Additional Q&A’s on the Increased Flexitime Program

If the employee needs the hours to complete the 80-hour biweekly requirement, the employee may request leave or use comp time during the weekend.

As is the current policy, employees should request leave in advance whenever possible. When this is not possible, the employee should at least leave a voice mail message to his/her supervisor requesting the leave. This may be necessary because the supervisor will likely not be at work. The employee must understand that leaving a message does not constitute approval.


2. If an employee works from 4:30 to 5:30 a.m., or from 10:00 to 11:30 p.m., can it be counted as regular hours?

No.

3. Is there a new electronic 690E (for patent examiners) available which does not automatically assign an 8, 9, or 10 hour work day to the examiner?

We are working on this now, and will provide one as soon as possible.

No, you must elect to participate in the program in order to work regular hours until 10:00 p.m.

Employees may be restricted from participating in this program if there is a requirement for close supervision due to serious deficiencies in the performance of their primary tasks over a period of at least one quarter to the extent that the level of their performance would constitute grounds for an unsatisfactory performance rating.

No, you must notify your supervisor in writing of your intent to participate in this program.

Through the end of the first quarter, you can begin working this schedule at the beginning of the first full biweek after you have given notice to your supervisor that you want to work this schedule. After that, you can switch between any of the available schedules by notifying your supervisor in writing. The change becomes effective the first full biweek of the new quarter, so long as you give notice before the beginning of the biweek.

You can change schedules once a quarter as long as you notify your supervisor in writing before the beginning of the first biweek of the quarter.

Yes, consistent with current practice.

You can take from 15 minutes to 12 hours.

No, you are required to update your voicemail and E-mail only if you will be absent for a full day, Monday through Friday (excluding holidays).

12. Are there sample voicemail messages and E-mail out of office messages to distribute?

We will be distributing some sample messages in the near future.

No, this is a different program, and does not replace the pilot programs at the boards.

14. Can I work both days of a weekend?

Yes, although you can only work regular hours on one weekend day per week, you can work one day each weekend (both Saturdays or both Sundays), or both days of one weekend, and none the next. If you have been approved to work overtime, compensatory time, or credit hours, you can work these hours on any day. For example, if you have been approved to work overtime, and work two hours the first Sunday of the biweek, you can either claim this time as regular time or overtime. If you claim it as regular hours (time towards your 80 hour requirement), you cannot work regular hours on the following Saturday, but you can work overtime on that Saturday.

We will post the TRAM hours as soon as possible.