CITY OF PORTLAND

HUMAN RESOURCES

ADMINISTRATIVE RULES

CLASSIFICATION &

COMPENSATION

HOURS OF WORK AND SCHEDULES

Hours of Work

The City maintains the right to alter an employee’s workday or workweek, and to require an employee to work overtime and on a weekend or holiday. The normal business hours for transacting City business are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, inclusive and the working time of City employees shall normally be 40 hours during each workweek. The Commissioner In Charge may establish not less than 36 hours in a week as the workweek for any full-time employees in their respective bureaus. City Hall and other offices shall be closed all day Saturday and Sunday.

The Chief of the Bureau of Fire & Emergency Rescue may authorize a 40-hour workweek to employees under his supervision who are not performing fire suppression duties.

A “workweek” is defined as any combination of five (5) workdays assigned to an employee for work within a period of seven (7) consecutive days. The beginning of the workweek is the first day following an employee’s two (2) consecutive scheduled days off. For employees having nonconsecutive days off, the payroll week will be considered the workweek.

Days Off

Days off for employees working a 40-hour workweek normally will be Saturday and Sunday. The Commissioner In Charge may authorize other days off where necessary for efficient operation of a bureau.

B.  All employees are entitled to 2 consecutive days off in each workweek. When an employee is assigned nonconsecutive days off, the time worked on the last scheduled day of the employee’s workweek shall be compensated at time and one-half. Example: If an employee is assigned Sunday and Thursday as days off, all time worked on Saturday is paid at time and one-half. Exception: employees of Portland Parks and Recreation who are seasonal or temporary/part-time employees under 860 hours per calendar year shall not be entitled to two (2) consecutive days off in each work week. Such employees shall not be entitled to compensation at time and one-half when they are assigned non-consecutive days off, unless specifically authorized by the Director of Portland Parks and Recreation, or designee.

Variable Workweek Schedules Defined

Compressed WorkWeek schedules allow full-time workers to work all their hours in fewer than five days per week. Common examples of this are:

□  Four 10 hour days with one day off during the workweek

□  Four 9 hour days and one 4 hour day, allowing for one afternoon off

□  Nine/eighty - employees work 80 hours in nine days with one additional day off every other week

Daily Flextime Schedules. A flexible schedule splits the workday into two types of time: core time and flexible time. During core time, the employee must be at work. During the flexible time, the employee has the option of selecting and varying starting and quitting time within limits set by management. Example: Core hours are designated as those from 9:00- 4:00p.m. while flexible hours are those from 7:00 - 9:00 a.m. and from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. The employee is expected to work the daily hour designated under their approved schedule.

Weekly Flextime Schedules. Employees have daily core and flextime, but the flextime can be used within the workweek as well. Example: Employee works 10 hours on Monday and then works 7 hours on Wednesday and Thursday.

All flextime must occur in the same workweek for FLSA covered employees due to the payment for overtime requirements.

Use of Variable Work Schedules

Bureaus may choose to utilize variable work schedules at their discretion. In some bureaus, work schedules and the need for team coordination may render variable work schedules impractical. Occasions may arise when variable schedules must be suspended because of bureau workload, operational needs, vacations or other reasons. When this occurs, supervisors should give employees as much advance notice as possible. The use of any variable work schedule must be authorized by the bureau director or designee prior to its use by an individual employee.

Authorization of a variable work schedule may be revoked at any time at the supervisor’s discretion.

Approval for Variable Schedules

Supervisory approval must be obtained for any variable schedule, including flextime.

How Flextime Differs from Compensatory Time

Compensatory time off is one way to compensate a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) covered employee who works more than 40 hours in a workweek and is entitled to overtime. Flextime is a scheduling tool to enable managers to meet operational needs but also allow employees more flexibility in scheduling.

Flextime within the workweek is acceptable for non-exempt employees. Flextime cannot be accumulated or added to vacation or management accruals.

Holiday Pay for Variable Schedules

Holiday pay will be limited to eight hours for any one legal holiday. If an employee is on a schedule where his/her normal workday is greater than eight hours, vacation or compensatory time must be taken to satisfy the variable schedule requirement. Example: If an employee is on a 4/10 schedule, he or she must use two hours of vacation or compensatory time for each holiday. Alternatively, hours can be worked on another day at the supervisor’s discretion.

Meal and Break Periods

Full time FLSA covered employees, even if on a variable schedule, are required to take an unpaid lunch break of at least 30-minutes. The meal period may be scheduled within the normal work hours to meet the needs of the employee and working unit, but may not be used to shorten the workday except on an occasional basis and with prior approval of the supervisor. A bona fide meal period is a span of at least 30 consecutive minutes during which an employee is completely relieved of duty. A meal period is not counted as hours worked.

FLSA covered employees are entitled to two 15 minute breaks, one before the meal period and one after that are counted in hours worked. FLSA covered employees are entitled to an additional 15-minute break for every substantial portion of four hours they work beyond their regular schedule.

Attendance at Training Sessions, Workshops and Meetings

Required or bureau-paid attendance at work-related training sessions, workshops and other meetings, whether before, during or after the employee's regular work schedule, is work time. Generally, voluntary attendance at training sessions, workshops and other meetings is not work time.

Travel Time

Whether travel time is considered as hours worked depends on the circumstances and must be determined on a case by case basis. See the Administrative Rule on Travel and Teleworking for more information.

Inclement Weather

See Administrative Rule on Inclement Weather.

Rescheduling of Work Days

See Administrative Rule on Hours of Work and Overtime: FLSA Covered Employees.

Attendance

Employees are expected to report to work at their scheduled starting times on each scheduled workday and to follow all bureau specific rules concerning attendance.

Administrative Rule History

Adopted by Council March 6, 2002

Effective April 5, 2002