Policies and Procedures Section 07: Hours of Work

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7.1 Hours of Work (9-26-2016)

  1. The County Manager has established the standard County workday as 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
  2. The County’s standard workweek is Saturday through Friday. Standard hours per workweek for all full‐time employees are 40 hours. This does not preclude the establishment of specified hours other than 40 in a given workweek for other employees if approved by the Director of Human Resources. For questions about the overtime policy, see Section 4.4.
  3. In addition, the County has established for non-exempt sworn law-enforcement employees, a recurring and fixed work period of 28 days and for sworn fire suppression employees, a recurring and fixed work period of 21 days.
  4. Agency heads may allow up to two 15‐minute paid rest breaks per day to occur within the regularly scheduled hours of work. Paid rest breaks do not accumulate from one shift or one day to another. Paid rest breaks may be used in conjunction with a 30‐minute unpaid meal break, as long as the total does not exceed 60 minutes per workday. Certain employees as approved by the County Manager have their meal break included as a part of their regularly scheduled workday.The meal break and rest break(s) may not be used to permanently alter an employee’s daily work schedule. An employee may, with the advance approval of his supervisor, forego his 30‐ minute meal break on an occasional basis in exchange for a 30‐minute late arrival or a 30‐minute early departure. If approved by his supervisor, an employee may occasionally extend a meal break and make up the additional time by flexing his work schedule to advance his start time or extend their end time for that day.
  5. Agency Heads may consider flexible scheduling, job rotation, and telecommuting (See Section 7.2 Telework Policy) if conditions warrant. Flexible scheduling within the standard workweek may be considered and approved by the agency head or his designee so long as the total number of hours worked within a workweek are not altered. Some examples of flexible scheduling are:
    • Arrive earlier in the morning and leave earlier in the afternoon.
    • Arrive later in the morning and leave later in the afternoon.
    • Work four 10‐hour days.
    • Work four 9‐hour days and one 4‐hour day.
    • Work some other similar permanent or seasonal scheduling option(s).
    • Add time to meal break and arrive earlier and leave later.

    Other temporary or occasional flexible work schedules may include some combination of altered start and stop times to allow employees to have medical appointments or take care of personal business during work hours without being charged leave. An agency head may approve flexible work schedules or compressed workweeks on an ongoing basis only after consultation with the Director of Human Resources. Likewise, job rotation and telecommuting may be approved only after consultation with the Director of Human Resources.

    In agencies where normal service requires permanent work schedules other than 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., work schedules shall be recommended to the Director of Human Resources for his consideration and approval. Examples might be found in agencies requiring 24‐hour coverage or 7‐day coverage.

  6. If an employee is unable to report for work or expects to be late, the employee must contact his supervisor, using the approved/agreed upon method, as soon as possible but no later than the beginning of his scheduled workday, giving the reason for his absence or tardiness. Paid leave may or may not be approved. If an employee has difficulty reaching his supervisor, he should continue attempting to make contact until he receives confirmation that the message has been received and approved. The responsibility to notify a supervisor(s) about absences or about tardiness always rests with the employee.
  7. Hours of work, work schedules, and duty assignments of short duration may be altered under authorization of the agency head or his designee within the established workweek/work period as conditions warrant.

7.2 Telework Policy (05-18-2020)

Teleworking, or telecommuting, is the concept of working from home or at another location on a full-time, part-time, or temporary basis. Teleworking must be approved by the respective agency head and the Director of Human Resources (or his/her designee). In approving a telework arrangement, the agency head and HR Director will consider, among other things, the reason for the telework request, whether the job may be accomplished remotely and whether the employee’s supervisor may successfully manage the remote work. Not all jobs lend themselves to telework. While teleworking, employees must continue to comply with all County policies and procedures.

