A compressed workweek offers flexibility and can support work-life balance. The College also recognizes that establishing and maintaining a compressed schedule requires thoughtful planning and collaboration. Below are the key guidelines for employees and their managers to consider when determining whether a compressed schedule during the summer months is an option. Please NOTE: Your Vice President must approve your department’s participation in this pilot program.
Eligible Departments and Positions
This pilot is only available to all employees and departments that do not fulfill emergency and/or positions critical to daily operations.
Core Expectations
These are the guidelines of this pilot program.
Minimum Weekly Hours Must Be Maintained
- Employees must fulfill their full-time hours, whether 36.25 or 40 hours per week.
- Employees must take their meal breaks.
- The number of hours per day, start and end times may vary for each employee and should be planned with their manager.
- If a holiday or other paid time off is taken during a week, then the remaining hours must be adjusted to total the full-time hours.
- Employees who participate in the compressed workweek pilot are not eligible for summer hours (Friday hours end at 3 PM).
Examples of Acceptable Condensed Schedules (all must include a 60-minute break and assume 36.25 hours of work):
Person 1:
- Monday: 7:00 am - 5:15 pm = 9.25 hours worked
- Tuesday: 7:00 am - 5:00 pm = 9.00 hours worked
- Wednesday: 7:00 am - 5:00 pm = 9.00 hours worked
- Thursday: 7:00 am - 5:00 pm = 9.00 hours worked
Person 2:
- Monday: 8:45 am - 7:00 pm = 9.25 hours worked
- Tuesday: 8:45 am - 6:45 pm = 9.00 hours worked
- Wednesday: 8:45 am - 6:45 pm = 9.00 hours worked
- Thursday: 8:45 am - 6:45 pm = 9.00 hours worked
Person 1 with one day PTO (holiday/vacation/sick or personal) taken:
- Monday: Holiday = 7.25 hours
- Tuesday: 7:00 am - 5:00 pm = 9.00 hours worked
- Wednesday: 7:00 am - 5:00 pm = 9.00 hours worked
- Thursday: 7:00 am - 5:00 pm = 9.00 hours worked
- Friday: 8:45 am - 10:45 am = 2.00 hours worked
Operational Needs Come First
Compressed schedules must be arranged in a way that does not disrupt operations. This means:
- Coverage and service levels are maintained across the department.
- The College is able to remain open and operational Monday through Friday.
- Team collaboration and responsiveness are supported.
- Employees must maintain their required number of days on campus.
Availability
- Employees should remain flexible and work with their manager to ensure adequate representation at important departmental meetings is maintained and the department can properly respond to critical needs during the compressed weekly schedule.
- Managers should give advance notice whenever possible if an employee is needed on their scheduled off day during a compressed weekly schedule.
- A compressed workweek cannot result in overtime.
Length of Pilot Program
This pilot begins June 1, 2025, and ends August 15, 2025.
Important Considerations
While a compressed workweek can support flexibility and employee well-being, it’s essential to consider the potential challenges that may arise:
- Longer work days may lead to fatigue.
- Impact on service coverage and collaboration.
- Delays in responses or project progress may occur if key contacts are unavailable.
- Scheduling conflicts for meetings, especially with cross-functional teams on different schedules.
- Complications around holidays and paid time off.
- Tracking time off becomes more complex when vacation, sick, or holiday hours don’t align with a traditional 7.25 or 8-hour day.
- Flexibility may conflict with predictability.
- Confusion or inconsistent application may occur if the guidelines aren’t clear and enforced.
- Challenges for planning meetings or collaborative work.
- Managerial oversight required.
- Managers must monitor productivity, service levels, and team morale closely.
- More coordination is required to manage varying schedules and ensure fairness and accountability.
Steps for Implementation
Vice Presidents must:
- Approve all employee requests to participate in this pilot program.
Vice Presidents and managers must:
- Review team schedules to ensure adequate coverage across the week.
- Confirm that performance expectations and deadlines are met, regardless of the schedule.
- Provide clear expectations for availability, communication, and exceptions (e.g., peak periods).
- Discuss and approve schedule changes in advance and document them if necessary.
- Realize not all roles may be eligible, but clear criteria and equitable alternatives (e.g., flexible start/end times) can help maintain fairness.
- Establish metrics (e.g., engagement, performance, coverage) to help assess impact and inform scaling.