Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

April 16, 2004

Flexible hours

In recent years, university officials have encouraged departments and units to adopt flexible work periods during the summer, the December holiday break and the March spring break. These flexible work periods were created to help the university save energy and operations costs during times of lower activity on campus and provide relief for employees working in warmer offices during the summer, and they have been successful in both. They also have drawn support from many university staff.

The flexible hours program's success and the tight budget outlook has prompted university officials to continue the flexible hours program for the foreseeable future. Each unit should develop its own schedules during these times with approval from the appropriate dean, director or vice president. The schedules should be determined on the premise that:

Summer Hours (7:30 a.m. -- 4:00 p.m. with shortened lunch break) can begin the Monday following spring semester commencement and should conclude at least one full week prior to the start of fall semester classes.

Winter Break Hours can begin the Monday following fall semester commencement and should conclude by the weekend following New Years Day.

Spring Break Hours can extend from Monday through Friday of the week identified as Spring Break.

As schedules are developed, units need to maintain office hours that:

Serve orientation participants during the summer
Provide daily operational services such as public safety, utilities management, snow removal, on-going research projects, etc. throughout the year
Provide daily operations for previously scheduled public service programs throughout the year
Service customers/clients on a reasonable basis throughout the year

The use of flexible hours during these periods should be considered a voluntary program. Employees who don't wish to use flexible hours need not do so. Those who do must follow established policies for using vacation, leave without pay and compensatory time. Questions regarding leave usage should be directed to Human Resource Services. If office hours are different than usual during these periods, office staff should use phone forwarding, voice mail messages, web sites, office signs and any other useful means to let clients know how they can get assistance.

Source: Office of the Vice President for Business and Finance