Supervisors and/or department heads have the authority to approve flexible hours. At present, these bills are still under consideration by the state legislature. The bills have been sent to committee, where they can hear evidence for or against the bill before voting on it. The introduction of these bills will be seen by some as a recognition that flexible work arrangements can be more comfortable and even preferable for both employers and employees. Before the start of the overtime increase from 1 January 2019 (for employers with more than 25 employees) or.dem 1. January 2022 (for employers with 25 or fewer employees) one and a half times the employee`s regular wage rate for all hours of more than 10 hours of a work day and for the first eight hours of the seventh (7th) consecutive working day of a work week, and twice the employee`s regular wage rate for all hours worked by more than eight hours on the seventh (7th) business day consecutive of one week of work. In addition, an employer may inform its employees that it is willing to consider employee requests for a flexible work schedule chosen by the employee, but employers would be prohibited from applying with the promise of employment benefits or threatening to harm employment. AB 230 would create an additional exception to the eight-hour overtime rule The employee initiates the request for flexible hours by submitting a formal proposal to his/her supervisor and/or department head. “At its core, Workflex aims to improve business outcomes by giving people more control over their work hours and schedules,” says SHRM. Clause four of the bill would add section 511.5 of the Labour Code to allow a single non-exempt worker to work up to 10 hours per working day without overtime pay, provided that the employee requests this schedule in writing and the employer approves the request. In addition, flexible working hours should include the following provisions: The third section of the bill would amend section 510 of the Labour Code to create an additional exception to the eight-hour overtime rule rule to include flexible work schedules chosen by employees adopted pursuant to that law.

A group or department of your employees came to you with a simple request: you want to use the overtime they accumulate each month as a “flexible” day off. Easy, right? False. Your employees are asking for a flexible day each month, instead of being paid overtime, if granted, it would violate California law. However, employees may receive either compensatory time off (CTO) for overtime worked or another workweek schedule to achieve a similar goal. To effectively implement a CTO agreement, the employee and employer must reach a written agreement before the employee works the overtime that counts for the CTO. In addition, all of the following criteria must be applied:1. CTO can only be available for daily overtime. CTO cannot be used for weekly overtime (more than 40 hours per week). Therefore, the CTO is not available to employees who are not eligible to receive daily overtime.2. The CTO can only be taken during the pay period in which the overtime was worked. It cannot be carried over to the next payment period. (See 1 above: If carried forward to the second week of a pay period, the employer must still pay overtime for more than 40 hours worked in the first week.

It is therefore often easier to require the employee to take the CTO in the same week that it is earned.) 3. CTO are calculated at the premium rate at which overtime would be paid (for example, if the applicable overtime rate is 1.5 times the hourly rate, 1.5 hours of CTO are available for those hours; if the overtime rate is double the hourly rate, two CTO hours are available for those hours). 4. If the CTO is not employed during the pay period in which the overtime was worked, the CTO is paid as overtime pay.5. It is advisable that each employee acknowledge that the request for a CTO is not a guarantee that it will be granted, and that employees cannot rely on his agreement. While an employer may want to review CTO requests, it is not always possible to meet them given the needs of the business. The decision to grant a CTO should be left to the discretion of the employer.6. CTO can be used in exchange for a maximum of 240 hours of overtime per year.7.

An employee`s request to the CTO can be revoked at any time. On the other hand, you might consider setting up an alternative work week schedule for these employees. This would give workers leave on certain days, in exchange for longer hours on other days on a regular schedule, and allow employees to work more on certain days and fewer days in the same work week. However, as with the CTO, you must still meet the requirement that overtime must be paid for all hours greater than 40 hours in a work week. If installed in accordance with the voting procedure described below, a regular alternative work schedule not exceeding 10 hours per day may be maintained during a 40-hour week without payment of overtime pay. A replacement work week agreement adopted may not provide for a shift of less than four hours. Overtime must also be paid to employees who work more than 10 hours per day and to those who work less than scheduled hours at the request of the employer. The following guidelines are intended to assist employees in developing flexible scheduling arrangements that are fair, clear and mutually beneficial to the unit or department and the employee. Employees and supervisors are expected to follow these principles when administering flexible hours. Other states that impose daily overtime requirements also allow both the employer and employee to waive the eight-hour daily overtime requirement, essentially by written agreement.

A survey by the Society for Human Resource Management found that 91% of HR professionals agree that flexible work arrangements have a positive impact on employee engagement, job satisfaction and retention. The second section of the bill would include eight legislative statements and explanations, including the fact that California`s overtime laws make it difficult for most employers to reach an agreement with an individual employee to allow for flexible work schedules. In addition, existing state law does not allow an employer to allow an individual employee to choose a flexible work schedule. Assembly Bill 230 (the Workplace Flexibility Act 2021) and Assembly Bill 1028 (the Telework Flexibility Act 2021), introduced in February, would give hourly employees the right to request flexible working hours for up to four 10-hour days per week. With this request, the employer would not have to pay overtime for the 9th and 10th hours of work per day in this grid. In addition, the Telecommuting Flexibility Act of 2021 would give remote workers more flexibility in scheduling their meal and rest times. According to Corporate Voices for Working Families and WFD Consulting, an in-depth study of five organizations that allow their non-exempt employees flexibility in their schedules found that employee engagement was 55% higher and burnout and stress decreased by 57%. On the seventh (7th) consecutive working day of a work week, overtime pay is not required if the total number of hours worked in that work week does not exceed 30 and the total number of hours worked in a work day does not exceed six. Operational requirements, staffing models, space considerations, and health and safety issues may preclude a request for flexible hours. If a flexible work schedule chosen by the employee is introduced, the employer would be required to pay overtime at one and a half times the employee`s regular wage rate for all hours worked more than 40 hours per work week or more than 10 hours per working day, whichever is greater.

Women and low-income workers have suffered the most from the inability to work flexible hours and feel compelled to abandon their career goals to care for children and household obligations. The employee must work the agreed hours and obtain approval from the supervisor/department head before working overtime. “The biggest challenge employers face in providing flexible work arrangements is properly managing compliance with California compensation and hours requirements and company security policies,” said Grace Horoupian, an attorney at Fisher Phillips in Irvine. Overtime regulations contribute to the spread of Covid when employees work in 2 different care homes when they want more hours, but due to overtime rules, work 2 jobs instead of more hours in one facility, which would be better for both employers and employees. Successful flexible scheduling arrangements meet the individual needs of employees as well as those of their unit or department. The focus is on job performance and meeting business requirements, including extended availability. A written agreement clarifying the expectations of both parties is required. The employee must be willing and able to modify his/her hours of work at the request of the supervisor/manager to meet operational needs. There may be times when they need to work or travel outside of scheduled working hours.

Workplace flexibility or workflex options are important for employees. Work-life balance flexibility is among the top three benefits considered “very important” for employees (second only to paid time off and benefits), according to the Society for Human Resource Management`s (SHRM) 2016 Benefits Survey.