Summer hours to start July 8
By Philip Denman, March 13, 2019
Green River College will transition to summer operating hours beginning July 8. The general hours of business operations will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Thursday, with the campus closed to the public on Fridays. For a list of individual department, office or program hours, please visit the GRC Hours of Operations page.
In a change from previous years, employees wishing to work on Fridays will have the opportunity to develop their schedules with their supervisors.
According to Shirley Bean, vice president, Business Administration and Human Resources, the change was made in effort to empower employees while providing the flexibility to balance their work and personal lives.
"We know that better decisions are made when we give employees and supervisors the flexibility to work together to meet the unique needs of their departments," Bean said in an March 12 email to faculty and staff. "We wanted simple and flexible. No catch."
While some departments and offices may be open on Friday, many campus services including IT, HR, Food Services, and Facilities will not be available.
Below is a list of frequently asked questions included in the email announcement:
Q: This seems less complicated than past requirements around summer hours. What’s the catch?
A: We know that better decisions are made when we give employees and supervisors the flexibility to work together to meet the unique needs of their departments. We wanted simple and flexible. No catch.
Q: How do we complete our TLR’s?
A: That depends on your schedule. In coordination with your supervisor, you can choose to work 4-10’s, or some combination (4-9’s and 4 hours leave, 5-8’s, or something else). Once you and your supervisor agree on your schedule, fill out your TLR to reflect those hours that you’ve worked and/or taken leave.
Q: Can I work 2-20’s? Do I have to take a lunch break? Can I start at 3:00am?
A: There are some parameters around number of hours worked each day, lunch breaks and start times. Our general rule is you should not work longer than a 10-hour day (plus lunch break) and if you are classified staff, you must take a lunch break. We also strongly recommend starting hours for most staff to be no earlier than 7:00am. That’s because we have Facilities staff and others whose regular start times are earlier so that they can get work done in your areas before you get here. A sample schedule for a classified employee working 4-10’s could be M-Th, 7:00am to 5:30pm with a half hour lunch, or 7:00am to 6:00pm with an hour lunch. These are just examples; talk to your supervisor to ensure department needs are adequately addressed.
Q: Aren’t we prohibited from being here on Fridays?
A: No, but please note that many campus services including IT, HR and Facilities will not be available on Fridays.
Q: I am classified staff. Can I work 32 hours one week and 48 hours the next week if it’s all in the same pay period?
A: No. Because of Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) rules, you cannot work more than 40 hours in a one-week period, because that puts you in overtime status.
Q: Don’t I have to have multiple approvals to be allowed to work on Fridays?
A: No, your schedule (subject to the conditions already noted above) should be worked out between you and your supervisor. If you need HR help, just let us know.
Q: Will my supervisor allow me to work on Fridays?
A: You will need to discuss that with your supervisor. We are encouraging departments to have conversations around staffing needs, and to be as flexible as possible. You do not need HR approval to work on Fridays.
Q: I am a supervisor and I don’t want to work on Friday, but I have classified staff who do. Can my staff work without a supervisor?
A: We are encouraging departments to develop schedules that work for the college and the employee. In general, we need to have some supervisors and administrators here on Friday if we have staff working. That’s because sometimes things happen that require individuals with specific levels of authority to be available. An example might be a power outage, or a snowstorm (given the weather we’ve had over the past month or so, I don’t think a snowstorm in July would surprise me). We need someone on campus who is authorized to act on behalf of the college, however every department does not need to have specific supervisors working. As an example, the Business Office might have people from Purchasing, Accounting and Budget all working on Friday, but the only supervisor here is the Budget Director. That would be fine – we don’t need three supervisors here. We might also not have any supervisors in the Business Office on a given Friday; however in that case someone would be identified as being available if needed, typically via telephone or email. A situation where you might want to have a specific area supervisor present is if you have new employees – it might not be comfortable or even possible for them to work unassisted on Friday. We also have entire departments who work on Friday’s year-round, because the work they do has to happen whether we are open to the public or not. We are trying to make things as simple as possible for everyone, while giving departments and individuals as much flexibility as possible.
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