  1. Compensation and Benefits: The employee’s compensation and benefits will not change due to teleworking.
  2. Work Hours: For non-exempt employees, the amount of time the employee is expected to work per day and pay period will normally mirror the employee’s regularly scheduled hours. A non-exempt employee’s telework hours will conform to a schedule determined by the employee’s supervisor. Exempt employees are expected to work the number of hours necessary to complete their assigned responsibilities.
  3. Job Duties: The employee’s supervisor is responsible for determining the teleworking employee’s job duties and assignments. Employees must demonstrate continued ability to successfully complete their assigned work while teleworking. Employees must be available by phone and email during agreed-upon telework hours and must be available to customers (internal and external) while teleworking. Employees must also be available for all meetings conducted via WebEx, Microsoft Teams or other remote platforms that are deemed necessary by their supervisor. If necessary, the employee may need to be available in person.
  4. Equipment and Supplies: The County may provide specific equipment for the employee to telework. This equipment may be the same equipment used at the employee’s County office and may need to be transported from the office to the employee’s telework workspace. A loaner laptop may be provided when available. Office supplies will be provided by the agency as needed.Any County equipment and supplies provided to the employee must be used solely for County business. Any equipment used for teleworking must be inventoried by the employee’s supervisor prior to transport. All County equipment and unused supplies must be returned upon the end of the telework arrangement.
  5. Expenses: The County will not reimburse an employee for out-of-pocket expenses for equipment; supplies; data, wi-fi connection, or other communication charges (including personal cell phone charges); or other items unless prior approval has been obtained from the employee’s agency head.

7.3 Emergency Closure Policy

  1. Purpose of PolicyThis policy outlines procedures for closing or otherwise curtailing County operations in case of an emergency event (such as adverse weather, a natural disaster, or an act of terrorism). It is designed to balance the need for safety of employees and the public with the need for continuity of County services to the public. This policy will be administered to comply with the FLSA and other applicable wage and hour laws.
  2. Decision Making Authority
    The County Manager is responsible for making decisions regarding the closing or curtailing of County operations during an emergency event. This responsibility may be delegated to Deputy County Managers, as appropriate.
  3. Complete or Partial Closure
    Depending on the nature of the emergency, the County Manager (or his authorized designee) may elect to close or otherwise curtail County operations on a complete or partial basis as follows:

    1. Closed: All County agencies will be closed.
    2. Partial Closure: Only selected agencies whose operations are specifically affected by the emergency will be closed.
    3. Early Dismissal: County agencies, or specific units within, will close before regularly scheduled operating hours.
    4. Late Arrival: County agencies, or specific units within, will open after regularly scheduled operating hours.
  4. Designation of Employees.
    All County positions are designated as either “essential” or “non‐essential” to County operations. In addition, the nature of the emergency event may dictate who is designated as essential or non‐ essential.

