Article 25 – Flexible Work Schedules

Section 1.

This article is in accordance with the Federal Employees Flexible and Compressed Work Schedules Act of 1982, 5 U.S.C. 6120 et seq.

Section 2.

For the purposes of this article:

“Flexitime” is defined as a work schedule under which employees are permitted to vary their working hours on a daily basis within general schedules of working hours and “core hours” during which all employees are required to be at work.

“Compflex” is any working arrangement that enables an employee to fulfill his/her basic work requirement of eighty (80) hours per pay period in less than ten (10) full work days, and that permits the employee to vary his/her starting and quitting time on a daily basis, subject to core periods during which all employees are required to work, and specified flexible bands during which an employee is permitted to work.

“Compressed workweek” is any working arrangement that enables an employee to fulfill his/her basic work requirement of eighty (80) hours per pay period in less than ten (10) full work days on a fixed schedule.

A “fixed schedule” is a working arrangement of eight and one-half (8½) hours per day with a specific starting and quitting time and that permits an employee, with the consent of management, to alter this schedule for specific needs.

A “part-time employee,” for purposes of this article, is included among employees if he or she works full days but less than 40 hours per week. Part-time employees may participate in the applicable work arrangements listed in this Section.

Section 3.

Four types of schedules will be permitted: flexitime, compflex, compressed workweek, and standard fixed schedules. Compflex and compressed workweek schedules will be the 5-4/9 type only, which permits employees to work eight (8) nine-hour days and one (1) eight-hour day each pay period.

Section 4.

Assignment of an employee to a schedule will be based on the Director’s determination that such assignments are necessary to maintain CRS capacity to respond effectively, efficiently, and professionally to the needs of the Congress and to otherwise carry out the mission and responsibilities of CRS. The supervisor may approve, disapprove, or recommend changes to the employee’s requested fixed or alternative work schedule as required by operational conditions.

Management retains the right to:

  1. make determinations with regard to the elimination of compflex and compressed workweek schedules in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 6120 et seq.;
  2. exclude individual employees or groups of employees from coverage under alternative work schedules or offsite work when operational considerations (e.g., efficiency, productivity, service, or employee performance/conduct) prevent use of alternate work schedules or offsite work for the employees involved. Employees will not have their alternative work schedules disapproved or terminated as a form of discipline;
  3. assign temporarily fixed schedules to employees otherwise on flexitime, compflex, or compressed workweek schedules when such action is necessary to meet the operating requirements of CRS and the division involved;
  4. make modifications, including limiting the number of or percentage of employees permitted to use alternative work schedules or offsite work, because of factors such as workload, vacancies, and schedules of other staff; and
  5. authorize earlier start times based on the operational needs of the Service and personal hardship.

For a permanent change, management normally will give an affected employee and CREA twenty-one (21) days’ notice of such action. For a temporary change, when practicable, management will give an affected employee and CREA seven (7) days’ notice.

Within these constraints management will seek to make assignments where practicable in accordance with employee expressions of interest. Management agrees to communicate such assignments promptly to employees and CREA.

Section 5.

At least two weeks prior to the beginning of each six-month period starting in April and October of each year, full-time employees eligible to participate in a flexitime, compflex, or compressed workweek schedule may request in writing a flexitime, compflex, or a compressed workweek schedule.

Section 6.

Where employees are not permitted to be on flexitime, compflex, or compressed workweek schedules, management will make every reasonable effort to reduce the impact of fixed scheduling, or rotation to provide coverage, upon those employees least able to make alternative work arrangements, and will, under those circumstances and subject to operating requirements, make every reasonable effort to give scheduling preferences to the following: child care or elder care responsibilities and scheduling, education and training scheduling, and transportation scheduling.

Section 7.

All employees assigned fixed schedules will remain on such schedules for a period of three months, unless management determines that operating requirements permit or mandate a different assignment prior to the end of such three-month period. Employees assigned to fixed schedules for a three-month period may at the end of such period be given the opportunity to choose to work on a flexitime or compflex or compressed workweek schedule or to request a different fixed schedule; such requests shall be granted if management determines that such change is consistent with the operating requirements of CRS and the division/office. All management denials of requests shall be communicated in writing to those making the requests. Any disapproval is to specify reasons for the denial. Where fixed schedules are assigned in order to meet specific, recurring operating requirements which cannot adequately be satisfied through flexitime, compflex, or compressed workweek schedules, management may assign employees permanently to fixed schedules.

