WORK SCHEDULE

WORK SCHEDULE . . . LUNCH PERIOD

Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine, Chicago, Illinois and Local 17, National Association of Agriculture Employees, Case No. 01 FSIP 53, May 23, 2001 (Release No. 440).

The UNION proposed the following:

To the maximum extent possible consistent with work unit staffing requirements and the exigencies of the day, the Employer shall schedule all unpaid meal periods to occur during the middle [two] hours of the employee's tour of duty, unless the affected employee requests otherwise. The Employer shall permit trades for the lunch period among the employees assigned to a particular station.

The AGENCY proposed the following:

The Employer shall make every effort to schedule unpaid meal periods to occur during the middle [two] or [three] hours of employees' tours of duty, workload permitting. If workload/mission requirements do not permit the above, unpaid meal periods will be scheduled in accordance with AD 402.1 (9/22/82) and HRDG, Chapter 4610 (8/92) and will begin no sooner than [two] hours after reporting for duty and end no later than [six] hours after the report time.

The PANEL ordered the parties to adopt the following:

The Employer shall make every effort to schedule unpaid meal periods to occur during the middle [two] or [three] hours of the employees' tours of duty, workload permitting. If workload/mission requirements do not permit the above, unpaid meal periods will be scheduled in accordance with AD 402.1 (9/22/82) and HRDG. Chapter 4610 (8/92) and will begin no sooner than [two] hours after reporting for duty and end no later than [six] hours after the report time. In addition to providing appropriate accommodations to employees for medical reasons, occasional trading of meal periods between employees will be permitted where unique circumstances are demonstrated.

WORK SCHEDULE . . . LUNCH PERIOD

Department of the Air Force, Travis Air Force Base, Travis AFB, California and Local 1764, American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, Case No. 01 FSIP 90, August 9, 2001 (Release No. 442).

The AGENCY proposed the following:

1. Normally, employees will be granted an unpaid lunch break of either [one] hour or 30 minutes as applicable in the workcenter concerned. The lunch period shall occur approximately in the middle of the shift. The supervisor may establish staggered lunch breaks to ensure coverage. When workload or mission requirements require it, an employee's lunch break may be temporarily rescheduled but it must still be reasonably near to the middle of the shift.
2. In those limited circumstances which justify it, the Employer may authorize or continue a paid on[-]the[-]job lunch of up to [20] minutes. However, the Parties agree that any paid meal break is in violation of the law (5 U.S.C. chapter 61) or 5 CFR 551.411(c) where the employees are not required on a more or less regular basis to interrupt their meal to perform duties. Further, paid meal breaks may not be authorized unless a determination is made by the Employer that the employees concerned cannot be given a bona fide meal period (that they cannot be relieved for the purposes of having an uninterrupted meal). If a paid lunch is authorized, the employees shall spend their on-the-job lunch at or near their workstations.
3. 5 CFR 551.411(c) provides: "bona fide meal periods shall not be considered hours of work except for employees engaged in fire protection or law enforcement activities who receive compensation for overtime hours of work under 5 U.S.C. 5545(c)(1) or (2). However, for employees engaged in fire protection or law enforcement activities who have periods of duty of more than 24 hours, meal periods may be excluded from hours of work by agreement between the employer and the employee."
4. Notwithstanding the above and the Employer's right to determine the tour of duty, the Employer agrees that if practicable under the circumstances and not deleterious to mission accomplishment, the Employer may authorize a change to the length of the lunch hour (from 30 minutes to [one] hour or vice versa) to accommodate an employee's preference.
5. Furthermore, even though the Employer may reschedule a lunch break as provided in section (1) above, it is the intent of the Parties that such practice should not occur frequently (except where the employee must be transported to a facility for lunch) and, in addition, that employees who have the need for a fixed lunch period on a particular occasion should make such need known to their supervisor, who will attempt to accommodate such a need.

The UNION proposed the following:

1. The normal meal break on Travis AFB will be a [30] minute unpaid lunch. An employee may go to her/his supervisor and request a longer lunch period. The meal period shall occur approximately in the middle of the shift. The supervisor may establish staggered meal breaks to ensure coverage. The meal break should occur during the same time each day. In those areas where management shows a substantiated compelling need for a one-hour lunch period, management will notify the Union and negotiate with them over this matter. In the event that the award of arbitrator Gerald McKay is vacated, amended, or modified, in any way by the FLRA, the parties agree to negotiate all matters vacated, amended or modified by such action.
2. When circumstances justify, the Employer may authorize or continue a paid on[-]the[-]job lunch of up to [20] minutes. When such lunch is authorized, the employees shall spend their on-the-job lunch at or near their workstation. Any [20] minute lunch break that is determined to be in violation of the law or 5 CFR may be discontinued.
3. 5 CFR 551.411(c) provides: "[bona fide] meal periods shall not be considered hours of work, except for employees engaged in fire protection or law enforcement activities who receive compensation for overtime hours of work under 5 U.S.C. 5545(c)(1) or (2). However, for employees engaged in fire protection or law enforcement activities who have periods of duty of more than 24 hours, meal periods may be excluded from hours of work by agreement between the employer and the employee."

