• Home
  • Human Resource Policies
    • Hours of Work

Hours of Work

Policy Statement

All employees must work a standard work week as defined by the employer. The Deputy Minister may approve exceptions to the normal scheduling of meal breaks, rest periods and the standard work week, subject to operational requirements and extenuating circumstances.

Application

This policy applies to all employees. Bargaining unit employees should also consult their respective collective agreements.

Definitions

Responsibilities

Department

It is the responsibility of individual departments to:

1. manage hours of work to ensure the department runs in an efficient and effective manner;

2. advise employees of their start, rest and stop times;

3. consider requests for flexible work arrangements and approve them as per the Flexible Work Arrangements Policy;

4. consider relevant Collective Agreement provisions; and

5. if necessary, modify an employee’s hours of work.

Employee

It is the responsibility of employees to:

1. ensure that work is completed in an efficient and effective manner; and

2. fulfill departmental requirements concerning work hours.

Standard Work Week

All employees must work a standard work week as defined by the employer. The Deputy Minister may approve exceptions to the normal scheduling of meal breaks, rest periods and the standard work week, subject to operational requirements and extenuating circumstances.

Employees whose duties consist largely of meeting public groups on evenings and weekends may, by mutual agreement in writing between the employee and the department, vary the hours of work and days off.

The Deputy Minister may modify an employee’s hours of work where special circumstances or the nature of the work so requires, but in such cases the modified hours of work will average not less than the standard weekly hours of work for that employee in a bi-weekly pay cycle.

Meal Breaks

Meal breaks are unpaid and are normally taken in intervals of 30 minutes, 45 minutes or 60 minutes, or as directed by the department.

Rest Periods

Employees are entitled to receive a 30 minute paid rest period each working day. This may be taken as two 15 minute rest periods, one 30 minute rest period, or specific intervals deemed appropriate by the department.

Rest periods may be scheduled and authorized by the Deputy Minister to ensure that normal operations of the department are not disrupted.

Employees working a shift schedule, where the number of hours worked is greater than the standard work day, are entitled to receive one 15 minute paid rest period for every 3.5 hours worked.

Rest periods cannot be banked, combined with the meal break, or scheduled for the start or end of the work day to earn time off.

Absences

Employees who are absent from the workplace or from work must report their absence not later than the first day of absence or within time frames established by their departments.

Unless otherwise directed by the Deputy Minister, employees must report absences to their supervisors.

Employees who fail to report an absence within the first working day will be considered absent without leave. Employees absent without leave for more than five consecutive days may be deemed to have abandoned their positions and may have their employment terminated from the first day of the unreported absence. The Deputy Minister may, however, recognize that special circumstances exist and employees may be granted annual leave, paid leave, time off in lieu, sick leave or special leave without pay for the period of the absence.

Flexible Work Arrangements

Employers and employees interested in flexible work arrangements should make application through the Deputy Minister as outlined in the Flexible Work Arrangements Policy.


Approved: May 13, 2009
Reference: TBM 2009-193