APPENDIX IV
VRWS Guidelines
Introduction:
Voluntary Reduction in Work Schedule (VRWS) is a
program that allows employees to voluntarily trade income for time off. The
VRWS Program is available to eligible annual-salaried employees in the
Professional Scientific and Technical Services Unit (PS&T). Individual VRWS
agreements may be entered into for any number of payroll periods up to a
maximum of 26 biweekly pay periods in duration and must expire no later than
the end of the last payroll period in the fiscal year.
1. Purposes
a. VRWS
provides agencies with a flexible mechanism for allocating staff resources.
b. VRWS
permits employees to reduce their work schedules to reflect personal needs and
interests.
2. Limitations: Eligibility, Work Schedule
Reduction
a. Eligibility:
This program is available to certain annual-salaried employees in the
(1) Employees
are required to be employed to work on a full-time annual salaried basis for a
minimum of one biweekly payroll period immediately prior to the time of entry
into the VRWS Program. Time on paid or unpaid leave from a full-time annual
salaried position satisfies this requirement.
and
Employees must remain in a
full-time annual salaried position during the term of the VRWS agreement.
and
Employees must have one continuous year of State service on a qualifying
schedule (any schedule which entitled the employee to earn leave credits, not
necessarily a full-time schedule).
In other words, beginning with the first full
biweekly pay period in October 2000, employees will no longer be required to complete 26 consecutive biweekly
pay periods of full-time service immediately prior to entering into a VRWS
agreement.
Consistent with the way in which creditable service is counted under the
Attendance Rules, separations of less than one year and periods of leave
without pay of any duration are not counted toward the one-year service requirement
but do not constitute a break in service. Employees who separate from State
service (through resignation, termination, layoff, etc.) for more than one year
cannot count service preceding that break in service toward the one-year
requirement (unless the employee is reinstated by the Civil Service Commission
or Department or appointed while on a preferred list).
(2) Employees
who were eligible for the VRWS Program under the 1984-86 Program Guidelines
continue to be eligible to participate in the Program even if they never
participated in the 1984-86 VRWS Program. (Under the Guidelines for the 1984-86
Program, VRWS was available to employees: (1) who were full-time
annual-salaried employees as of April 1, 1984, or (2) who first entered the
PS&T Unit as full-time annual-salaried employees between April 1, 1984 and
April 1, 1986.)
b. Work
Schedule Reduction: Participating employees may reduce their work schedules
(and salaries) a minimum of 5 percent, in 5 percent increments, up to a maximum
of 30 percent.
3. Description of an Employee VRWS Agreement
a. An
employee develops a plan for a reduced work schedule.
b. Management
reviews and approves the plan as long as it is consistent with operating needs.
c. Jointly
agreed plan specifies:
(1) Duration
of VRWS agreement which may be up to a maximum of 26 biweekly payroll periods
with the VRWS agreement expiring no later than the last day of the last payroll
period in the fiscal year.
(2) Percentage
reduction of work schedule and salary.
(3) Amount
of VR time earned in exchange for reduced salary.
(4) Schedule
for use of VR time earned. This may be either a fixed schedule, e.g., every
Friday, every Wednesday afternoon, an entire month off, etc., or intermittent
time off.
(i) An
employee’s fixed schedule VR time off, once the VRWS schedule has been agreed
upon by management, cannot be changed without the consent of the employee
except in an emergency. In the event an employee’s schedule is changed without
his/her consent, the employee may appeal this action through an expedited
grievance procedure.
(ii) VR
time used as intermittent time off will be subject to scheduling during the
term of the VRWS agreement, and will require advance approval by the employee’s
supervisor.
d. While
the VRWS agreement is in effect, the employee will earn and accumulate VR
credits in accordance with the percentage reduction in workweek, e.g., a 10
percent reduction will result in 7.5 or 8 hours of VR credit earned each
payroll period which the employee will charge on his/her scheduled VR absences.
If the employee’s VRWS schedule calls for one-half day off every Friday
afternoon, 3.75 or 4 hours of VR credits will be charged for each Friday. An
employee whose VRWS agreement calls for a 10 percent reduction and taking an
entire month off will work his/her full 37.5 or 40 hours each week, accrue 7.5
or 8 hours of VR credit each payroll period, and have the accumulated VR
credits to use during that month.
e. The
employee never goes off the payroll. The employee remains in active pay status
for the duration of the agreement and receives pay checks each payroll period
at the agreed-upon, temporarily reduced level.
f. The
employee will work a prorated share of his/her normal work schedule over the
duration of the agreement period.
g. Participation
in the VRWS Program will not be a detriment to later career moves within the
agency or the State.
h. Scheduled
non-work time taken in accordance with a VRWS agreement shall not be considered
to be an absence for the purpose of application of Section 4.5(f) of the Civil
Service Rules governing probationary periods.
