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Model administrative arrangements:
flexible working hours

Model administrative arrangements: flexi-place

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Model administrative arrangements:
flexible working hours

The following guidelines are intended only to be a model rather than a firm and comprehensive plan. We recommend that they not be adopted until the Center has checked every paragraph in detail for acceptability and feasibility. There may be important local considerations not reflected in this model that should be incorporated into the final arrangements.

Centers may add these administrative arrangements to the basic policy statement of their Personnel Policy Manual (preferably as an appendix) or they may issue administrative instructions in the form of a circular to staff or intranet posting at the duty station concerned. Either is acceptable.

Administrative arrangements: flexible working hours
1 Subject to the approval of their supervisor, staff members may have flexibility in scheduling the start and finish of working hours to accommodate professional and personal commitments outside the workplace, provided that:
(a) they are on duty during core hours, and
(b) the alternative start and finish times do not impair their work obligations.
Abuse of the scheme will lead to flexible working hours privileges being withdrawn.

Definitions
Standard working day
2 The standard working day is defined as the working hours approved in advance for the headquarters, regional and sub-regional offices.

Core hours
3 Core hours are 10:00 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 16:00.

Flexible working arrangements
Flexible hours
4 Flexible hours will operate from 07:00 to 10:00, 12:00 to 14:00 and 16:00 to 19:00. Subject to supervisor approval, staff members can:
choose their arrival times between 07:00 and 10:00, and
choose their departure times between 16:00 and 19:00.

Lunch breaks
5 With supervisor agreement, staff can take lunch breaks ranging from a minimum of 30 minutes to a maximum of two hours.

Limits on flexibility
6 The Center’s normal working week is 40 hours. If a staff member is working flexible hours, her/his maximum excess or deficit may not exceed 10 hours in any four-week period.

7 A staff member who is “in credit” (i.e. has worked in excess of the required hours over a four-week period) may request core time off to compensate; approval of such requests lies with the supervisor.

Supervisors’ responsibilities
8 Before agreeing to flexible working hours arrangements, supervisors will ensure that:

sufficient staff is available to cover the entire operational day of the department;
sufficient staff is available for the division or program to provide required services to its clients efficiently and effectively;
adequate work is available for staff members during non-core hours; and
the time worked is necessary for approved tasks to be undertaken, and work can be performed efficiently.

9 Following agreement to flexible working hours arrangements, supervisors will ensure that:

the flexible working hours arrangement operates fairly and is not abused, and
when urgent business requires a change, staff members on flexible working hours revert to normal working hours for a short period.

Staff members’ responsibilities
10 Staff members working flexible working hours will ensure that:

they maintain a record of times worked each day (start, finish and lunch period) and of their excess or deficit within the four-week accounting period;
they meet their work commitments;
their attendance at work is within the limits provided by the flexible working hours scheme; and
they comply with the supervisor’s right to require staff members to be at work at any time within the normal working day when considered necessary according to the workload.