HR Policy and Procedure #70 Attendance/Hours of Work Revised April 21, 2020

Purpose
The University maintains work hours which are compatible with state law, departmental functions, and the maintenance of effective work schedules.
Policy
The typical work week for non-exempt full-time employees is generally either 37.5 hours per week or 40 hours per week. The typical work schedule for exempt full-time employees shall average at least 40 hours per week, and it is anticipated these employees may average more than 40 hours per week.

1. An employee is obligated to report for each and every scheduled working day or shift, to report on time and to complete all scheduled hours.
   1. Being absent from or reporting to work after the scheduled beginning time requires the employee to properly notify the supervisor in advance and to utilize appropriate leaves or to lose payment for time not worked.
   2. The department head is responsible for maintaining work schedules, recording hours worked, authorizing leaves and reporting hours approved for pay.
   3. The University will produce a final paycheck for a staff employee who dies for the appropriate rate of pay for the number of hours/days the employee actually worked.
2. The authority to establish a normal work week is delegated to each associate provost, associate vice president or other designated administrator. Each administrator is responsible for authorization of a nonexempt employee’s work in excess of 40 hours in a single week.
3. The department head is responsible for documenting all absences.

Process
Work Schedules

1. The department head shall establish each employee’s work schedule as operational needs demand. The normal work week of 37.5 or 40 hours distributed over five consecutive work days, usually Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 or 5:00 p.m. is applicable to most staff positions.
   1. The standard work week is defined by law as a regularly recurring period of 168 hours in the form of seven consecutive 24-hour periods.
   2. The University’s official work week is 12:01 a.m. Sunday through 12:00 midnight Saturday.
   3. The University’s normal work day is 7.5 hours. Many jobs are required to work eight hours daily, totaling 40 hours weekly.
      Note:  The standard work week and work day apply primarily to positions which are subject to overtime provisions of state law (nonexempt).  Positions which are exempt from overtime provisions are to be considered subject only to the measure of time required to perform the responsibilities of the job, usually a minimum of 40 hours per week or more.  Exempt positions, therefore, are compensated on a salary basis rather than hourly wages.
2. An employee is expected to notify the supervisor promptly regarding the request for leave when the leave is known in advance.
   1. Authorized leaves shall be in accordance with attendance leaves and other benefits policies.
   2. An employee who is absent from work without proper notice for three consecutive working days may be considered to have abandoned the job and may be terminated from employment.
3. An employee shall not receive pay for unauthorized absences and may be subject to termination from employment as follows:
   1. Failure to report to work as scheduled,
   2. Failure to notify the supervisor, and/or
   3. Failure to present adequate justification for an absence upon return to duty.
4. The Human Resources Office of Compensation will be notified through a Payroll Authorization Record (PAR) of any absence that extends 10 working days beyond the exhaustion of vacation or temporary disability leave.

Work Arrival

1. It is the responsibility of the employee to arrive and report to work at the beginning of the scheduled work day or shift.  Arrival any time after the beginning of the scheduled work day or shift is considered late or tardy for performance purposes.
2. The department head is responsible for informing each employee of the expected arrival time.
   1. For pay purposes only, arrival of any nonexempt employee will be recorded on the basis of 15-minute periods by the following methods:
   2. Arrival before the eighth minute (7-minute rounding) following a scheduled start time will constitute 15 minutes of pay; and
   3. Arrival on the eighth minute or later, within the 15-minute period, shall be considered 15 minutes late and therefore unpaid time.
3. A department may allow an employee to compensate, by additional work time within the same week (make up time), for the loss of each 15-minute period(s) missed.  Departments which choose this practice must do so in writing and the practice must be applicable to all employees.
4. The 15-minute periods which are missed due to late arrival, are to be recorded to indicate the deduction of the 15-minute period(s) on payroll time reports.

Work Departure

1. An employee scheduled to work is expected to remain on the job until completion of the last hour of the scheduled work day or shift.
2. A department may allow a nonexempt employee time during the last 15 minutes of the work day or shift for the purpose of cleaning up personally and replacing equipment and materials without loss of pay.
3. An employee who performs job duties for eight minutes or more in a 15-minute period following a scheduled departure time, shall be compensated for that 15-minute period.

Rest Periods

1. Rest periods (also known as breaks) are 15 minutes for every 4 hours worked. No reduction in pay shall be made for this rest period.
2. Rest periods shall be arranged in a manner that does not disrupt the operation of the department.
3. The rest period, which cannot be added to the meal period, should be taken as near as possible to the middle of a four-hour work period.
4. It is the responsibility of the supervisor to ensure all employees are permitted the rest period(s).

