credit hours do not constitute overtime hours, 

employees requesting credit hours are not entitled to convert these hours to 

overtime or compensatory time. 

Credit hours msy be carried over to the next pay period and may be used in the 

same manner as annual leave. A full-time employee may carry-over no more than 

ten (10) credit hours from one biweekly pay period to the next. A part-time 

employee may accumulate and carry-over no more than one-eighth of the hours in 

his/her basic biweekly work requirement. Credit hours earned and not used in 

excess of the carry-over limitation are forfeited without compensation or 

right to restoration at the end of each pay period. Credit hours can not be 

carried over into the next leave year. 

4. Policy/Procedures: 

a. The Deputy Director, Administration and Finance, the Chief, Division 

of Financial Management, the Regional Audit Managers, the Assistant Directors, 

Eastern and Western Field Operations and the Field Office Directors are 

2 
delegated authority to establish office hours of duty. Fieln offlclalo must 

notify in writing both the Asslstant Director, Eastern/ Western Field 

Operations and the Assistant Director, Budget and Administration prior to any 

change in established office hours. 

b. Starting times for AWS should be no earlier than 7:00a.m.; however, 

earlier times may be established if the supervisor is reasonably sure that the 

employee has sufficient meaningful work to accomplish prior to the 

supervisor's arrival. All approved employee alternative work schedules must 

be in full compliance with laws, rules, regulations and OSM policy contained 

in this Directive and related issuances. 

c. If there are compelling business reasons for a supervisor to deny 

office participation in one of the alternative work schedule options, the 

office director must request in writing the concurrence of the OSM Deputy 

Director. 

5. Responsibilities. 

a. The Director or Deputy Director will make the final decision on the 

Office's participation in the AI~S program. 

b. The Assistant Director, Budget and Administration will oversee the 

implementation of the program. 

c. Supervisors and Managers are responsible for assuring that any 

approved schedules do not interfere with the mission of the organization which 

he or she supervises. The supervisor should carefully review each request for 

an alternative schedule and approve those schedules which are appropriate to 

the work situation. In making these determinations, managers and supervisors 

should be flexible and sensitive to the work schedule preference of employees 

to the extent that adequate backup is maintained. If the supervisor approves 

an employee's request for a schedule and then later determines that the 

schedule is having an adverse impact on the mission of the organization, the 

supervisor is required to take immediate action to either cancel or alter the 

schedule. The supervisor should advise the employee of the reasons for 

changing or cancelling a schedule and provide the employee with reasonable 

advance notice of the change or cancellation. If a starting time before 7:00 

a.m. is approved, the supervisor should assure that the employee has adequate 

work to accomplish prior to the supervisor's arrival. 

(1) A supervisor may assign any employee to an alternative schedule 

if the needs of the organization are better served by the change. This type 

of change may al9o require bargaining with a union over the impact of the 

change, if the employees involved are in a bargaining unit. 

(2) The supervisor may cancel an employee's approved schedule at 

anytime because of the employee's abuse of the procedures or to meet the needs 

of the organization. The employee may grieve the cancellation or disapproval 

of his/her alternative schedule through the Agency's administrative grievance 

procedure, or appropriate negotiated grievance procedure if he/she is in a 

bargaining unit. It is important to remember that an employee in a bargaining 

unit must use the negotiated grievance procedure. ")!odels of AWS and questions 

and answers addressing some areas of AI~S are attached as Appennix A. 

3 

5 
d. Employee's Re~ponsihilities. An employee may request to be placed on 

any of the alternative schedules which have been approved for the employee's 

organization. An employee may only participate in an alternative work 

schedule plan with the approval of his or her supervisor. An employee's 

request for approval of an alternative schedule must be in writing on the 

""Alternative Worl< Schedule Request and Approval"" form and suhmitted to the 

employee's immediate supervisor. An employee's participation in alternative 

work schedules may be cancelled at any time because of the employee's abuse of 

the procedures or to meet the needs of the organization. Employees on a 

flexitour may voluntarily request in advance that extra hours wor~ed be 

compensated with credit hours. 

e. Employees Excluded. Deputy Directors, Assistant Directors, other 

SES, Field Office Directors, Schedule C's, Headquarters Staff Office Heads (in 

Director's office): Applicant Violator System, Budget, Congressional Liaison, 

Equal Opportunity, Public Affairs, Regulatory Development .~nd Issues 

Management and Operations Evaluation Staff are excluded from participation in 

the AWS pro~ram. 

