4.22 University Office Hours and Hours of Work

Purpose

To outline core university office hours and hours of work criteria for university staff.

Policy Statement

All university offices are to be open for business during core hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday throughout the year, with the exception of the holiday reduced operations period in late December. Department heads/directors may require office hours beyond the core hours in order to meet operational needs. 

Department heads/directors may approve alternate work schedules within the workweek for individual staff where doing so continues to support, and/or does not disrupt, business needs.  All offices must have adequate staff coverage during university core office hours.

Hours of Work Procedures

  • The University’s workweek is defined as 168 consecutive hours from 12:00 a.m. Sunday through 11:59 p.m. the following Saturday.  The standard work schedule for full-time staff is 40 hours per workweek.  
  • Part-time schedules of less than 40 hours per workweek may be applicable based on university operational and budgetary considerations.
  • Work schedules may vary from university office hours based on operational needs and with approval of the department head/director as long as the office is able to remain open during core hours.  Alternate work schedules, such as a variable starting and ending time or a compressed workweek  are not appropriate for all positions and are not a right of employment.
  • Staff who are required to or request to work at an alternate location away from the primary university-owned/leased worksite on a regular basis, at least one day per week, must reference the Remote Work Policy and have a fully approved remote work agreement on file.
  • Lunch breaks of 30 to 60 minutes are recommended for all staff based on operational needs.  Lunch breaks of 30 minutes or more for all non-exempt staff are unpaid as long as no work is performed. Generally, lunch breaks would be taken between 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. but may vary for alternate work schedules.
  • Non-exempt staff working a minimum of an eight (8) hour shift may be provided up to two (2) paid break periods of up to 15 minutes and each staff working a minimum of a four (4) hour shift may be provided one paid break of up to 15 minutes. Breaks cannot be saved to add onto unpaid lunch break periods or to the beginning or end of their scheduled work day. If breaks are not taken on a given day, they cannot be added to another work day.
  • Work schedule adjustments related to temporary reduced operations or closures should refer to the Weather/Working Conditions policy. 

Additional Resources

4.15 FLSA, Overtime and Compensatory Time policy: https://policies.uni.edu/415
4.26 Remote Work policy: https://policies.uni.edu/426
4.07 Weather/Working Conditions policy: https:/policies.uni.edu/407

Human Resource Services, approved July 2021
University Council, approved November 15, 2021
President and President's Cabinet, approved November 29, 2021 
[Last reviewed and/or updated 11/2021, 4/2018]

Chapter 4: Employment Policies