Section 8.

Employees on a fixed schedule will not be required to sign in and out; however, they may be required to indicate that they are present in accordance with the division or office practice.

Section 9.

All employees on a flexitime, compflex, or compressed workweek schedule will be required to sign in and sign out on the attached form, which is hereby incorporated into this plan. Only employees on flexitime or compflex who are using the flexband in the middle of the day will be required to sign in and out for the lunch period on the attached form.

Section 10.

Employees on flexitime or compflex who are tardy (defined as arriving later than the beginning of the applicable core period) will not be excused for tardiness except in extraordinary circumstances.

Section 11.

Employees who have commenced work prior to the start of the morning core period may not subsequently sign out for the purpose of using flexitime or compflex prior to the start of the morning core period. Employees may not sign out after the start of the afternoon flexband and subsequently return to work for the purpose of using flexitime or compflex.

Section 12.

Employees of the Knowledge Services Group will be expected to work fixed schedules whenever they are assigned to duty in the Congressional reading rooms or Congressional research centers.

Section 13.

Any employee who is detailed or temporarily assigned to another division/office/unit must conform to the work schedule of the new worksite.

Section 14.

The Library and the Association recognize that the normal hours of service to the Congress are 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. during weekdays, except where CRS management determines that operating needs require extended hours of service. The flexitime and compflex schedules and hours for CRS organizational units covered by this plan shall therefore conform to the following:

  1. For all organizational units except the Congressional Services Section, the morning flex band will start no earlier than 7:30 a.m. and the afternoon flex band will end at 7:00 p.m.
  2. For the Congressional Services Section, the morning flex band will start at 8:30 a.m. and the afternoon flex band will end at 6:00 p.m.

Within the flex bands delineated above, offices and divisions may modify their flexible bands and core hours using consultative management.

Section 15.

The Library reserves the right to require an employee to perform work assigned or to require him/her to appear for work when ordered to accomplish its organizational mission. Employees on compflex or compressed workweek schedules who are required for official reasons to work on their scheduled day off shall be compensated with compensatory time or overtime in accordance with LCR 9-710* unless, with supervisory approval, they are able to substitute another day within the same pay period.

Section 16.

Once an employee has established a compflex or compressed workweek schedule, he/she may request in the manner described below to be excluded from participating before the next election period. An employee who so requests exclusion before the next election period shall submit to his/her division chief or office head a written request detailing the reasons and stating the desire to be excluded from a compflex or compressed workweek. The Assistant or Associate director shall give a decision of approval or disapproval in writing to the employee.

Section 17.

Alternative work schedules are not intended to increase or decrease an employee’s existing entitlement to leave or creditable service for retirement purposes. Leave is earned based on an eighty-hour pay period and is to be taken and charged based on the number of hours which an employee is absent from the approved schedule of duty.

Section 18.

Holiday entitlements for employees working on compflex or compressed workweek will be based on the individual schedule for the day on which the holiday falls. If the observance of a holiday falls on an employee’s non-workday and the employee’s non-workday is a Monday, then the Tuesday following the observance becomes the non-workday. If the observance falls on the employee’s non-workday and the non-workday is any day other than a Monday, the day preceding the observance becomes the non-workday.

Section 19.

Overtime for employees participating in compflex or compressed workweek is defined as that work or duty time in excess of nine hours in a nine-hour day or eight hours in an eight-hour day or more than eighty hours in a pay period, that is specifically ordered and approved by management in accordance with applicable provisions of law.

Section 20.

When an employee participating in compflex or compressed workweek is on travel, work-related injury status, military leave, jury duty, or training away from the agency, the employee’s schedule will revert back to ten eight-hour days for the pay period in which the special status occurs.

Section 21.

At management’s sole discretion, temporary employees and other employees in their probationary period may be assigned a fixed schedule.

Section 22.

Management may also, at its sole discretion, exclude individual employees or groups of employees from coverage under alternative work schedules or offsite work when:

  1. The employee(s) need close supervision because of disciplinary, conduct, or performance-related considerations; or
  2. The employee(s) have abused flexitime, compflex, compressed workweek, or offsite work and as a result have been subjected to a warning and/or to disciplinary action, when determined appropriate.

Section 23.