6. Procedures. 

a. Time Recording. 

(l) Because employees working alternative schedules will arrive and 

depart at varying times, it is important that a system exist within each 

organization to provide accountability for hours worl<ed and to ensure the 

credibility of the program from the perspective of employees, management, and 

the public. Officials with delegated authority cited in paragraph 4a are 

responsible for determining the most appropriate time recording system for 

their particular organization. 

(2) For employees on Flexitour, one recommended procedure is 

sign-in/sign~out logs (sample attached, Appendix B), to be retained in each 

branch/office. With these logs, each employee records his or her time of 

arrival and time of departure. This procedure is a simple, inexpensive method 

of assuring accountability for those employees who work under alternative 

schedules. Sign•in/sign-out procedure~, at the beginning and end of the 

workday, are recommended for employees on flexible schedules. 

b. Time and Attendance (T&A) Reports. 

(1) Regardless of which type of schedule an employee may be working, 

the T&A Reports must accurately show the actual hours worked on each day of 

the pay period. Not only should the noun total eighty (80) each pay period 

for a full-time employee, they must reflect the actual number of hours wor~ed 

each day. It is the supervisor's responsibility when certifying (signin~) 

each T&A Report to verify that the hours reported are absolutely correct. 

Supervisors may not delegate that responsibility to their time and attendance 

cler~, and supervisors may not allow employees to maint.drt their own time ancl 

attendance records. 

(2) Time and Attendance Clerl<s may assl9t a superviqor in maintaining 

the records, but the supervisor, and only the supervisor, ls accountable for 

the accur'icy of the reports certified with his/her signature. Supervi3or. who 

have questions concerning time and attendance reporting requirements should 

consult the PAY/P&RS ~ystem Manual, Time and Attendance Instructions. 

4 

6 
(3) l:recltt hours should be requested and signed by the employee on 

the OF-10 fr>rmat attached to this Directive and should specifically state th"<t 

the employee voluntarily requests that the e~tra time ~orked be applied to 

credit hours. The supervisor must approve the employee's credit hour request 

on the OF-10 in advance of it being earned. The OF-10 reflecting credit hours 

earoed should be retained with the T&A report for verification purposes. Wilen 

earned, credit hours should be recorded as code 230 on the T&A reports. When 

used, it should be coded as 231. Credit hours will appear on the bottom of 

pay statements io. the "other" block, and should be requested as "other" on the 

SF-171, Application for teave. 

c. Lunch Periods. Employees must schedule and take a minimum 

thirty-minute (30) lunch period at mid-day, or approximately mid-way through 

their daily schedule. The lunch period may not be taken at the beginning or 

end of the daily schedule. The purpose of a lunch period is to give employees 

an opportunity to eat or rest in the middle of their tours of duty so that 

they can perform their duties effectively thro1tgl!out the day. The luncl! 

period may be waived only for employees working less than a full shlft (~ix 

(6) hours or less). 

d. Premium Pay. 

(1) Premium pay shall be paid in the same manner as paid to an 

employee working under existing schedules, except that overtime pay and 

compensatory time shall be earned only for work assigned and worked (or 

permitted for FLSA nonexempt employees) outside the employee's approved 

alternative schedule (daily work requirement) or in excess of eighty (80) 

hours in a biweekly pay period. Employees on compressed schedules are 

entitled to Sunday premium pay or holiday premium pay for the number of hours 

they are scheduled to work on a Sunday or holid~y. An employee on a ten-hour 

(10) schedule who works on a holiday is entitled to ten (10) hours of holiday 

premium pay. An employee on a 5-4/9 schedule who works nine (9) hour~ on a 

holiday is entitled to nine (9) hours of holiday premium pay. 

(2) Employees on flexible ~chedules are entitled to eight (8) hours 

of holiday premium pay if they work eight (8) or more hours on a holiday. 

Hours worked in exces~ of the eight (8) hours are compensated at regular 

overtime premium pay rates and should be worked only if specifically ordered 

by a supervisor. 

(3) Statutory and regulatory requirements constrain OSM from 

establishing work hours between 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. without paying a night 

differential. (5 CFR 532.505 and Section 5343(f) of Title 5, United States 

Code). 

e. !lolidays. 

