HRDG 4610 - Tours of Duty - Section K - Subsection B

EXAMPLE OF 4/10 PLAN
Hours Worked Both Weeks of the Pay Period:

Hours Worked Weekly = 40
Total Hours for the Pay Period = 80

Full-time employees have a 10-hour daily basic work requirement, a 40-hour weekly basic work requirement, and an 80-hour biweekly basic work requirement.

Part-time employees' basic weekly work requirement is the number of hours scheduled to be worked per week. At least one 10-hour day must be scheduled weekly.

Non-overtime work is work performed during an employee's compressed work schedule and not in excess of 10 hours in a day or 40 hours in an administrative workweek. The Agency determines the hours and days for this tour of duty.

Each employee must have an unpaid meal period of 30, 45, or 60 minutes. The length of the meal period remains fixed from day to day at 30, 45, or 60 minutes daily, but does not have to be taken during the same clock hours.

Note: The manager/supervisor may set a fixed unpaid meal period for the entire work unit of 30, 45, or 60 minutes.

The 4/10 compressed tour of duty consists of 4/10-hour days. All 4/10 tours must be made for an entire pay period. An employee may not be assigned to 5/8-hour days for 1 week and to 4/10-hour days for the other week of the pay period. The schedule must be established by the supervisor. The supervisor has final authority over the established work hours.

The schedule remains fixed unless it is reestablished by the agency or the employee (with the concurrence of the supervisor).

Tours of duty under a 4/10 compressed schedule may begin no earlier than 6 a.m. and end no later than 6 p.m. unless there is a work-related requirement for the employee to work before or after these hours. Work scheduled after 6 p.m. and before 6 a.m. entitles the employee to night differential, (see Section D for more information on night differential).

Tours must begin on the quarter hour (e.g., 8, 8:15, 8:30, etc.). All 10-hour days must begin and end at the same time each day.

When the work situation (including field travel or training) requires, and the employee requests, the supervisor may approve a change in the scheduled day off during the pay period.

Example: An employee's day off is scheduled for each Monday of the pay period. On the first Wednesday, it is learned that field travel will be necessary from Thursday of the first week through Thursday of the second week. The employee requests that the day off be changed from the second Monday to the second Friday; the supervisor may approve the change even though it occurs after the pay period starts.

Supervisors must allow an employee to take a day off each week or order them to work and pay him/her overtime for work scheduled in excess of 40 hours in the workweek. This does not preclude the supervisor from assigning the day off to the employee. Changes to the day off will only be made in unusual circumstances and for the convenience of the agency.

There are three considerations for changing an employee's day off after the pay period has begun:

• The request is work-related;
• The employee requested it; and
• It is not a retroactive change.

When a holiday falls on a full-time employee's scheduled day off, the general rule described in Section F, "Determining ‘In Lieu of' Holidays for Full-time Employees on Flexible Compressed Work Schedules Tours" applies.

Full-time employees are credited with 10 hours for holidays.

Part-time employees are only paid for those holiday hours on which they were scheduled to work. Part-time employees are not entitled to an "in lieu of" holiday if a holiday falls on a nonworkday.

Note: Supervisors must not allow part-time employees to change schedules, solely to entitle them to pay for holidays.

Time spent traveling away from the official duty station during the prescheduled tour of duty is considered work time. An employee may remain on his/her compressed schedule only if the supervisor can assume that the prescheduled tour will be completed. Otherwise, the supervisor must require the employee to return to a standard 8-hour-a-day tour.

Note: When an employee's travel involves more than one time zone, work time is computed based on the time zone the employee was in at the start of the workday.