Alternative Work Schedules (AWS) refer to a variety of schedule options that provide an alternative to the standard workweek. Adjustable work hours can assist employees in balancing the demands of the workplace with their personal responsibilities, as well as help alleviate commuting frustrations. AWS encompasses Compressed Work Schedules (CWS) and Flexible Work Schedules (FWS). Prior supervisory approval is required to participate in AWS. AWS are recorded in the NIH Integrated Time and Attendance System (ITAS).
Compressed Work Schedules (CWS)
Employees utilizing Compressed Work Schedules have a set tour of duty in which they work longer hours each day to complete their total work requirement (for full-time employees, 80 hours per biweekly pay period) in less than 10 workdays. As a result, employees on this schedule have regular day(s) off each pay period. These schedules are fixed and include 5/4/9, 4/10, and 3/13 work schedules available at NIH.
Types of CWS Available at NIH
- Full-time employees on a 5/4/9 schedule work eight 9-hour days and one 8-hour day for a total of 80 hours in a biweekly pay period. This work schedule has one day off each biweekly pay period.
- Full-time employees on a 4/10 schedule work a four-day workweek, 10 hours a day, 40 hours a week and 80 hours in a biweekly pay period. This work schedule has two days off each biweekly pay period.
- Full-time employees on a 3/13 schedule work 13 hours and 20 minutes a day, 40 hours a week, and 80 hours a biweekly pay period. This work schedule four days off each biweekly pay period.
Flexible Work Schedules (FWS)
Flexible Work Schedules allow employees some flexibility to determine their own tour of duty, within the parameters and under the requirements set by the IC. For full-time employees, FWS allow flexibility in tour of duty hours while meeting the 80-hour bi-weekly basic work requirement. These schedules include Flexitour, Gliding, and Maxiflex. With supervisory approval, employees on a Flexible Work Schedule may elect to earn and use credit hours. Credit hours are those hours that an employee elects to work in excess of their basic work requirement so as to vary the length of a workweek or workday.
Types of FWS Available at NIH
- Gliding schedules allow employees to select a starting and stopping time each day, and they may change starting and stopping times daily within the organization’s established flexible bands. Full-time employees have a basic work requirement of 8 hours in each day and 40 hours in each week.
- Flexitour schedules allow employees to have different start/end times within the organization’s (or organization sub-unit’s) flexible bands. On Flexitour, the start/end times may vary on different days of the week but once they are selected, they are a set schedule. Full-time employees have a basic work requirement of 8 hours in each day and 40 hours in each week.
- Flexible 9.5 and Flexible 10.5 schedules allow employees to work longer hours to complete their total work requirement in less than 10 workdays, while also varying their start/end times within the ICO’s flexible bands. The Flexible 9.5 and Flexible 10.5 schedules differ from Maxiflex, in that the starting and stopping and times must fall within the ICO’s flexible bands.
- Maxiflex is a type of flexible work schedule in which a full-time employee has a basic work requirement of 80 hours for the biweekly pay period, but can vary the number of hours worked on a given workday or the number of hours worked each week within the limits established by the Institute, Center, or Office (ICO). Each ICO must establish its own Maxiflex policy and core hours prior to utilizing this work schedule. Please refer to the Maxiflex page for more information.
Key Points
- To utilize an AWS, employees must request a tour of duty change in the NIH Integrated Time and Attendance System (ITAS), subject to approval by their supervisor/leave approving official. Alternatively, after supervisory approval, the timekeeper may update the tour of duty in ITAS.
- NIH’s standard operating hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Flexible hours may be established at IC discretion, provided they occur between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.
- An IC’s Maxiflex Work Schedule parameters may allow work outside of the 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. time frame
- If an employee on a flexible work schedule elects work before 6:00 a.m. or after 6:00 p.m., then they are not eligible for night differential/pay
- If an employee must work on a scheduled regular day off under a CWS:
- overtime or compensatory time is permitted; or
- the employee may be required to temporarily change their day off; or
- the employee may request to change the day off for another day
- ICs may decide that certain days are not available as regular days off under CWS