(l) Employees on alternative schedules observe official holidays 

in the same manner as other employees, with two e~cepttons. First, employees 

on compressed schedules receive the number of hours off on a holiday 

equivalent to whatever number of hours they are normally scheduled to work on 

that day. An emplr,yee on a ten-'-hour (10) schedule is credited with ten hours 

for the holltlay. An employee on a 5-4/9 schedule receives credit for either 8 

or 9 ho<Jrs for the holid~y. dependent upon the number of hours he/she is 

normally scheduled to work on that day. (A 5-4/9 employee does not 

automatically receive credit for 9 hours on a holiday.) If that employee's 

5 

7 
eight-hour (8) day hll~ on the holiday, he/she receives an eight-hour (8) 

credit for the holidgy. The employee cannot adjust hi~/her schedule during a 

holiday pay period in order to receive a nine-hour (9) credit. Second, if a 

Federal holiday falls on an employee's nonworkday, the employee may be 

entitled to an alternate day off "in lieu of" the holiday. If the employee's 

nonworkday is in the middle of the weelt, the employee's "lteu day" off for the 

holiday will be either the day immediately preceding or following the holiday, 

at the digcretion of the supervisor. --

(2) t.ieu Days. The term "lieu day" as used in 'Federal regulations 

refers to a day of approved absence from work granted to an employee instead 

of, or "in lieu of,"" a holiday. For example, if a Federal holiday falls on an 

employee's nonworkday, the employee may be gr'lnted another day off "in lleu 

of" the holiday. 

(3) Specific criteria which entitle an employee to "lieu days" are 

contained in 5 USC 6103 and Executive Order 111582. When an employee has 

Sunday and Monday as nonworkdays and a holiday falls on either Sunday or 

Monday, Tuesday is the employee's holiday (lieu day). When the employee has 

Friday and Saturday as nonworkdays and a holiday falls on either Friday or 

Saturday, Thursday is the employee's holiday (lieu day). If the employee has 

three consecutive nonworkdays and a holiday falls on the first or second 

nonworkday, the last workday immediately preceding the three nonworkdays is 

the employee's holiday. If the employee has three consecutive nonworkdays and 

a holiday falls on the third nonworkday, the first workday following the three 

nonworkdsys is the employee's holiday or "lieu day." 

f. Part~time Employees. Part-time employees may participate in any of 

the forms of alternative work schedules provided they complete their biweekly 

basic work requirements in each pay period. This means that a part~time 

employee on a 32-hour appointment can work more than 32 hours in a ·~eek so 

long as the total scheduled hours for each biweekly pay period do not exceed 

64 hours. 

g. Temporary Duty/Training. When an employee is away from his/her 

official duty station on temporary duty or training, the employee should 

assume the official work schedule of that activity. Upon return to his/her 

official duty station, the employee should resume his/her approved alternative 

work schedule, provided that a total of eighty (80) hours will be worked 

during the pay period he/she returns. Necessary adjustments should be made to 

the employee's alternative work schedule to achieve the eighty (80) hours 

total for the pay period. (See paragraph 6.e., if a holinay occurs during 

that period). 

7. Reporting lequlr~nts. All Assistant Directors and Office Heads shall 

report in writing to the Assistant Director, Budget and Administration any 

changes in offlce hours under their jurisdiction. 

8. References. 

(a) Federal Personnel Manual Chapter 620 

(b) Directive No. PER-02, Compensation for Overtime. 

6 
(c) Application of Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to Positions tn OSM, 

PER-4. 

(d) Directive No. ?ER-12, Leave and Absence. 

(e) Directive No. PER-28, OSMRE Payroll Coordination. 

(f) Delegation of Authority Directive, OSMRE OPM-5 and OPM-5-1. 

9. Contact. Branch of Employment and Classification, Utviston of Personnel, 

on (202) 208-2953 or FTS 268-2953. 

7 
Appendix A-1 

Alternative Work Sch8dules in the 

Office of Surface Mininc Reclamation and Enforcement 

I. Flexi tour 

Employees must be present during a "core 

employees the 6-hour period between 9:30 

designated as the "core time'', 

t . " lme -- for OSMPE 

n.m. - 3:30 p.m. is 

Model of Flexitour Schedule 

Core Time 

(Includes 'h-hour lunch) 

7:00 a.m. 9:30 a.m. 3·: 30 p.m. 

