East Bay Municipal Utility District

COMPRESSED WORKWEEK

GUIDELINES

October 1993 COMPRESSED WORKWEEK GUIDELINES: CONTENTS

PHILOSOPHY ...... 1

IMPLEMENTING THE COMPRESSED WORKWEEK (CWW)...... 1

What is compressed workweek?...... 1 Making a request for CWW...... 2 Implementing CWW for the first time...... 2 How flexible are my hours?...... 3 Changing your CWW day off...... 3 Does the entire work group need to be on CWW?...... 4 Who may participate?...... 4 Training to ensure adequate coverage...... 4 Hiring into an existing CWW schedule...... 5 Appeals Process and Review Committee...... 5

LEAVE ISSUES...... 5

What happens on holidays?...... 5 Vacation and sick leave use...... 6 Medical appointments...... 6 Sick Leave Buy Back Program...... 6 Funeral and Death in Family Leave...... 7 Jury Duty Leave...... 7 Fatigue Time...... 7 Administrative Leave for Supervisors/Mgrs...... 7

MISCELLANEOUS ISSUES...... 7

Can an employee be removed from a CWW schedule for tardiness, etc.?...... 7 Payday for CWW schedules...... 7 Workers’ Compensation...... 7 Discipline...... 8 Meetings and Training Sessions...... 8 Supervision...... 8 Breaks/Lunch Period...... 8 PHILOSOPHY

The purpose of the Compressed Workweek (CWW) Guidelines is to provide maximum flexibility to both employees and the District while maintaining consistency among the affected departments and employee groups. These Guidelines provide employees with a variety of alternate work schedules that might better accommodate their personal life styles as well as the work requirements of their jobs.

These guidelines acknowledge that employees involved in alternative work schedules have the same responsibility as all employees to maintain the level of service to the District’s customers and its departments, while assuring there is no net increase in overall costs relative to the benefits of this program to the District.

Some employees may need to maintain a standard schedule because of the nature of their job or the size of the work group or to meet our customers’ needs. Some may wish to stay on a standard schedule for personal reasons.

Although having a common day off for all District employees could make program administration easier and allow managers to take advantage of the program, the committee believes that, on balance, the existing flexibility is more beneficial to our customers and employees.

IMPLEMENTING THE COMPRESSED WORKWEEK (CWW)

• What is compressed workweek?

A compressed workweek allows an employee to work longer hours, but fewer days, during the two-week payroll period. The most common plan, the 9/80, revises an employee’s work schedule so that he/she works 80 hours in nine days over a two-week period. Usually, the employee will work eight nine-hour days and one eight-hour day during the two weeks, with an additional day off when compared to the traditional work schedule. Although the 9/80 schedule is the most common in the District, ten and 12- hour shifts may be considered.

For example, on a 9/80 plan an employee gains an additional 26 days of “free” time per year. The District also benefits by reducing trips to the workplace (thus supporting the Transportation Management Plan and anticipated regional requirements to reduce traffic), and increasing hours of service to the public. Other agencies report improved recruiting and retention of employees, and increased morale. Concerns about declines in productivity because employees work fewer (but longer) days are in the minority, as most employers report equal or greater productivity.

Along with the change in the work schedule, the 9/80 plan modifies an employee’s “workweek” as defined by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). These changes to the workweek are not made to avoid payment of overtime. When an employee agrees to

-1- work a 9/80 schedule, the workweek is revised to comply with this modification. Thus, the workweek of an employee with this schedule may look like:

MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN WEEK 1 OFF 9 9 9 9 - - WEEK 2 4/4 9 9 9 9 - -

In this example, the workweek splits on the second Monday, with four hours credited to the previous calendar week.

The workweek of an employee with a 4/10 schedule would reflect four days/ten hours per day per week:

MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN WEEK 10 10 10 10 OFF - -

And the workweek of an employee with a 12-hour schedule may look like:

MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN WEEK 1 12 12 - - 12 4/4 12 WEEK 2 - - 12 12 - - -

• Making a request for CWW.

Participation in a CWW schedule is voluntary. At the request of an individual employee or a group of employees, the work unit supervisor will evaluate the implementation of a CWW schedule within any particular work unit. This evaluation will consider whether the work or operation of the unit concerned will be unduly impaired by such a schedule.

A request for consideration, including work unit plan, will be provided by the employee(s) to the work unit supervisor, who shall review and respond to the request within ten working days. The evaluation will consider a number of factors, such as availability of adequate coverage and supervision, overall costs to the District that may be incurred, work unit’s and employees’ effectiveness and response to customer needs.

• Implementing CWW for the first time: What do you do with the 4 hours?