4. Time Limits
The employee and management can establish a VRWS
agreement on a fiscal year basis of any number of payroll periods in duration
from one (1) to twenty-six (26). The VRWS contract must expire no later than
the last day of the last payroll period in the fiscal year. The VRWS agreement
must begin on the first day of a payroll period and end on the last day of a
payroll period. VRWS ending balances must be segregated for each fiscal year. The
employee and management may, by agreement, discontinue or modify the VRWS
agreement if the employee’s needs or circumstances change.
5. Time Records Maintenance
a. All
VRWS schedules will be based on the crediting and debiting of VR credits on the
employee’s time card against a regular 37.5 or 40 hour workweek.
b. VR
credits earned during a VRWS agreement may be carried on the employee’s time
card past the end of the individual VRWS agreement and past the end of the
fiscal year but must be liquidated by the September 30th following the end of
the fiscal year in which the individual VRWS agreement expires. VRWS ending
balances must be segregated for each fiscal year.
c. There is no requirement that existing paid leave
credits (including previously earned and banked VR credits) be exhausted prior
to the beginning of the new VRWS agreement. However, agencies should encourage
employees to use carried-over VR credits on a priority basis.
6. Advancing of VR Credits: Recovering a VR
Credit Debit
a. To
accommodate an employee whose VRWS agreement calls for an extended absence
during the agreement period, an agency may advance VR credits in an amount not
to exceed the number of hours for which the employee is paid in one payroll
period.
b. If an
employee terminates his/her employment and has a VR debit, the agency shall
recover the debit from the employee’s lagged salary payment for his/her last
payroll period at work.
7. Coordination with Alternative Work
Schedules
It is possible to coordinate VRWS agreements with
Alternative Work Schedule arrangements when desired by the employee and
consistent with operating needs. For example, a VRWS agreement may be combined
with four-day week scheduling for a 37.5 hour/week employee by the employee
opting for a 10 percent reduction to produce a workweek of 3 days of 8.5 hours
and 1 day of 8.25 hours. Such a schedule would generate savings for the
employee of commuting expenses, child care costs, etc. An alternative work
schedule which applies to a single employee is considered to be an
individualized work schedule and does not require approval through the normal
Alternative Work Schedule approval process.
8. Effect on
The effect of participation in the VRWS Program
on benefits and status is outlined in Appendix A (attached).
9. Effect on Overtime Payment for Overtime
Eligible Employees
Scheduled absences charged to VR credits, unlike absences
charged to leave credits, are not the equivalent of time worked for purposes of
determining eligibility for overtime payments at premium rates within a
workweek. For example, an employee who, under an 80 percent VRWS schedule,
works four days, charges the fifth day to VR credits, and is called in to work
a sixth day, will not be considered to have worked the fifth day and thus will
not be entitled to premium rate payments on the sixth day. Similarly, VR
credits earned, banked and charged after the payroll period in which they are
earned are not counted in determining eligibility for overtime in the workweek
in which they are charged. However, employees who work full-time at reduced
salary and bank VR credits who, as the result of working and charging leave
accruals other than VR credits, exceed their normal 37.5 or 40-hour workweek
continue to be eligible for overtime compensatory time and paid overtime in
that workweek as appropriate.
Sections 135.2(h) and (i) of Part 135 of the
Budget Director’s Overtime Rules are waived to the extent necessary to permit
payment of overtime compensation to overtime-eligible employees who are
participating in this Program.
10. Discontinuation or Suspension of VRWS Agreements
Although VRWS agreements are for stated periods
of time, they can be discontinued by mutual agreement at the end of any payroll
period. VRWS agreements may be discontinued, at management’s discretion, when
an employee is promoted, transferred or reassigned within an agency, facility
or institution, although VR credits must be carried forward on the employee’s
time record.
VRWS
agreements may also be discontinued when an employee moves between agencies or
between facilities or institutions within an agency. (See Provisions for
Payment of Banked (Unused) VR Time in Exceptional Cases below.)
Employees who go on sick leave at half pay for 28
consecutive calendar days, who receive leave donation credits for 28
consecutive calendar days or who are absent because of a work-related injury or
illness for 28 consecutive calendar days will have their VRWS agreement
suspended and be returned to their normal full-time work schedule and pay base.
For accidents occurring on or after July 1, 1993, employees covered under the
Medical Evaluation Program will continue on VRWS until the first day they are
placed on Workers’ Compensation disability leave with percentage supplement at
which time they will have their VRWS agreement suspended, and those who decline
participation in the Medical Evaluation Program will have their VRWS agreement
suspended the first day of leave without pay. Suspension of a VRWS agreement
does not extend the agreement beyond its scheduled termination date. If the
employee returns to work prior to the scheduled termination date of the VRWS
agreement, the employee’s participation in the VR agreement resumes and
continues until the scheduled termination date, unless both parties agree to
terminate the agreement.