II. Compressed Work Schedules 

A. 4-Day Work Week - 10 Hour Day 

6:00p.m. 

Employees will work 10 hours a day, for four days, then 

have the-fifth day off. Employees can select the fifth 

Jay they would like to be absent, but it must be regularly scheduled. 

Model of Four-Day Workweek 

Hours Worked 

10 

10 

10 

10 

Total Hours Worked Weekly= 40 

Ia 
Appendix A-2 

B. 5-4/9 Plan 

Employees will work nine days, rather than the traditional 

10 during the scheduled tour of duty. This is 

accomplished by the employee working 5 days in one of the 

weeks of the pay period and 4 days in the other week. 

Employees will work 9-hours for B days and 8-hours on 1 

day. The 8-hour day may be any day during the two-week 

pay period, but it must be specifically designated. The 

day off may also be any day during the two week pay period 

but it also must be specifically designated. 

M 

T 

Model of 5-4/9 Plan 

WSEK 1 

Hours 

Appro1uma1e1y 

S nours a oay 

WEEK2 

II 
-----------------------------------------------------

Appendi>< A-2 

The following questions and answers are to be used ~• ~uldance. More detailed 

information can be obtained from the Branch of Employment and Classification, 

Division of Personnel (202) 208-2953 or FTS 268-2953. 

L 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 

Q. Can an employee start work before 7:00 a.m.? 

A. An employee may start work earlier than 7:00a.m., but not earlier 

than 6:00a.m., with approval of the supervisor and orovided he/she 

has adequate work to do before the qupervisor's arrival. 

Q. Can the head of an office require all employees to be on the same 

AWS schedule? 

A. The head of an office must request approval for such a schedule 

from the officials listed in that directive, paragraph 4.a. 

Q. Can any emplovee participate ln alternative work schedules? (See 

employees excluded paragraph S.e.) 

A. Once an office has established an alternative work schedule plan, 

any employee within the activity should be able to request to 

particiPate, as long as they are not already on a special work 

schedule. (See exclusions S.e.). The employee's request should be 

in writing and submitted to the employee's immediate supervisor. 

Q. 

An employee's request may be denied only for reasons which are work 

related. An employee should be given the reason for the denial. 

What is an alternative work schedule plan? 

A. An alternative work schedule plan is a written policy adopted by an 

individual office which sets the parameters of the types of 

alternative work schedules which are approved for employees of the 

office. Before approving any employee participation in AWS, a 

written alternative work schedule plan should be adopted by the 

office. Guidance concerning the development of these plans may be 

obtained from the servicing personnel office. 

Q. Who approves alternative work schedule plans? 

A. Officials cited in paragraph S.c. of the AWS Directive are 

delegated authority to approve all alternative work schedule plans 

within their respective organizations. Such approval must comply 

with stat•1tes, governmentwide rules and regull!.tions, and OSM 

policies. 

!d. 
--------------------------------

6. 

7. 

8. 

10. 

'l· 'Hhat is the role of the union in the <levelopment of Al<S pl<'lns? 

A. If the employees of an activity are represented by a union, " 

proposed AWS plan must be submitted to the union in advance and ls 

subject to collective bargaining. If the union represents any 

portion of the activity's employee poPulation, the union would have 

the right to negotiate the plan as lt wo11l<l apply to the b'!rgalrtf.n?, 

unlt employees. This could result in two separ<'lte Al<S plans, one 

covering the bar~alning unit employees and one covering all others. 

If the activity has no union recognitions, management may develop 

and implement an AWS plan. Management shoul<l seek the <'ldvice <'lnd 

<'<Ssistance of their servicing personnel office prior to proposing 

"" AWS p l'ln. 

Q. h employee participation in an AWS progr!lrn volunt!lry? 

A. Employee participation should be voluntary. Management may, in 

some situations, require an employee to convert to an alternative 

schedule for work related reasons. 

Q. What is the impact of AI<S on le'lve accru"l and usa~e? 

A. Employees on alternative schedules continue to earn leave at the 

same rate per pay period as they have in the past. teave used will 

be charged according to the number of hours that the employee was 

~cheduled to work on the day of leave. An emoloyee on a ten-hour 

schedule will be charged 10 hours of leave for each leave day. An 

employee on a five-four-nine schedule will in most instances he 

charged 9 hours of leave for each leave day unless the leave is 

taken on the one eight-hour day of the pay period. An employee on 

a flexible schedule will be charged eight (8) hours of leave for 

each leave day. 