The PANEL ordered the parties to adopt the following:

Section 1: The Employer may authorize any change to a lunch period, if mission requirements require such a change. The normal meal break on Travis AFB will be a 30 minute unpaid lunch. An employee may go to his/her supervisor and request a longer lunch period. The meal period shall occur approximately in the middle of the shift. The supervisor may establish staggered meal breaks to ensure coverage. [Bold in original.]

Section 2: When circumstances justify, the Employer may authorize or continue a paid on[-]the[-]job lunch of up to 20 minutes. When such lunch is authorized, the employees shall spend their on-the-job lunch at or near their workstations. Any 20-minute lunch break that is determined to be in violation of the law or [CFR] may be discontinued. Nothing shall preclude the Employer from discontinuing paid lunch periods where it no longer sees a need for them. [Bold in original.]

WORK SCHEDULE . . . OVERTIME DISTRIBUTION

Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution, Milan, Michigan and Local 1741, American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, Case No. 01 FSIP 82, September 24, 2001 (Release No. 443).

The UNION proposed that:

1. Employees would sign up for overtime in a bound ledger.
2. A separate log would be maintained (together with the bound ledger) showing the overtime hours each employee worked and declined.
3. Both parties would audit the log weekly.
4. Employees with the least number of overtime hours "'to date'" would be selected first for overtime assignments.
5. An employee's cumulative overtime credit would be the aggregate of the hours actually worked plus the hours of a shift he/she signed up for but declined.
6. "[T]he cumulative log would be renewed every [two] years."

The AGENCY proposed that-

1. The morning watch operations lieutenant post a sign-up sheet for overtime assignments for the upcoming week every Sunday, prior to the start of the morning watch tour.
2. The sign-up sheet would be taken down and filed each Saturday night. No changes would be permitted.
3. Employees on the morning watch tour would have the first opportunity to sign up; and employees would be selected for overtime assignments in the order they signed up.
4. To ensure equitable distribution, employees who had worked overtime during the week, though at the top of the sign-up list, would be passed over in favor of an employee below him or her who had not worked any overtime.
5. An employee who rejects an overtime assignment would be moved to the bottom of the list.
6. Management would have the discretionary authority to order mandatory overtime if an employee calls in sick, or requests emergency annual leave or family leave.
7. If an employee cannot be selected for an overtime assignment using the above procedure, management would announce to all employees on duty the availability of an overtime assignment and ask for volunteers.
8. If there are no volunteers, the employee on duty with the least seniority would be given the overtime assignment. If this employee has already worked a "'double shift,'" the next least senior employee would be selected.

The PANEL ordered the parties to adopt the following:

For Correctional Service posts: the M/W [morning watch] Operations Lieutenant will post a sign-up sheet on Sunday each week prior to commencement of the M/W tour for overtime assignments for the following workweek; one sign-up sheet will be used for all overtime assignments; during the workweek, employees will sign up for a specific day/shift; the sign-up sheet must be completely filled out, and will be taken down and filed each Saturday night; staff will not be allowed to make changes to the sign-up sheet; to ensure equitable distribution, a separate log showing employees' cumulative overtime credit will be maintained with the sign-up sheet; at the commencement of each fiscal year only, overtime assignments will be made based on seniority, the most senior qualified employee being offered overtime first; for the remainder of the fiscal year, the employee with the least amount of overtime credit will be selected for overtime assignments for which the employee has volunteered; in the event tow or more qualified employees have the same amount of overtime credit, the overtime assignment will be offered to the senior-most qualified employee; employees contacted for overtime will respond "Accepted," "Declined," or "No Answer"; and employee who signs up for but declines or is unavailable for an overtime assignment will have the number of hours for the declined or missed shift credited on the cumulative overtime log; the overtime log will be jointly reconciled at the end of the workweek and re-posted with the sign-up sheet on Sunday prior to commencement of the M/W tour; the cumulative overtime log will be wiped clean at the end of each fiscal year and begun at zero at the beginning of the fiscal year; the Employer retains discretion to assign mandatory overtime in the event an employee calls in sick, or requests emergency annual or FMLA leave; if a post cannot be filled under this procedure, the Employer will announce to all employees then on duty the availability of an overtime assignment; if no employee volunteers, the employee with the least seniority on the current shift will be assigned the overtime tour; if the selected employee has already worked a "double shift," the employee with the next least seniority will be selected; the assignment of mandatory overtime will also be recorded in the overtime log.