TABLE OF CONTENTS
Topics | Sections |
1.1 What is the purpose of this chapter? 1.2 What is the scope of this chapter? 1.3 What is the overall policy? 1.4 What are the authorities for this chapter? 1.5 What terms do you need to know to understand this chapter? | |
1.6 Who is responsible for hours of work and leave administration? | |
1.7 What are the requirements for hours of work? 1.8 What are the alternative work schedule requirements? 1.9 What are the leave administration requirements? 1.10 Where can employees find additional resources on hours of work and leave? |
OVERVIEW
1.1 What is the purpose of this chapter? This chapter:
A. Describes requirements and responsibilities for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) employees for administering:
(1) Hours of work, under 5 U.S.C. Chapter 61, and
(2) Leave, under 5 U.S.C. Chapter 63; and
B. Establishes the Service’s Hours of Work and Leave Handbook, which employees must use when determining work hours and leave requirements.
1.2 What is the scope of this chapter? This chapter applies to all Service employees.
1.3 What is the overall policy?
A. It is Service policy to have an Alternative Work Schedule (AWS) program, a voluntary leave transfer program, and a voluntary leave bank program.
B. This policy creates a broad framework to administer hours of work and leave by establishing the delegations of authority for the weekly and daily scheduling of work, approving leave, and, when necessary, changing the applicable administrative workweek.
1.4 What are the authorities for this chapter?
A. Hours of Work (5 U.S.C. 6120-6133).
B. Leave (5 U.S.C. 6301-6391).
1.5 What terms do you need to know to understand this chapter? Refer to the glossary in the Service’s Hours of Work and Leave Handbook if you need a definition for one of the terms we use in this chapter.
RESPONSIBILITIES
1.6 Who is responsible for hours of work and leave administration? See Table 1-1.
Table 1-1: Responsibilities for Hours of Work and Leave Administration
These employees… | Are responsible for… |
A. The Director | Approving or declining to approve Servicewide hours of work and leave policies. |
B. The Assistant Director – Management and Administration (AD-MA) | Overseeing the management of Service policies and their implementation for hours of work and leave. |
C. Directorate members (e.g., Regional Directors, Assistant Directors) | Managing the administration of hours of work and leave, including: (1) Establishing core and flexible time bands or delegating the authority to do so to first-line supervisors; (2) Maintaining internal controls on the hours of work and leave programs; (3) Approving requests for annual leave restoration; (4) Deciding the degree to which their program or Region will participate in the AWS program and any AWS requirements particular to their program/Region, such as setting up core hours or flexible time bands; and (5) Approving requests for variations in the administrative workweek or delegating the authority to do so to first-line supervisors. |
D. Chief, Division of Human Capital, Joint Administrative Operations (JAO) | (1) Overseeing the formulation, dissemination, and interpretation of regulatory issuances and Department of the Interior (Department) and Service policy affecting hours of work and leave; (2) Approving the creation of leave bank programs; (3) Approving requests for Leave Without Pay (LWOP) that are for more than a year; and (4) Surnaming requests for Departmental approval of administrative leave in excess of 14 days that are tied to investigations or notices of removal. |
E. JAO, Branch of Compensation (within Operations) | (1) Overseeing the crediting, accrual, and restoration of employee leave; (2) Administering leave transfer programs; (3) Advising and educating supervisors, timekeepers, and administrators on: (a) Time and attendance system requirements and procedures, and (b) Personnel processing requirements; (4) Advising and educating employees on leave benefits and regulations; and (5) Retaining paid parental leave work agreements and tracking employee work obligations. |
F. JAO, Branch of Employee-Management Relations | Advising management officials on employee or labor relations concerns. |
G. Supervisors | (1) Establishing employee work schedules, approving requests for participation in the AWS program, and assigning overtime and holiday work; (2) Approving requests for leave for subordinates, except for requests for LWOP that are for more than a year and administrative leave requests in excess of 14 days that are tied to investigations or notices of removal; (3) Certifying time and attendance records; (4) Establishing leave and tour of duty procedures; (5) Ensuring employees are informed of the procedures to follow when requesting and obtaining approval of leave; and (6) Reviewing work requirements for changes that may affect the payment of premium pay and revising work schedules accordingly. |
H. Employees | (1) Adhering to their agreed-upon tour of duty, and (2) Adhering to established leave procedures. |
I. Timekeepers | Advising employees and supervisors of leave coding procedures. |
HOURS OF WORK AND LEAVE ADMINISTRATION
1.7 What are the requirements for hours of work?
A. Hours of work decisions, such as approval of AWS schedules, must be rational, fair, and based on legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons.
B. Supervisors must administer employee scheduling in compliance with laws, regulations, Departmental and Service policies, and collective bargaining agreements, when applicable.
C. The standard administrative workweek is a period of 7 consecutive calendar days that begins at 12:00 a.m. Sunday and ends at 11:59 p.m. on the following Saturday.
D. The basic workweek for full-time employees is 40 hours, 8 hours each on Monday through Friday, and without counting a lunch period of 30 minutes because lunch is uncompensated. Supervisors must prescribe specific days and hours of duty for part-time employees.
E. Supervisors must schedule the work of employees to carry out the mission of the Service and establish schedules that correspond with actual work requirements. Employees may be assigned to a tour of duty requiring premium pay.
1.8 What are the AWS requirements?
A. Use of the AWS program, which includes flexible and compressed schedules, is optional. Directorate members have the authority to set limitations for carrying out the AWS program in their Regions and programs sufficient to ensure that employees achieve individual requirements, and that the Service fulfills its mission.
B. Directorate members and supervisors must administer the AWS program in compliance with laws, regulations, Departmental and Service policies, and collective bargaining agreements, when applicable.
C. Directorate members and supervisors must establish core and flexible time bands in accordance with regulations. At a minimum, all flexible work schedules must have at least 2 core hours on at least 2 workdays within a biweekly pay period. The Service does not set up standard core or flexible time bands for flexible work schedules created under the AWS program.
D. When core hours fall on a day designated as an employee holiday or in lieu of holiday, those hours are canceled. The Service prohibits employees covered by a flexible work schedule from working on a holiday or designated in lieu of holiday without prior supervisory approval.
1.9 What are the leave administration requirements?
A. Employees are protected against discrimination and retaliation based on their use of leave. Supervisors must not administer leave in a discriminatory fashion.
B. Directorate members and supervisors must administer leave programs in compliance with laws, regulations, Departmental and Service policies, and collective bargaining agreements, when applicable.
C. First-line supervisors are delegated, through Directorate members, the authority to approve requests for leave for subordinates, excluding requests for LWOP that are for more than a year and administrative leave requests in excess of 14 days that are tied to investigations or notices of removal. If this level of delegation does not meet specific program needs, Directorate members may keep approval authority at higher levels or establish internal controls sufficient to meet program needs.
D. All delegations are subject to the terms of any collective bargaining agreement, and must be within the constraints of applicable laws, regulations, and Departmental or Service policies. All authorities delegated may be redelegated. Generally, authorities are delegated to the level of supervision that has the authority to approve time and attendance reports.
E. The JAO’s Branch of Compensation administers all leave transfer programs.
1.10 Where can employees find additional resources on hours of work and leave? For additional resources please see:
A. 5 CFR Part 610 for hours of work regulations;
B. 5 CFR Part 630 for absence and leave regulations;
C. Departmental Personnel Bulletin 09-14, Alternative Work Schedules, for a non-exhaustive list of available work schedules; and
D. The Service’s Hours of Work and Leave Handbook.