The parties acknowledge that the practice and continuance of alternative work schedules is subject to its effect on productivity, public service operations, or increased cost to the Library. Alternative work schedules may be terminated in whole or in part in accordance with applicable law, including 5 U.S.C. 6131.

Section 24. Right to Request Compensatory Time When Operational Needs Require

When the operational needs of the Service require an employee to work in excess of his or her basic work requirement, the employee may request such work to be compensated by an equal amount of time off.

Requests to earn and use such time must be made and approved in advance. An employee still retains the right to request overtime.

Section 25. Offsite Work

  1. Purpose. It is the Library’s policy that all Library staff members shall normally perform their regular or work-related duties at their assigned duty stations within the Library. Staff may be granted the opportunity to work offsite so long as such offsite work is consistent with the mission of the Service to provide Congress with timely information and policy analysis in support of its legislative and oversight activities. The opportunity to work offsite is at management’s discretion and may be terminated at management’s discretion. The Director retains authority to determine the appropriate conditions for staff working offsite.

  2. Definitions

    “Episodic offsite work” is a working arrangement between the employee and the employing division/office whereby the employee works at an alternative worksite on a short-term episodic basis.

    “Alternative worksite” is a location other than the Library of Congress from which an employee may work offsite (e.g., residence or telecommuting center).

  3. Requests for Episodic Offsite Work

    1. Employees may request short-term, episodic offsite work for the following purposes:

      1. health reasons; or
      2. emergency (area-wide, agency, or individual, including weather-related).

    2. For episodic offsite work for health reasons, the employee must complete the appropriate agency form and have it approved.
    3. For episodic offsite work for emergency reasons, the request must meet the following condition:An essential CRS special project or work assignment must be accomplished to meet a deadline. Associate or Assistant Directors will grant approvals for this work offsite only when necessary to support the timely accomplishment of the operational needs of the Service.
    4. The Director or designee may determine that a significant weather-related event has occurred or will occur which is the basis for an exception to the condition for episodic offsite work provided in this Section. Under this circumstance, an employee may submit a request to the supervisor to perform episodic offsite work at their approved alternative worksite. To receive approval, the employee must have and be able to perform agency work.

  4. Conditions for Offsite Work

    Advanced approval for working offsite during regular work hours may be granted when the following conditions are met and documented:

    1. The supervisor has determined that the work to be done can be accomplished efficiently and effectively offsite.
    2. The supervisor can estimate the approximate amount of time required to do the work.
    3. The supervisor can ascertain, through appropriate verification from the staff member, that the work was in fact performed at a fully acceptable level.
    4. The work can be performed offsite at no increased risk to the security of information or to the Library’s network.
    5. Working offsite will not result in additional expenses to the Library (e.g., computer hardware, software, telecommunications, staff maintenance, and support) that are not offset by increased savings resulting from the offsite work.
    6. Absence from the official office will not have a negative impact on the level of service provided (e.g., face-to-face contact with colleagues or congressional clients, access to research materials, responses to rush requests that an employee normally fields, or internal meetings).

  5. Supervisors are authorized to request staff members to work overtime or compensatory time offsite only when the following conditions are met.

    1. The four conditions set out under paragraph C above are met.
    2. The duties to be performed are basically a continuation of the regular duties of the staff member.
    3. Performance of such duties offsite is of immediate benefit to the Library.
    4. The work to be performed and the maximum hours to be used for such work are officially approved in advance by the Associate or Assistant Director.

  6. Operating Principles

    1. Participation in offsite work shall not change an employee’s flexitime, compressed workweek, compflex, or fixed schedule status.
    2. The rules and policies governing the employee’s time, attendance, and the requesting of overtime, compensatory time, and leave are unchanged by participation in offsite work. Employees must obtain supervisory approval before taking leave in accordance with prescribed office procedures and applicable law, rules, and regulations. All overtime must be approved in advance by the appropriate supervisor. If the employee works overtime that has been directed and/or approved in advance, the employee will be compensated in accordance with applicable law, rule, or regulation.
    3. Library-owned equipment will be serviced and maintained by the Library. Employee-owned equipment will be serviced and maintained by the employee.
    4. Provided the employee is given at least 24 hours’ advance notice, and the Library has reasonable cause to believe that hazardous working conditions exist, an inspection by the Library of the employee’s home worksite may be conducted during the employee’s normal working hours to ensure proper maintenance of Library-owned property and worksite conformance with health and safety standards.
    5. Employees must make a reasonable attempt to ensure a safe and healthy work environment.
    6. The Library will not be liable for damages to an employee’s personal or real property during the course of performance of official duties or while using Library equipment in the employee’s residence, except to the extent the Library is liable under current federal law.
    7. The Library will not be responsible for operating costs, home maintenance, or any other incidental cost whatsoever (e.g., utilities) associated with the use of the employee’s residence. By participating in offsite work, the employee does not relinquish any entitlement to reimbursement for authorized expenses incurred while conducting business for the Library, as provided for by statute and implementing regulations.
    8. Injuries that arise in the performance of duty at the alternative worksite are subject to the Federal Employees Compensation Act.