    1. Essential Employees: Essential employees are required to report for duty as regularly scheduled during an emergency, regardless of any decision that has been made to close County agencies or alter their hours of operation.
    2. Non‐Essential Employees: Non‐essential employees are not to report for duty during an emergency unless otherwise instructed by their supervisor. Non‐essential employees should follow the protocols outlined below in Section 7.2-E regarding reporting to work and taking leave.
    3. On occasion, the County Manager or agency head may require non‐essential employees to report to work to meet operational needs (for example, to process payroll) during an emergency. In such instances, those non‐essential employees who are required to report to work will be treated as essential employees for purposes of leave and pay. In this event, they will be notified by their supervisor of their change in status for this specific emergency.
  5. Employee Pay/Leave
    1. The following rules apply when County operations are completely or partially closed due to an emergency or when County agencies, or specific units within, operate on an early departure or late arrival basis:
      1. Essential employees:
        1. Must report to work as scheduled. Failure to report to work will subject an essential employee to disciplinary action and use of paid or unpaid leave.
        2. Will be paid at their regular rate of pay for all hours worked and will be eligible for overtime pay in keeping with Section 4.4. In instances where exception overtime is authorized by the agency head, the essential employee will be eligible for exception overtime.
        3. Agency heads are authorized to require essential employees to report to work before their regularly scheduled work hours or remain on duty after their regularly scheduled work hours. Agency heads may also call into service those essential employees who were not otherwise scheduled to work or who had been previously approved to take leave.
        4. Due to the specific emergency, agency heads may deem employees who are otherwise non‐essential to become essential for this specific emergency. Such employees will be notified by their supervisor.
      2. Non-essential employees:
        1. Non-essential employees are not to report to work when their County agency, or specific unit within, is closed due to an emergency event.
        2. When County agencies or specific work units operate on a late arrival or early departure basis, non-essential employees are required to report to work or remain at work for those hours that their agency or specific work unit is operating.
        3. Non-essential employees who were scheduled to work during the hours that the County or specific work unit is not in operation and who do not work those hours may be treated as having worked those hours.
      3. Employees on approved leave: If an employee has been approved to take paid or unpaid leave at the time that the County agency or specific work unit is closed due to an emergency event, the employee will be charged the approved leave.
    2. The following rules apply when County operations are open for operation but an emergency condition (such as adverse weather) causes an employee to be absent to work, to arrive to work late, or to leave work early:
      1. Essential employees must report to work as scheduled. Failure to report to work will subject an essential employee to disciplinary action.
      2. Non-essential employees:
        1. Must use available annual or floating holiday leave or, if applicable, compensatory leave to cover any time that they are absent from work. Sick leave may not be used to cover such absences.
        2. Employees are expected to notify their agency of their absence and agency heads are expected to grant leave liberally in such cases.
  6. Questions regarding the Emergency Closure Policy shall be directed to the Director of Human Resources.

7.4 Holidays (6-16-2022)

  1. County Holidays: All full-time employees are entitled to twelve County holidays per year, plus one floating holiday. Part-time employees earn pro-rated holiday accruals based on their regular work schedule.The twelve County holidays authorized to be observed are as follows:
    New Year’s Day January 1
    Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Third Monday in January
    Presidents Day Third Monday in February
    Memorial Day Last Monday in May
    Juneteenth June 19
    Independence Day July 4
    Labor Day First Monday in September
    Veterans Day November 11
    Thanksgiving Day Fourth Thursday in November
    Day after Thanksgiving Day after Thanksgiving
    Christmas Eve December 24
    Christmas Day December 25

    Most employees are granted time off with pay for days designated as County holidays. Such holiday accrual shall not exceed 96 hours annually.

    In lieu of these County holidays, certain personnel designated by the agency head and approved by the Director of Human Resources may have these holidays added to their annual leave accrual.

    As far as practical, eligible employees shall be released from working on holidays and shall be paid for each holiday. Each agency head shall determine the necessary staffing to ensure essential services are maintained on County holidays.

    Whenever a holiday falls on a scheduled off-duty day for shift workers, another day may be given to the employee unless otherwise covered in this section.

    Whenever a holiday falls on a Saturday, the holiday will be observed on the preceding Friday. Whenever a holiday falls on a Sunday, the holiday will be observed on the following Monday.

  2. Floating Holidays: All full-time employees in authorized positions are credited with 8 hours of floating holiday leave at the beginning of each fiscal year (payperiod B01). This leave may be used for personal religious observances or other personal needs. Such leave not used by the last payperiod in the fiscal year will be forfeited. New employees hired (or re-employed) after April 30 of the fiscal year do not earn floating holiday leave at the time of their employment but must wait until the beginning of the following fiscal year to be credited with 8 hours of floating holiday leave.
  3. In order to be eligible to be paid for any County holiday, an employee must be in a paid status for both the last, full regular working day preceding the holiday and the next, full regular work day immediately following the holiday.

7.5 Daylight Saving Time and Eastern Standard Time

Employees who work a shift that spans the hour transitioning from Eastern Standard Time (EST) to Daylight Saving Time (DST) or from DST to EST will be paid for the number of hours actually worked during the shift.

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