The implementation issue related to the 8-hour split days for CWW 9/80 schedules will be the subject of training for managers, supervisors and payroll clerks to ensure that the 40 hours workweek is maintained during implementation. Employee(s) requesting and receiving approval to begin CWW should arrange start-up

-2- dates through their work unit supervisors. Start up should be implemented according to the employee(s) day off within the payroll period, with the following Monday/Friday examples most commonly used:

1ST MONDAY OFF 1ST FRIDAY OFF M T W T F S S M T W T F S S Week l 0 0 9 9 0 - - 8 8 8 8 0 - - Week 2 4/4 9 9 9 9 - - 9 9 9 9 4/4 - - Week 3 0 9 9 9 9 - - 9 9 9 9 0 - - 2ND MONDAY OFF 2ND FRIDAY OFF M T W T F S S Ml T W T F S S Week l 8 8 8 8 8 - - 9 9 9 9 4/4 - - Week 2 0 9 9 9 9 - - 9 9 9 9 0 - - Week 3 4/4 9 9 9 9 - - 9 9 9 9 4/4 - -

The time sheet should reflect the actual hours worked each day.

• How much flexibility do I have in my hours and the type of schedule I work?

The work schedule should be established through discussions with the supervisor. With approval of the work unit supervisor, flexible schedule changes may be made for employees on the CWW schedule so long as requests do not impact the operation of the unit and they remain consistent with the provisions for flexible schedules in the appropriate Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Appeals may be made through the appeals process.

As discussed previously, although the 9/80 schedule is the most common schedule in the District, ten and 12-hour shifts may be considered. The Division Manager will make the decision favoring or opposing implementation of alternative schedules, with appeal to the Review Committee (see page 5 for an explanation of the Review Committee and appeal process).

 Changing your CWW day off:

Within a 7-day workweek: Employees may occasionally change their day off within the same workweek with the approval of their work unit supervisor. Such planned request should be initiated by submitting a “CWW DAY CHANGE FORM”, form PE - 053, generally one week before the change. The intent of this form is to initiate the request process and provide a written record acknowledging the employee’s understanding that the change in workweek schedule is not for the purpose of avoiding overtime.

-3- After CWW Day Off Established - Permanent Change of Day Off: Employees are encouraged to carefully request and arrange their chosen days off so as to minimize the need for future changes. For those employees who do have an unanticipated need to change their established CWW day off, requests will not be considered more frequently than once every six months (once a year for continuous or seven-day operations). Arrangements should be made through the work unit supervisor who will consider impacts to the work unit operation and/or balance of staffing.

For non-represented employees, once the CWW schedule has been established seniority will not be considered for the purposes of “bumping” or rearranging CWW days off.

Local 444 and Local 2019 employees will have an annual open window (first full pay period in July) during which employees can use District seniority within the classification and work unit to “bid” for their choice of CWW days off.

• Does the entire unit/work group need to be on CWW?

Generally, no. Participation in the CWW program is voluntary. The issue of full unit participation in CWW depends on the operational needs of the work unit. Under certain circumstances, full voluntary unit/group participation may be necessary.

For example, in the case of a crew required to work similar hours, a single individual not wishing to participate in the CWW program could result in the entire group remaining on a standard 8-hour/5-day workweek. However, the work unit supervisor has the right to move employees with similar interest in compressed workweek onto the same crew to accommodate such requests. If redistributing employees within the same work unit is operationally infeasible or does not resolve the conflicting schedules, the standard work schedule will be maintained.

• Who is allowed to participate in the CWW program?

All employees of the District below the Division Manager level are eligible for participation in the program. Probationary employees may immediately participate in the CWW program, depending upon the operational needs of the work unit.

• Will cross training be provided to ensure that employees have the skills to adequately cover a co-worker’s day off, to cover for key people, and to coordinate projects?

The supervisor of the unit should ensure that employees have the necessary training to provide coverage in the absence of others, and that the work load and tasks are coordinated to maintain coverage on compressed days off.

-4- Units and sections need to coordinate and communicate their respective work schedules and provide coordination for work projects as necessary. Units on CWW should advise the units they work with of their schedules.

When full coverage is necessary, a person of the same classification will be scheduled to cover on the employee’s day off and will do whatever work is necessary.

• What if I am hired into, or move to a work unit or crew that has compressed workweek - do I “inherit” the schedule if I replace someone else?

Because the program is a voluntary one, the employee should be allowed to revert to an eight-hour schedule upon entering the work unit. Depending upon the operational impact on the work unit, reverting to the standard eight-hour schedule may result in the entire work unit reverting to this schedule. This assessment will be made by the work unit supervisor.

• What is the appeal process for employees who are not permitted to participate in the CWW program? At what level does the final decision reside, and is there a different process for represented and non-represented employees?

Employees, regardless of representation, who are not approved for participation in the CWW program, may request that a Review Committee be convened to consider appeals. The Review Committee shall consist of the Department Director over the work unit, the Manager of Employee Relations or his/her designee, and two representatives selected by the appealing employee(s). Arguments will be heard from both sides of the appeal and a decision rendered by the four-member committee. The Review Committee’s decision is final. If agreement cannot be reached by the Committee, the decision made prior to the appeal stands.

LEAVE ISSUES

• What happens on holidays?

1 a: When a holiday falls on the employee’s nine-hour day?

Employees shall be paid for eight hours if a holiday falls on a nine-hour workday. The employee may make up the shortfall by: 1) charging one hour to vacation or compensatory time, or 2) working an additional hour within the same workweek. If the employee fails to account for this hour, the hour will be charged to vacation.

Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA) exempt employees (most Supervisors, Managers) on a CWW schedule will charge one hour to Administrative/Overhead costs.

1 b: When a holiday falls on the employee’s compressed day off?

-5- The employee will be credited with eight hours of vacation, or the employee may choose to receive holiday pay, to be added to the 80 hours of regular pay (a total of 88 hours at regular rate for the pay period). If the employee does not indicate that they wish to receive holiday pay, the holiday will be added to their vacation balance.

FLSA-exempt employees on a CWW schedule and whose CWW day off falls on a District holiday, must bank eight (8) hours in vacation banking (coded “VB” on the timesheet). As salaried employees, they are ineligible for the eight (8) hours of additional pay, an option for others on CWW schedules.

CLARIFICATION: Employees should not convert to a “regular” schedule to adjust for holidays, but rather maintain their CWW schedule.

• What about vacation and sick leave use?

Both vacation and sick leave are deducted on an hour-for-hour basis. Supervisors on the CWW program, as well as other District managers and supervisors, are not required to apply for leave for absences of less than a full workday.

An employee’s participation in the CWW program should not have any impact on vacation scheduling; thus, vacation use in conjunction with the employees day off shall not be restricted, except as necessitated by the operation of the work unit.

Vacation and sick leave will be accrued in the same way as a regular workweek, and in accordance with the MOU and District policy.

• Do employees have to schedule medical appointments on their compressed day off?

Employees are encouraged, but not required to schedule appointments on their compressed day off. Employees should not schedule appointments on the compressed workweek day off of other employees if the employee is providing overlapping coverage or directly participating in related projects. For example, if Sally’s CWW day off is Friday, Bill should not schedule medical appointments on that day if he is providing coverage for her.

• How does the CWW schedule effect participation in the Sick Leave Buyback program?

Eligibility will remain at 18 hours or less of sick leave used during a six-month period, regardless of the employee’s work schedule. The Buyback will remain at 16 hours/8 hours for all employees.

• What about Funeral and Death in Family Leave?

-6- This leave is provided in eight-hour increments. Thus, if one day of funeral leave exceeds eight hours or if one week of funeral leave exceeds 40 hours, employees will be granted the option to a) make up the hour(s) within the same workweek, b) use vacation or compensatory time, or c) submit a special leave request to the General Manager.

• What if I am called for Jury duty?

Jury leave will be compensated per the employee’s work schedule. If called for jury duty and dismissed, the employee will return to work as required. Employees will not be compensated for jury duty that falls on their compressed day off.

• How is fatigue time effected by the CWW Program?

Employees on CWW schedules continue to be eligible for Fatigue Time, as per the MOU with all Locals. Credit for Fatigue Time will be hour for hour.

• Does the program affect Administrative Leave for Supervisors and Managers?

No. Administrative leave is allowed for eligible supervisors and managers for up to seven (7) days per calendar year, irrespective of their work schedule.

MISCELLANEOUS ISSUES

• If there is an increase in tardiness, failure to adhere to designated work hours, or a negative change in job performance, can an employee be taken off of the CWW program?

No. An employee may request a change in his or her schedule as a way to address these concerns, and the supervisor and employee should discuss this as an alternative for correcting these problems. However, work performance problems will be addressed through counseling and progressive discipline, if necessary.

• My compressed day off is payday Friday. Can I get my check a day early?

Payday will remain on Friday, in accordance with the MOU. Using Direct Deposit may help alleviate problems for those having a compressed day off on payday.

• How will compressed workweek interact with Workers’ Compensation?

An employee’s work schedule has no impact on Workers’ Compensation benefits or District expenses for the program.

An employee shall not be compensated for a work-related medical appointment outside of working hours, including a compressed day off. However, if an employee so wishes,

-7- they may work with their medical provider to schedule follow-up appointments and treatment on their regularly scheduled workdays.

• How will a workday be defined for disciplinary purposes?

The workday is defined as eight hours. Discipline will be meted out in eight-hour increments by allowing an employee to work a partial day. If the balance of the workday is less than four hours, the employee may use vacation or compensatory time.

• What happens when meetings or training sessions are scheduled on the employee’s compressed day off?

All effort will be made to schedule training on an employee’s regular workday. Training scheduled for a day off will be compensated per the MOU. If possible, the meeting or training day may be changed, or the employee may request an alternate day off during the workweek, as described previously in these guidelines.

• What is “adequate” supervision? If I am a supervisor with employees on various CWW schedules, do I have to be there all the hours that they are? If my supervisor is on CWW, who supervises when he or she is off?

The supervisor does not need to oversee the work of the employees 100% of their working hours. Adequate supervision includes monitoring employee performance, providing guidance and direction, and coaching employees. Matching the employee’s hours is not required to accomplish this.

If the supervisor is off on his/her compressed day off, supervision of the unit will be handled by a peer supervisor or the next higher level for that day. Work-Out-of-Class will not be provided.

• Are breaks different on a compressed workweek schedule?

Per the MOU and state law, employees are granted two rest periods, one in the first half of the workday and one in the second half of the workday. Employees also receive one lunch period. Employees on a compressed work schedule do not receive any additional, or longer, breaks or lunch periods.