  7. Procedures

    1. When requesting episodic offsite work, any staff member shall submit to his or her immediate supervisor a CRS Request/Authorization for Episodic Offsite Work. The request must specify the work to be done offsite and the reason(s) for the request. The immediate supervisor shall forward the request with a recommendation to the Associate or Assistant Director for prompt consideration
    2. If the request is denied at any point during the approval process, the staff member shall be notified promptly.
    3. Employees requesting to work offsite for health reasons shall submit a CRS Request/Authorization for Offsite Work for Health Reasons to their supervisor. Within three workdays of submission of this form, the employee and his or her supervisor will meet to discuss and review the request. Management’s decision shall be provided to the employee within ten (10) workdays of the request.

  8. Suspension and Termination. Management reserves the right to suspend temporarily or to terminate an offsite work arrangement when such action is necessary to meet the operating requirements of the division/office, when the conditions for offsite work are no longer met, or when an employee does not conform with the terms of the authorization. Any decision to suspend or terminate the offsite work agreement must be in writing and indicate the reason(s) for the suspension or termination.

Section 26.

  1. Definition. The term “Credit Hours” means any hours within a flexible schedule which are in excess of a staff member’s basic work requirement and which the staff member elects to work so as to vary the length of a work week or work day. Such work is compensated by an equal amount of time off (i.e., one (1) hour of work in excess of the employee’s regularly scheduled tour of duty is compensated by one (1) hour off on a subsequent work day).

    Work performed for credit hours is distinguished from overtime work (paid or compensatory), which is ordered or directed by management. Work performed to earn credit hours is not compensated as, nor is it subject to the rules and regulations governing, overtime work.

    It is not the intent that employees use credit hours to create unauthorized schedules. As an example, an employee cannot regularly earn credit hours to take an additional day off each week.

    The opportunity to earn credit hours shall not be used either as a reward or punishment.

  2. Approval. Approval to earn and use credit hours must be requested and given in advance. Supervisors will consider operational requirements when considering requests to earn credit hours. Employees who need close supervision because of disciplinary- or performance-related considerations may be excluded from earning credit hours.

  3. Earning and Using Credit Hours. Full-time employees may earn up to twelve (12) credit hours per pay period and carry over up to twelve (12) hours per pay period except where the Library demonstrates operational needs.

    Part-time employees may earn up to six (6) credit hours per pay period, upon approval of the supervisor, and carry over six (6) hours, when necessary.

    Employees earn credit hours in an initial increment of thirty (30) minutes and in fifteen (15)-minute increments thereafter.

    Employees working for credit hours may not work more than eleven (11) total hours in a workday.

    Employees may earn credit hours during the flexible bands.

    Management may require the employee to work overtime instead of credit hours.

    Credit hours are to be used in the same manner as annual leave. Normally, credit hours must be used before compensatory leave and annual leave.

    The Library retains the right to terminate the credit hours program in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 6122 and 5 U.S.C. 6131 (Flexible and Compressed Work Schedules). The Library will bear the burden of showing that the program is likely to have an adverse agency impact.

  4. Changes to the Number of Credit Hours. Two years after the execution of this agreement, the parties will meet and discuss credit hours under this section. At that time, either party reserves the right to reopen this section solely for the purpose of bargaining over the number of credit hours.

Section 27.

Any complaint concerning the violation, misinterpretation, or misapplication of this article shall be grievable under Article 31 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Library of Congress and CREA, subject to management rights as set forth in the Collective Bargaining Agreement and this article.

*LCR 9-710 was formerly LCR 2013, “Pay Administration”.