Labor Development Group Blog

SELF-DETERMINED

Clerical Flexible Work Hours Program

Objectives:

Self-determined Flextime is a program designed to give clerical employees the ability to determine their own hours and schedule their own time off during the day. The main criteria is that the day’s work always gets completed. This system is depends heavily on cross-training and job sharing.

 

Flextime Components:

1) Critical & Non-critical jobs

· Clerical jobs need to be split into critical ones and non-critical ones.

· A critical job is one that must be performed during certain times that are generally inflexible. Examples would include: DP orders, receptionist.

· A non-critical job is one that can be performed anytime during the day, or even 24/7. Examples would include filing, adjustments (claims), and some data entry.

· For a critical position to take off time during the critical time period when the job is to be performed, they must have a critical person cross-trained to the satisfaction of the Office Manager. Then they can simply switch blocks of time, performing each other’s task.

· Example: Ann, the receptionist needs to attend a meeting at the elementary school to discuss the performance of her 2^nd grader. The meeting could only be scheduled at 10AM, right in the middle of her critical task. She arranges with Denise, the claims adjuster, to fill in for her from 10AM to 1PM, and Ann agrees to work claims for Denise from 5PM to 8PM. Both jobs are performed, Ann loses no time and does not get charged on the attendance policy since she executed a flextime swap without the Company missing a beat on the clerical performance that day.

· Each critical person should be teamed up with a non-critical person (cross-trained on each other’s job) so they can both readily swap blocks of time. This gives them both the ability to self-determine their flextime.

2) Cross-training

• Ideally allow the clericals to pair up by picking their own partners

§ Office Manager can provide guidance

• All clericals need to be paired – one critical & one non-critical

• Cross-training is done on Company time, but only after the day’s work is completed.

§ The cross-training should not inconvenience the Company or disrupt the normal flow of work.

• Clericals are required to train each other to the satisfaction of the Office Manager.

§ Each partner must exhibit proficiency in the cross-trained job so the Company does not incur a loss of productivity due to job swapping.

3) Self Determination

The normal work week for full time employees is forty hours, divided into five days, eight hours per day. Employees receive a half hour unpaid meal period. As an example, a work day would start at 7:00 a.m. and end at 3:30 p.m. Exceptions would be made for employees scheduled to work four ten hour days.

• Start time must be fixed on the hour or half hour. The employee and supervisor must agree on the start time.
• Change in start time or time off during the day must be pre-approved by supervisor.
• Up to 15 minutes late arrival from the start time will be allowed without attendance violation. The employee has the ability to make up this time at the end of the shift in order to maintain 40 hrs for the week.
• If an employee comes in 16 minutes or later, it will be a chargeable tardy from the start time, even if time is made up and the employee works eight hours.
• Time during the day can be taken, such as mid-day for a doctor’s appointment. The agreed upon work schedule must be maintained to qualify for Perfect Attendance.
• An employee can take time off during the day or at the end of the day and not work the full eight (8) hour day. The time not worked can be made up during the normal work week. Hours worked in excess of eight (8) per day would be paid at straight time. The agreed upon work schedule must be maintained and the employee must work forty (40) hours for the week to avoid an attendance violation and Perfect Attendance.
• If an employee wants a day off in the middle of the work week and they want to work on a Saturday, the employee must work the Saturday before in order to have a forty (40) hour work week. The work performed on the Saturday will be paid at straight time and not overtime. The agreed upon work schedule must be completed for the day in order to maintain Perfect Attendance.
• The work week starts on a Saturday and ends on a Friday. The regular forty (40) hours per week is to be maintained. An employee cannot work thirty-two (32) hours one week and 48 hours the next week to equal two forty (40) hour weeks.
• Change in the work week schedule and shift changes must be pre-planned and pre-approved at least one (1) day in advance.
• Extra hours worked cannot be accumulated for use during the following work week.
• If job duties are caught up and there is no work available, Free Time can be granted.
• If there is continual attendance abuse by an employee, disciplinary action will be taken. Flextime privileges may be discontinued for that employee at the Company’s discretion.
• It’s the responsibility of the employees to trade their desired time between critical and non-critical personnel; it’s not the responsibility of the Office Manager.
• The trading employees must notify the Office Manager in advance of the trade.
• It’s the responsibility of the flexing employees to protect the Company and make certain the work gets done. Office Flextime cannot put the Company at jeopardy of finishing the workload.
• The Company – at it’s sole discretion – can withdraw the program if it determines it’s not working or is detrimental to the clerical work flow.