The University of Texas at Dallas

Human Resources Management

Office of Business Affairs

Summer 2008 Flexible Work Schedule Pilot Program

With the continuing high price of gasoline, the UT Dallas administration has instituted a pilot program during the summer designed to allow some UT Dallas faculty and staff to reduce commuting expenses by working 9, rather than 10, days every two weeks. This pilot program will not be appropriate for all faculty and staff, but will be appropriate for many. Ask your supervisor if you are interested in participating..

Definitions:

Regular Schedule: The normal University work schedule is a nine hour day, with an hour off for lunch, resulting in 8 hours worked. The most common regular schedule involves working from 8:00 AM to 12 noon and from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM. 

FLSA Work Week:  The normal FLSA work week at UT Dallas for non-exempt employees begins at 12:01 AM Thursday and ends at 12:00 Midnight the following Wednesday.

Nine/eighty (9/80) Schedule: This pilot schedule allows eligible employees to work their usual number of hours for a two-week period in nine days. The tenth day, usually the second Friday, is a day off.  Other days may be used as the scheduled day off with the advance approval of Human Resources Management.

Pilot Program FLSA Work Week:  Those non-exempt employees participating in the pilot will work a Pilot FLSA work week, beginning at 12:01 PM Friday and ending at 12:00 Noon the following Friday.  If a non-exempt employee is approved to work a schedule involving a day off other than Friday, their pilot FLSA work week will begin and end on their scheduled day off.

Transition Work Week: Non-exempt employees will work a transition work week at the beginning and at the end of the pilot program in order to convert to and from the pilot program.

How does a 9/80 Schedule Work?

If your supervisor approves your participation in the pilot, you will be assigned to either the orange work team or the green work team.  The teams alternate working a schedule involving eight 9-hour days and one 8-hour day over a two-week period. Initial team assignment will be at the supervisor's discretion. This alternate schedule permits participating employees to have every other Friday "off". Employees are encouraged to arrange routine personal business during their Friday off when possible. Managers and supervisors are responsible for scheduling staff to meet the operational needs of the work unit.

Employees participating in the pilot will work 9 hours Monday through Thursday (10 hours including an hour for lunch.)  On Friday participating employees will work 8 hours with an hour for lunch. Paid time off is recorded in hours, so if you are out all day on a Wednesday, you will record 9 hours of sick or annual leave on your time sheet.

Because Friday July 4 is a holiday, non-exempt orange team members will get their eight hour “day off” by working 5 hours on Thursday July 3 and 5 hours on Monday, July 7.  This keeps their work week to 40 hours.  Any other schedule may involve payment for overtime and supervisors must approve overtime in advance.  Check with Human Resources Management for more information.  Exempt orange team members may take their day off during the week of the 4th of July by working out a schedule that is acceptable to their supervisor.

Unless exceptional circumstances demand otherwise, departmental and University meetings should be scheduled during the business days of Monday through Thursday for the duration of the pilot program.

Daily Start and End Times.  For participating employees, supervisors may approve any daily start and end times that begin before 8:00 AM and end after 5:00 PM with an hour for lunch that allow the employees to work 9 hours Monday through Thursday and 8 hours on Friday.

Sample 9/80 Schedule. This link will take you to a sample schedule for non-exempt staff that implements the 9/80 concept. Please contact Nancy Bowles or Karen Gawley for help in understanding the sample schedule. On the schedule the orange team schedule appears in the color orange and the green team schedule appears in the color green. The orange team FLSA work week begins at 12:01 PM on Friday, June 13. The first day the orange team works a 9 hour day is Monday, June 16 and the first day the orange team is off is Friday, June 20.. The green team FLSA work week begins at 12:01 PM on Friday, June 20, the first day the green team works a 9 hour day is Monday, June 23, and the first Friday the green team is off is Friday, June 27.

Since the 4th of July falls on the Friday that the orange team would be off, the orange team will take 8 hours off at another time during the week. Non-exempt orange team members can work the sample schedule, taking 4 hours off on July 3 and 4 hours off on July 7 without their department accruing any overtime liability. As in any other overtime situation, supervisors may give advance approval of a different schedule, but if that schedule involves working more than 40 hours during the Pilot Program FLSA Work Week, then the employee will accrue overtime.

The pilot program will end for the orange team on Friday August 1 and for the green team on Friday, August 8. Both teams will observe a short transition week in order to return to the university's normal FLSA work week,

Every effort was made to design a schedule that is as fair as possible. Under this schedule both the orange team and the green team will enjoy the equivalent of four days off plus the 4th of July holiday. From a commuter's standpoint, the orange team has one less flex day due to the way the 4th of July holiday fell, however they have the advantage of a longer 4th of July weekend.

Departments that need to adopt a schedule different than the sample, may do so by contacting HRM for assistance to be certain that all FLSA issues are addressed.

Advantages of a Flexible Schedule:

Flexible schedules work best when meeting both department/work unit operational needs in providing efficient and effective services and the needs of the full-time and overtime eligible employee in balancing work and personal life. Some benefits of a flexible work schedule may include:

• Enhanced recruitment and retention
• Reduced absences and tardiness
• Improved morale, commitment and productivity resulting from support for personal work style preferences
• Reduced stress through the ability to better balance work and personal responsibilities
• Improved coverage and extended departmental work hours
• Improved scheduling for peak workloads
• Increased cross training due to some shared job duties and coverage adjustments
• Potential for more office space options
• Potential for improved transportation and parking options
• Uninterrupted time for creative, repetitive, or highly detailed work
• Expanded use of equipment due to shifts in peak use

Points for Supervisors to Consider:

The role of a supervisor or manager is critical in creating a flexible work environment. While the operational needs of the work unit must be considered first and foremost, supervisors have an opportunity to consider an employee’s personal issues, create an environment conducive to enhanced productivity, job satisfaction, and the retention of quality employees.   In reviewing requests for flexible work schedules by full-time employees that are eligible for overtime, supervisors and appointing authorities should consider the following:

• Operational and customer needs
• Type of work and size of the work unit
•  establishing schedules based on customer traffic patterns
• customer interactions, including how communication and customer requests will be handled in the employee’s absence
• consideration for departmental and unit meetings where all staff need to be present
• team structure and participation, e.g. the employee functioning as part of a team that would require a corresponding schedule for team members
• the work unit being able to provide coverage for functions handled by the employee in his/her absence without undue burden on other employees in the unit
• consistency to the extent possible when determining which staff can participate in flexible schedules
• impact on employees whose positions are not appropriate for flexible work schedules
• effective monitoring of employee work that occurs outside the supervisor's regular schedule
• effective communication regarding attendance, work product, and when and where work must be performed
• adherence to federal wage-hour regulations regarding work that occurs outside the employee's regular schedule
• documentation of expectations between supervisor/appointing authority and employee

It is important to fulfill operational needs in order to accomplish the university’s mission. It is also important to our workforce to provide some flexibility in work schedules to help employees balance the pressures of work, family life, and other personal needs. The unique needs of each operating unit will dictate how much flexibility can be provided depending on the nature of the work and individual work assignments. Employees should understand that a flexible schedule must adhere to the business needs of the work unit and as such is not an entitlement. The approval of a flexible work schedule is at the discretion of the supervisor and the department.

We want your feedback.

Tell us what you think about the pilot program! Email any of the HRM staff listed in the Related Information box above.