11. Provisions for Payment of Banked (Unused)
VR Time in Exceptional Cases
The VRWS Program is intended to be a program that
allows employees to voluntarily trade income for time off. The agreement for
Program participation between the employee and management includes a plan for
the use of VR time earned. Management must make every effort to ensure that VR
time earned by an employee is used: (1) under the terms of the individual VRWS
agreement, (2) before the September 30th liquidation date (see Section 3), (3) before the employee separates from
State service, and (4) while the employee is on the job he/she was in when the
VRWS Program agreement was made. If this is not possible, payment for banked
(unused) VR time may be made in exceptional cases that fall under the following
criteria:
(a) Upon layoff, resignation
from State service, termination, retirement or death, unused VR time will be
paid at the then current straight time rate of pay.
(b) Upon movement of an
employee from one agency to another or between facilities or institutions
within an agency, unused VR time will be paid at the then current straight time
rate of pay by the agency or facility/institution in which the VR time was
earned, unless the employee requests and the new agency or facility/institution
accepts the transfer of the VR time on the employee’s time card. The lump sum
payment for VR balances upon movement to another agency or facility/institution
will be made irrespective of whether or not the employee is granted a leave of
absence from the agency where the VR time was earned. Payment will be made
within two payroll periods following the move to the new
agency/facility/institution.
(c) VRWS ending balances must
be segregated for each fiscal year. Employees who accumulate VR time in a
fiscal year and who are unable to use the VR time due to management
requirements predicated on workload by the September 30th following the end of
the fiscal year in which the employee’s individual agreement expires will be
paid at the then current straight time rate of pay. Payment will be made within
two payroll periods following the applicable September 30th liquidation date.
Requests for payment in the exceptional cases specified in this subparagraph,
as distinct from those specified in subparagraphs (a) and (b) above, should be
directed to GOER Research Division--VRWS Program and will be decided on a
case-by-case basis.
In all
cases where payment for unused VR time is made, notification of payment must be
sent to GOER Research Division--VRWS Program. Such notification must include
date of payment, circumstances of payment, employee’s name, title, number of
hours in the employee’s normal workweek (37.5 or 40), number of days of unused
VR time, daily rate of pay, and gross dollar amount of payment. In addition,
agencies must certify that they have not already used these savings for replacement
staff in other programs or, if they have, identify another funding source for
the payment.
12. Review of VRWS Denials
a. Individual
Requests
An employee whose request to participate in the VRWS
Program has been denied shall have the right to request a written statement of
the reason for the denial. Such written statement shall be provided within five
working days of the request. Upon receipt of the written statement of the
reason for the denial, the employee may request a review of the denial by the agency head
or the designee of the agency head. Such requests for review must be made, and
will be reviewed, in accordance with the following procedure:
(1) Requests must be submitted by the employee
or the employee’s representative within 10 working days of receipt of the
written statement or of the date when the written statement was due.
(2) Requests must be submitted to the official
who serves as the agency head’s designee at Step 2 of the grievance procedure.
Employees of facilities must concurrently provide a copy of such request to the
facility head.
(3) Such requests shall specify why the
employee believes the written reasons for the denial are improper. The request
must explain how the employee believes his/her work can be reorganized or
reassigned so that his/her participation in the VRWS Program will not unduly
interfere with the agency’s program operations.
(4) The designee of the agency head shall
review the appeal and make a determination within 10 working days of receipt.
The determination shall be sent to the employee and a copy shall be sent to the
President of PEF. The determination shall be based on the record, except that
the agency head’s designee may hold a meeting with the employee and/or the
employee’s supervisors if the designee believes additional information or
discussion is required to make a determination. If the employee believes that
there are special circumstances that make a meeting appropriate, the employee
may describe these circumstances in addition to providing the information
specified in paragraph 3 above, and request that a review meeting be held. The
agency head’s designee shall consider such request in determining whether or
not to hold a review meeting.
(5) The determination of the agency head’s
designee shall not be subject to further appeal.
b. Facility-Wide
or Agency-Wide Practices
When PEF alleges that an
agency or a facility, or a sub-division thereof, has established a practice of
routinely denying employee applications to participate, this matter shall be an
appropriate subject for discussion in a labor/management committee at the
appropriate level. Such labor/management discussions shall be held in accordance with the
provisions of Article 24 of the State/PEF Agreement.
13. Exceptions
The restrictions and
limitations contained in these Program Guidelines may be waived by the
Governor’s Office of Employee Relations whenever that Office determines that strict
adherence to the guidelines would be detrimental to the sound and orderly
administration of State government.
Attachments
Appendix A - Voluntary Reduction in Work Schedule:
Effect on Benefits and Status