Q. How does an AWS schedule affect official holidays? 

A. Employees on alternative schedules observe official holidays in the 

same manner as other employees, except that employees on ten-hour 

schedules are off ten hours for the holiday, employees on 

five-four-nine schedules are off either ei~ht or nine hours 

(whichever number of hours they are scheduled to work on the 

holiday), and employees on flexible schedules are off eight hours. 

Employees who are not scheduled to work on an official holid~y 

receive another day off in lieu of the holiday. \<hen an employee 

has Sunday and Monday as nonworkdays and a holiday falls on either 

Sunday or Monday, Tuesday is the employee's holiday (lleu day). 

When an employee ha~ Friday and Saturday as nonworkdays and a 

holld"y falls on either Friday or Satunlay, Thursday ts the 

employee's holiday (lteu day). 

Q. Can a supervisor direct an employee to work on the ~mnloyee's dav 

off? 

A. 'For those employ~es on either ten-hour ()t flve-four-ntl'le qchedules, 

scheduled nonwor'<.ditys should be tre,.ted no differently th'ln 

13 
11. 

12. 

13. 

Q. 

traditional nomwrkdays (Saturday and Sunday). The sunervtsor, 

however, retains the right to assign overtime whenever necessary. 

If an employee's services are needed on • scheduled nonworkclay, the 

supet"visor should direct the employee to work overtime on the 

nonworkday and compensate the emplovee with overtime nay or 

compensatory time off, subject to the pt"ovisions of the FLSA and/ot' 

Title 5, u.s.c. 1\n employee's sche<luled nonworkdays for an 

administrative w<Jrkweelt should not be changed by the supet'visor 

durin~ the administrative workweek for the sole purpose of ~voidinr, 

overtime in that administrative workweek. 

Additionally, an employee's days off in a pay period should not he 

changed at the request of the employee for the sole purpose of 

avoiding the use of leave. As stated previously, a ten-hour, 

a 5/4/9, or flexitour scherlule, if approved, is intended to be a 

fixed schedule, meaning that it should not be changed ft'om week to 

week. 

What hours does an employee work when on travel or trainin~? 

A. The employee should temporat'ily assume the schedule of the activity 

to which the employee is visiting or the hout"s of the training 

session. The employee should t"esume his/her appt"oved alternative 

schedule upon return to his/her official duty station, provided 

that a total of eighty (80) hours will be worked during the pay 

period. Necessary adjustments should be made to the employee's 

alternative work schedule to achieve the eighty (80) hours total 

for the pay period. 

Q. For what reasons may an employee's previously approved schedule be 

cancelled or changed? 

A. An employee's approved alternative schedule should be altered or 

cancelled by his or her supervisor whenever t.he supervisor 

determine~ that the schedule interferes with the ability of the 

organization to efficiently accomplish its assigned mission. The 

supervisor may also cancel an emplovee's alternative schedule when 

the supervisor determines that the employee is abusing the schedule 

or the AWS plan. It is the supervisor's responsibility to assure 

that alternative schedules do not produce an adverse impact on the 

ability of the organi?.ation t.o accomplish its aselgned mi.ssion. 

Q. What recourse does an employee have if his or her request for an 

alternative schedule is not approved or if a previously approved 

schedule is cancelled? 

A. An employee who is not a member of a bargaining unit (not 

represented by a union), may file a grievance nnder the "~ency 

administered grievance pt'ocedure. .\n employee in a bargainhg unit 

(represented by a union) may file a grievance only unde·r the 

nnl0n'R negottated ~rievance procP.r!ure. 
1 ~. 

15. 

16. 

17. 

18. 

'lay •n employee worl< stral~ht throuqh his or her workd'IV without 

tol<lng • lunch period? 

~. No, a lunch period of •t le•st thirtY minutes must be scheduled 

mi~-dav in the workday. ~ddltionallv, 'In employee may not schedule 

hl~ or 1er lunch period at the beginning or end of the day. The 

lunch Perio~ mav be waived only for employees working less than a 

full shift (six ~6) hours or less). 

o. If an emplovee is late for work may his or her workday be extended 

an equal amount of time to compensate for the tardiness? 