Meal Periods

1. The meal period shall be as near as possible to the middle of the work day or shift of more than five hours.
2. An employee shall be permitted the meal period no sooner than the third hour and no later than the fifth hour of work.
3. Meal periods of 30 minutes are required for each work day over five hours.
4. During the meal period the employee shall be free from all work. The meal period may not be less than 30 minutes, or more than 60 minutes.
5. The meal period is not counted as hours worked, and is unpaid.

Flex-Time Schedules
The University, in its continuing effort to increase effective operation of the University and recognize the diverse professional and personal needs of employees, provides an option for employees to have flexible work hours. Flex-time will take place of the “typical” 7.5 or eight-hour work day, but will not affect the typical 37.5 or 40-hour work week.

1. Total hours worked per week shall equal the current hours per week.  Hours for any nonexempt employee shall not exceed 40 hours per week unless deemed a necessity and is in accordance with this policy.
   1. Supervisors, deans or directors, may work with employees to create flex-time schedules to better meet the demands for department services.  Employees may request flex-time schedules to better meet professional and/or personal needs; all employee requests require approval of the supervisor, dean or director.
   2. Flex-time schedules shall consist of a “core” period (e.g. 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM) when the employee will be on the job each day. This time must support the requirements of the job as determined by the supervisor.
2. The supervisors and employee should review flex-time use and schedules for appropriateness and employee performance 90 days after starting and again on an annual basis. A flex-time schedule (whether supervisor or employee initiated) may be changed by a supervisor or employee, with the approval of the dean or director, at any time with at least two weeks’ notice if:
   1. the schedule no longer supports the needs of the department, and/or
   2. there is a negative impact on the employee’s performance, and/or
   3. there is a negative impact in service to clients and/or customers.
3. Department heads, managers and supervisors shall take the following into consideration prior to approving a flex-time schedule:
   1. Scheduling/adequate staffing,
   2. Environmental and security considerations, and
   3. Operational functions in relation to other departments.
      Note: Information relative to flexible work arrangements can be found at hr.uky.dev/what-workplace-flexibility.

Reducing Staff Hours During Low Operational Activity (Administrative No-Pay)  

UK HealthCare: Please note due to the nature of operations in a health care environment, UK HealthCare employees shall follow the procedures and policies outlined in UK HealthCare Policy and Procedure #A09-080 Reducing Staff Hours During Low Operational Activity (Administrative No-Pay). 

Research positions: During this period, salaries for research related positions may still be charged to applicable funding sources provided they remain in agreement with university and sponsor guidance and agree with guidance from the Vice President for Research on essential research activities. 

Purpose 
University of Kentucky leadership is responsible for being resource-wise to include effective personnel management in times of low operational activity. Employees may be notified not to report for work or to leave a shift before completing assigned hours.  

Should a regular staff employee’s hours be reduced due to low operational activity, the employee shall receive normal benefits as described below on the hours up to the assigned full-time equivalent, regardless of the employee’s pay status. 

Policy 
It remains the expectation of the University that meaningful work will still be provided wherever possible, to be performed remotely in compliance with the University president’s directives.  

In the event of low operational activity situations, an employee may be notified of one of two options: 

1. The employee may be notified not to report to work/perform work; or 
2. The employee may be notified to stop work before the completion of his/her scheduled work shift or work activities 

Note: Periods of administrative no-pay status may result in intermittent reduction of hours, reduction of full days or full weeks of hours. As the work needs may change, an employee may be notified to resume or return to work.  

If an employee is notified not to report to work for an assigned shift or to stop work before completing an assigned shift, the employee may elect to use accrued holiday leave, bonus day, or vacation leave. If the employee does not wish to use accrued holiday leave, bonus day, or vacation leave, administrative no-pay status shall be applied and will not be subject to corrective action in accordance with attendance-hours of work policies.

Temporary Disability Leave (TDL) is not applicable for low operational activity situations. 

When the applicable accrued paid leaves have been exhausted, employees will transition to administrative no-pay status and may be eligible to apply for unemployment. For the first 90 calendar days of an administrative no-pay status, the University will contribute both the employee and employer portion of health premiums if the employee experiences a full pay period of administrative no-pay. If the administrative no-pay status is extended beyond the initial 90 calendar days, the employee would become responsible for the employee portion of the health premiums. An employee may wish to preserve accrued holiday leave, bonus day or vacation leave in order to cover the employee portion of health insurance costs after the initial 90-day period. 

Temporary Disability Leave and Vacation Leave will continue to accrue during any period of administrative no-pay status.  

Process 
A supervisor or unit leader must work with Human Resources Employee Relations to develop an equitable administrative no-pay staffing adjustment plan to serve the existing business needs. The plan must be approved by the Dean, appropriate Executive Vice President, or other designated administrative official prior to implementation.  

An employee impacted by this policy shall have an administrative no-pay absence entered in the appropriate payroll system using absence type “UNPAID ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE 7421”.