Scope

This policy applies to all full-time and part-time employees of the Department of Justice.

Policy Implementation

The following brief guidelines are provided to help managers and employees in establishing, maintaining and, if necessary, terminating a flexible work option.

• Initiating a Flexible Work Option

  The Employee:

  1. Decide which flexible work option would help you best balance work and life demands without diminishing your organization’s ability to meet customers’ needs. ¹
  2. If you need guidance in this activity, use the Department’s publication, “Work Options:  Balancing Workstyles and Lifestyles” or contact the Department’s Worklife Program Manager.
  3. Complete the form and schedule a time to meet with your manager to discuss, and possibly revise, your proposal.
  4. Based on the meeting with your manager, revise the request if necessary.
  5. Submit the final draft to your manager.
  6. Establish a time with your manager when you should expect a decision from him/her on your request.
• Responding To a Request For a Flexible Work Option

  The Manager:

  1. Meet with the employee to discuss a first draft of the form, if necessary.
  2. Review the final draft of the form.
  3. Determine if the request will help maintain or enhance your organization’s effectiveness. If helpful, use the manager’s tools package to evaluate the request.
  4. Contact the Department’s Worklife Program Manager on (202) 353-9278, if you would like guidance on how to respond to the request.
  5. Complete the form and return to employee as soon as possible (keep a copy for your records).
  6. When a flexible work arrangement is terminated, please note the end date on the original request form and distribute copies to the areas listed on the form.
• Maintaining A Flexible Work Option

  The manager and employee should discuss the criteria that will be used to measure the success of the arrangement. (Think about whether your performance workplan is sufficient or if it needs to be revised.)

  The manager and employee should set up regular meetings to discuss how the arrangement is working and if the criteria are being met.

• Terminating A Flexible Work Option

  A flexible work option may be terminated by a manager at any time if warranted by organizational needs or the employee’s performance.

  A flexible work option may also be terminated by an employee.

  Sufficient time should be given (if organizational needs allow) to prepare for the termination of a flexible work option so that a smooth transition to a new schedule can occur.

• Worklife Program Support

  Works with managers and employees to facilitate the implementation of flexible work options in a way that creates win/win solutions to both organizational and employee concerns.

  Provides advice/guidance concerning the overall Department Worklife policy and the process for requesting flexible work options.

Flexible Work Options - Terms and Definitions:

Part-time - An employee who regularly works a schedule of not fewer than 16 and no more than 32 hours per week.

Job Sharing - When two part-time employees voluntarily share the duties and responsibilities of one full-time position.

Telecommuting/Flexiplace - Paid employment performed away from the office, either at home or at a satellite worksite, for an agreed upon portion of the workweek.

Compressed Work Weeks - Full time employees complete their 80-hour biweekly work requirements in fewer than ten 8-hour days.

Flexitime - A flexible work schedule that splits the 8-hour workday into 2 distinct kinds of time - core hours and flexible hours. An employee must be at work during core hours and must account for the total number of hours he/she is scheduled to work.

Flexitour - A flexible work schedule in which an employee, having once selected starting and stopping times within the flexible hours, continues to adhere to these times.

Credit Hours - Under a flexible work schedule, a credit hour is an hour in excess of an employee’s basic work requirement which the employee elects to work so as to vary the length of a workday or a workweek. There is no limit on the number of credit hours an employee may earn in a pay period. However, a full-time employee may carry over a maximum of 24 credit hours to a subsequent pay period.