Par.

1. Purpose

2. References

3. Definitions

4. Responsibilities

5. Employees Covered by this Chapter

6. Regular Tours of Duty and Work Schedules

7. Special Tours of Duty

8. Alternative Work Schedules

9. Miscellaneous Provisions

10. Exceptions

1. PURPOSE. To set forth Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) procedures concerning the establishment of a basic work-week, hours of duty, and an Alternate Work Schedule (AWS) program.

2. REFERENCES.

   1. Fair Labor Standards Act and Amendments of 1974,

   2. Departmental Personnel Manual (DPM), Chapter 610, Hours of Duty,

   3. DPM Letter 610-2, Alternative Work Schedules (AWS),

   4. DPM Letter 610-3, dated October 24, 1994,

   5. Title 5, U.S. Code, Chapters 34 and 61, and

   6. Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Parts 340 and 610.

3. DEFINITIONS. For purposes of this chapter the following definitions apply:

   1. Administrative Workweek - a period of 7 consecutive calendar days within which the basic workweek is included.

   2. Alternative Work Schedules (AWS) - are non-traditional work scheduling programs consisting of a Flexible Work Schedule and Compressed Work Schedule program.

   3. Business Period - the hours during which an organization must be open to conduct business.

   4. Compressed Work Schedules (CWS) - a schedule that permits employees, within a fixed schedule established by the agency, to fulfil their basic work requirements of 80 hours in less than 10 days during a bi-weekly pay period.

   5. Core Hours - the period of time in a tour of duty that an employee must be present for work.

   6. Flexible Work Schedules (Flexitime) - a schedule where an employee works a fixed schedule of eight hours (plus lunch period) each day, a 40 hour work week, and must adhere to a set of core hours. The fixed starting time may deviate from the business period of the office.

   7. Headquarters - this includes all FHWA employees whose duty station is located in the Nassif building, and the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center.

   8. Holiday - a day established as a legal holiday by statute or Executive Order, and/or State, local, territorial and foreign holidays where local observances would prevent or hinder substantially normal operations of an office or installation.

   9. Irregular tour of duty - a period of work which could not be scheduled in advance of the standard workweek because of the nature of the work required or other similar reason.

   10. Night Work - regularly scheduled work between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., local time.

   11. Part-time tour of duty - a regularly scheduled tour of duty of 16 to 32 hours during an administrative workweek.

   12. "Regular" employees - full-time or part-time employees who have a regular tour of duty scheduled in advance and (1) whose appointments are not limited to 90 days or less, or (2) who have been currently employed for a continuous period of 90 days under one or more appointments without a break in service (34 Comptroller General 235). The term "regular employee" shall not be considered to include any person who is employed on a "when-actually-employed" (WAE) basis.

   13. Regular full-time tour of duty - a 40 hour period during which service is performed by an employee at hours of the day on days of the week which are specified in advance. Allowing for an unpaid lunch period, the daily schedule for full-time employees will cover a total of 8 hours plus the time for the unpaid lunch period.

   14. Tour of duty - the approved hours an employee is scheduled to work on a daily basis. Allowing for a 1/2 hour lunch period, the daily schedule for full-time employees will cover a total of 8 1/2 hours.

   15. Standard Workweek - a period of 40 hours a week.

   16. Working Hours - the range of hours during which an employee may be authorized to work his/her tour of duty.

4. RESPONSIBILITIES.

   1. The official hours of duty for employees in the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Area are established by the Department of Transportation (DPM Chapter 610).

   2. The Director, Office of Personnel and Training will submit requests for permanent changes in official hours of duty (business period) to the Office of Personnel, OST, as required by DPM Chapter 610, 1-8, c.

   3. Regional Administrators are responsible for the establishment of official hours of duty to be observed in their respective regions. Federal Lands Highway Division Engineers and Regional Directors, Office of Motor Carriers, are responsible for the establishment of official hours of duty to be observed within their organizations.

5. EMPLOYEES COVERED BY THIS CHAPTER. The provisions of this chapter apply to all employees of the Federal Highway Administration who are (a) subject to the compensation schedules of the Classification Act of 1949, as amended, or to other provisions of law which fix rates of pay, (b) paid in accordance with schedules of the Classification Act by administrative determination, or (c) paid in accordance with local wage schedules. Employees outside the continental limits of the United States, including those in Alaska, who are paid in accordance with local prevailing wage rates for the area in which employed and official excluded from coverage under the Annual and Sick Leave Act of 1951 (as amended), are not covered by the provisions of this chapter.

6. REGULAR TOURS OF DUTY AND WORK SCHEDULES.

   1. Standard Workweek

      (1) The basic workweek for all full-time employees of the Federal Highway Administration is 40 hours.

      (2) Except when a determination has been made under 5 U.S.C. 6101 (a)(3) that an "organization wouldbe seriously handicapped in carrying out its functions or that costs would be substantially increased," the FHWA will provide each full-time employee a work schedule that meets the requirements of 5 CFR 610.121.

      (3) Hours of duty for employees who participate in an Alternate Work Schedule Program may vary from the standard work week in accordance with the provisions of this program described in paragraph 8.

   2. Official Hours of Duty

      (1) Washington Headquarters. The official hours of duty (business period) of Washington Headquarters employees of the Federal Highway Administration on a single shift basis shall be from 7:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m, Monday through Friday, with 30 minutes for lunch.