A. No, a supervisor ~Y. however, excuse infrequent instances of 

tardiness without char~e to leave. If the t'lrdiness becomes more 

frequent, the e"lPloyee • s schedule may be changed. to allow the 

employee to report to work as scheduled. Nonetheless, the employee 

is not entitled to changes in the schedule to compensate for 

tardiness proble"ls. The employee may be charged absence-withoutleave for instances of unexcuse~ tardiness whenever they occm:. 

~. Many employees refer to their days off as "lieu days". Is this use 

of the term correct and does the adoption of alternative schedules 

change the 101eanhg of "lieu day•"? 

A. Using the term "lieu days" to describe an employee's scheduled days 

off is a misnomer. The Federal Personnel Manual consistently uses 

the term "in lieu of" in the context of "in lieu of a holiday" and 

simply refers to scheduled days off as nonworkdays. In order to be 

consistent with the Federal Personnel Manual and statute, the term 

"nonworkday" is correctly used to indicate a scheduled day off 'lnd 

the term "lieu day" is correctlv used only to refer to a day off 

"in lieu of a holiday." 

Q. May Part-ti~e e~~loyees participate in AWS? 

A. Part-time e"lPlovees may participate in any of the forms of AWS 

provided they co~plete their total biweekly work hours in each pay 

period. This means that a "art-time employee on a 32-hour 

appointment can work more than 32 hours in a week so long as the 

total scheduled hours for e'lch biweekly pay period do not exceerl 64 

hours. 

~· If a holidav f'llls on an employee's re~ularly scheduled day off 

which is in the ~iddle of the wee<, what day will the employee h'lve 

off "in lieu of" the holidav? 

A. The employee's "lieu day" off for the holiday wi 11 be either the 

~~v im~e~i~tely orece~in~ or f0llowi~g the holtrl~v, at th~ 

di~cretion of t1~ suoervis~. 

15 
1 9. M~y •n emplov~e change or c~ncel his/her work •chedule wtrh the 

supervisor's ~pproval? 

A.. Y~s, but work •chedule changes should be kept to a minimum to 

reduce the administrative burden of the ,&.HS l'rogra'!l. Any chan~eq 

in the work schedule will be effect~d at the heginninp, of the pay 

period. 
-SAMPLE- OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING 

RECLAMATION AND ENFORCEMENT 

FLEXITIME LOG 

NA~---------------------

ORGAIIIZATION: BRANDl OF PERSQ.JNEL 

-T I HE liME I~~~~~ SICK ADM. OVER- HOLI TOTAL 

DATE IN OUT LEAVE LEAVE TIME DAY HOURS 

3/28 

3/29 

3/30 

.3/31 

4/1 

4/4 

4/ 5' 

4/6 I 

4/7 

4/8 

Appendix B 

PAY PERIOD 8 

YEAR 1988 

COMMENTS/ 

SUGGESTIONS 

INSTRUCTIONS: Employees participating in the Flexitime 

Program will record and initial daily the times they begin 

and end work. 

The number of hours absent. should be recorded under the 

appropriate category: Annual, Sick, and/or Administrative 

(Adm.). 

The log should be kept by each branch/office and the file of 

log sheets must be maintained during the 9-month trial period. 

17 
UNITED STATES G::JVERNMENT 

memorandum O.ft. T'K.1 

'UP'LVTO 

ATTHOrl 

auaJtCT: 

TO• 

Employee 

Request to Earn Credit !lours 

Supervisor 

I voluntarily request to be permitted to 1·1ork hours in excess of m:· · 

basic 1•orkday or work,,•eek in order to earn credit hours. Dates and 

times are specified belch': 

Hours: from to on (C~:e) 

Hours: from to on (date) 

Hours: from to on (da~e) 

Hours: from to on (cia~e) 

I understand that credit hours earned rr.ay not be con\'crted later to 

overtime pay or cotr.;)ensatory ~i:ne. I also understaJ'\d that any aJ!lOlL'lt 

of credit hours over the maximum amount I am permitted to carry over 

from one ·P.,a)' period to the next will be forfeited 1d thout any further 

entitlements. 

Requested by: Approved by: 

(e:::ployee) ( supe-:-':i s:·-:·) 

(Cate) (date) 

... ~·-···-~ ,,(.f/1 '~'·' 

18