DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY OM 690-1-3 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers CEHEC Washington DC 20314-1000 Memorandum No. 690-1-3 30 November 2009 HUMAN RESOURCE CIVILIAN PERSONNEL TIME AND ATTENDANCE POLICY HEADQUARTERS, U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS (HQUSACE) 1. Purpose. This Office Memorandum (OM) establishes policy, guidance, and procedures for requesting leave, determining, approving, and reporting hours worked for all civilian members of HQUSACE. This guidance replaces OM 600-1-2, Alternative Work Schedule, dated 01 March 2002. 2. Applicability. This OM applies to all HQUSACE staff elements. 3. References. See Appendix A for references. 4. General. There are specific limits and requirements in areas pertaining to daily tour of duty, Alternate Work Schedules (AWS), flextime, overtime, compensatory time, credit hours, and travel compensatory time. The following guidance will ensure sufficient coverage of our offices during normal duty hours. Most of the flexibilities mentioned below are at the discretion of a member’s supervisor. For any exceptions to the items mentioned below, the member should see his/her supervisor. 5. Definitions. See Appendix C for definitions of different schedules and type of hours. 6. Basic Policy. The overall policy of Headquarters is to allow employees to establish work hours that will balance mission requirements with individual member needs. Implementation of an AWS must not disrupt the operations or impede the efficient accomplishment of the Headquarters mission. a. The Headquarters workweek is Monday through Friday. Each HQUSACE office must be staffed between 0900 and 1500 hours (core hours). Each member will be at their place of duty during core hours or will be on official leave. b. Tours of duty will not exceed ten hours daily, excluding the unpaid lunch period. This publication supersedes OM 600-1-2, Alternative Work Schedules OM 690-1-3 30 Nov 09 c. Each member is required to take a lunch period of no less than thirty minutes when the daily tour of duty is greater than six hours. d. Each Director/Separate Office Chief has the authority to establish specific policies regarding participation in any of the Flexiplace/Telework schedules within their areas of responsibility. e. Headquarters members are responsible for accurately posting hours worked on the ENG 4704 (Work Schedule Time Record). Timekeepers are responsible for accurately posting the hours in CEFMS within established suspenses. Finally, supervisors are responsible for ensuring this process is followed, and hours worked and leave taken are accurately posted using the correct Labor Charge Code. f. The standard work schedule is 0800-1630, Monday through Friday. g. There are two types of AWS, either a Flexible Work Schedule (FWS), or a Compressed Work Schedule (CWS). Under FWS, credit hours are allowed and arrival and departure times can be flexible, subject to supervisor agreement/approval. Under CWS, credit hours are NOT allowed, arrival and departure times are fixed, and deviation from arrival and departure times must be accounted for using leave. 7. Specific Guidance. a. Alternate Work Schedule (AWS). Any TOD other than the standard work schedule (0800-1630 Monday through Friday), is considered to be an AWS. There are several specific requirements for a member to work an AWS schedule. (1) The member requests AWS. The supervisor must approve, modify or disapprove the requested schedule and notify the member. (2) The member must work designated core hours (less any lunch period). (3) The member must account for the total number of hours he/she is scheduled to work using ENG Form 4704 (Work Schedule Time Record). (4) Flexible hours, for creation of an AWS, are from 0600 to 0900 and from 1500 to 1800. Again, core hours are 0900-1500, Monday through Friday. (5) The timekeeper must create a work schedule for the member in CEFMS to reflect the hours the member will work each day. (6) An AWS does not take the place of overtime. (7) An AWS may be planned and agreed to between a member and his/her supervisor to gain credit hours under a Flexible Work Schedule (FWS). 