      (2) Field Offices. The official hours of duty (business period) of employees in Federal Highway Administration field offices will be established by the Regional Administrators, Federal Lands Highway Division Engineers, Regional Directors, Office of Motor Carriers or their designated representatives, in accordance with applicable laws and Office of Personnel Management regulations.

      (3) Exceptions. Employees eligible for participation in an approved AWS program are subject to the hours of duty contained in that program with regard to both their initial assignment of duty and to any subsequent changes in their hours of duty.

7. SPECIAL TOURS OF DUTY.

   1. Part-time. Where it is not practicable or desirable to obtain or use an employee's services for the full 40-hour workweek, a part-time tour of duty may be established as defined in 5 CFR 340.202. Notwithstanding the establishment of such a tour,additional service may be requested of the employee during the rest of the administrative workweek.

   2. Intermittent or "WAE". When it is not practicable to establish a tour of duty on a continuing basis employment may be authorized on an intermittent or "when actually-employed" (WAE) basis, i.e., on an occasional or irregular basis, as required, without a regular tour of duty. The hours of duty of "WAE" employees who do not have a regular tour of duty will relate to the day or portions of the day on which services are required. Generally, work should be performed within the regularly established hours for the office or installation.

   3. Unscheduled Hours of Duty. Whenever approval is obtained for assignment of employees to unscheduled hours of duty as provided in paragraph 4, the first 40 hours of duty performed within a period of not more than 6 days of the administrative workweek shall comprise the basic workweek, and any additional hours of officially ordered or approved duty within the administrative workweek shall be treated as overtime. When the necessity for unscheduled hours ceases to exist, the employee should promptly revert to the regular hours of duty.

8. ALTERNATIVE WORK SCHEDULES.

   1. Alternate Work Schedule Program. The following is applicable to both the Flexible Work Schedule Program and the Compressed Work Schedule Program:

      (1) Implementation of AWS will not result in a decrease in services provided to FHWA customers or the general public, and will not result in an increase in costs to the FHWA. No office will be closed during the normally scheduled business period as a result of the implementation of AWS.

      (1) Participation in an AWS program is an employee benefit and not an entitlement.

      (2) Participation by covered employees will be strictly voluntary.

      (3) No organizational unit will be excluded from participation in AWS.

      (4) All FHWA employees will be eligible for participation in AWS. Associate Administrators, Staff Office Directors, and Regional Administrators may restrict a class of, or an individual employee from participation in AWS if their services are needed to accomplish the work of the FHWA.

      (5) Participating employees and supervisors/managers have a joint responsibility to ensure cooperation and make schedule changes to meet the operational needs of the FHWA. (In the event that unforeseen work activities occur, such as major projects, meetings or training, employees will be expected to adjust their schedules to meet agency needs.)

      (6) The AWS program will be consistently implemented throughout FHWA. Rare variations in the basic AWS program must be justified in terms of operational necessity.

      (7) The establishment or termination of an AWS program is subject to the obligations under the Federal labor-management relations program as well as any existing negotiated agreements.

      (8) All employees and supervisors of an organizational segment will be trained or briefed on AWS program requirements PRIOR to initiation of AWS in the unit.

   2. Flexible Work Schedules. In addition to the above, the following is applicable to the Flexible Work Schedule Program:

      (1) The program is established under provisions of Title 5 U.S.C. 6101, thus no credit hours are to be accumulated or granted.

      (3) When approving a flexitime work schedule, managers and supervisors need to assure that adequate supervision is available.

   3. Compressed Work Schedules. In addition to the information in paragraph 8,a, the following is applicable to the Compressed Work Schedule Program:

      (1) The "5/4-9" Compressed Work Schedule variation of the AWS program generally will be implemented.

      (2) When approving a work schedule and an employee's regular day off, managers and supervisors need to assure that adequate supervision is available.

      (3) Employee preferences regarding the regular day off will be honored where possible.

9. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.

   1. Rest Periods. Offices may grant short rest periods during official hours of duty to protect employees' health for such reasons as providing relief from hazardous work or work which requires continual or considerable physical exertion, promoting safety by removal of fatigue, providing relief from work in confined spaces or in areas where personal activities are restricted, and maintaining high quality of production.

      NOTE: Rest periods may not be granted immediately prior to or after lunch periods. The aggregate period of rest may not exceed 15 minutes during each 4 hours of continuous work. Rest periods authorized and utilized in accordance with the foregoing will be considered as time worked for which payment of compensation is due.

   2. Lunch Periods. Lunch (or other meal) periods during the work day, of one-half hour during which the employee is entirely free of duties connected with the job, are not considered as duty time for which compensation is payable.

   3. Preparation and Clean-up Time. Incidental duties which are directly connected with the performance of a job, such as obtaining and replacing working tools or materials, undergoing inspection, and similar tasks, will be considered part of the job requirements within the established hours of duty.

   4. Excused Absence. No change in a tour of duty will be considered to have occurred by reason of any period of excused absence specified in Personnel Management Manual, Chapter 8.

10. EXCEPTIONS. Within the limits of administrative discretion permitted to the Administration, exceptions to the provisions of this chapter may be granted from time to time in unusual cases by the Office of Personnel and Training in Washington Headquarters, Regional Administrators, Federal Lands Highway Division Engineers, or Regional Directors, Office Motor Carriers, whenever the facts indicate that such an exception will promote the efficiency of the service.