2 OM 690-1-3 30 Nov 09 (8) Credit Hours may be earned only by members working beyond a member’s normal TOD. Credit hours cannot be earned on weekends, during Temporary Duty Travel, nor while teleworking. Credit hours may be earned Monday through Friday during the following hours, from 0600 to 0900 and 1500 to 1800. Members must have approval (normally verbal) from their supervisor prior to earning credit hours. The use of credit hours must normally be approved in advance, except for personal emergency or unanticipated illness, and must always be documented on an OPM 71. Members may not earn more than 2 credit hours in a given work day. Members who have negotiated to work a FWS with the supervisor may earn credit hours and carry over a maximum of 24 hours to a subsequent period. Credit hours earned that carry the balance above 24 at the end of a pay period are forfeited. (9) Compressed Work Schedules (CWS) are arranged in such a way that members will fulfill their basic work requirement in fewer than 10 workdays during the bi-weekly pay period. Two common types of CWS are a 4-day workweek which allows the member to work four 10-hour days in a week; or a 5-4/9 plan which permits a member to work eight 9- hour days and one 8-hour day with one day off over two weeks to comprise 80 hours worked in a pay period. A CWS is a fixed schedule (both hours of the day, and work days are fixed), may be changed only in limited circumstances (not merely for the convenience of the member), and must be approved by the supervisor. Although supervisors may change or stagger the arrival and departure times of members, there are no provisions for member flexibility in arrival or departure times under a CWS program. Any time an employee is not present at work during the CWS TOD, he/she must account for the time as a form of leave. (10) Employees who are attending training will come off of the CWS for the entire pay period in which the training is occurring. b. Overtime/Compensatory Time. The authority to work these types of additional hours, plus Compensatory Time for Travel (CTT) is documented using Draft ENG Form 6032E (Request, Authorization and Report of Overtime). (1) HQs members must keep in mind that pay caps exist to limit the amount of overtime payable, and, in the exact same way, limits the hours of compensatory time that can be earned by our higher level members. (2) When overtime is necessary, the supervisor will direct the member to prepare an overtime request (Draft ENG Form 6032E) and to work the required number of hours. Generally, such a request must be approved in advance. c. Compensatory Time for Travel. Guidance and references for CTT are contained in the CEFMS Timekeeper Manual referenced in this OM. A quick summary of procedures for Headquarters is as follows: 3 OM 690-1-3 30 Nov 09 (1) A supervisor-approved Overtime Request (Draft ENG Form 6032E) is required to request CTT in advance of CTT being earned. At the end of the TDY, adjustments to the CTT will be made (i.e., an extended delay at an airport, causing additional CTT earned, etc.). (2) CTT earned and used must be posted on the ENG Form 4704 (Work Schedule Time Record) and correctly coded in CEFMS. (3) A copy of the form for calculating CTT (Draft ENG Form 6033E) is attached to the travel settlement voucher and to the ENG 4704 for the pay period in which the CTT is earned. There is detailed guidance at http://www.opm.gov/oca/compmemo/2005/2005- 03-att1.asp (4) Unlike regular compensatory time, CTT earned is not limited by pay caps. CTT is never paid out and is forfeited if not used in 26 pay periods. d. Telework. The DoD Telework policy is the primary governing guidance for Corps of Engineers members. That guidance is at http://www.telework.gov/policies/dodguide.asp. (1) A member may telework with the written permission of his/her supervisor. (2) A written Telework Agreement must outline the days/hours to be teleworked along with the work to be performed. This agreement must be signed by both the member and the supervisor. The supervisor, member, and timekeeper must keep a copy of the agreement in their respective files. A new telework agreement is required every year. (3) A member working at a GSA-sponsored telework center must also access the Telework On-Line Billing System (TOLBS) to register. Questions may be addressed to the telework coordinator. Information is available at https://tolbs.pbs.gsa.gov/tolbs e. Lunch Periods. Any member working in excess of six hours must take at least ½ hour for lunch. Lunch, regardless of duration, will be taken between 1100 and 1400 (within core hours). Lunch period cannot be skipped in order to work additional hours or to leave work early. Since the lunch period is not considered hours of work, if a member does not take a lunch break and leaves work early, that member has not worked a daily TOD and will be charged leave. Breaks may not be added to the lunch period to extend the lunch break. f. Rest Periods (“breaks”). A rest period is a brief pause from work that any member may take provided the supervisor has approved. (1) Rest periods are not to exceed 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the afternoon.