General Policy

The UGA normal workweek is Monday through Friday between 8:30am and 5:30pm.

Regular, timely attendance and punctuality are important to the smooth and coordinated function of the university and UGA. Staff members, regardless of grade, are expected to be on duty at their workstations during their assigned hours of work within that period.

Supervisors are obliged to be sure that any departure from regular work schedules will not interfere with the service that the division provides. Supervisors are also obliged to regulate and balance requests for leave, scheduled breaks, educational, or other benefits so that the division’s work is equitably and fairly distributed among the staff. Appeals of a supervisor’s decision on any issue of work assignment must be made through the regular channels of the division’s administration.

Attendance and Hours of Work

The responsibility for scheduling staff working hours rests with the appropriate supervisor, subject to review and approval by the vice provost. All individual work schedules with UGA require consultation and authorization from the staff member’s immediate supervisor.

Staff members may request permanent schedule changes or other alterations in work assignment from the appropriate director, subject to review and approval of the vice provost. Changes that interfere with the unit mission or with the equity of effort among staff with the same assignments will not be approved.

Part-Time/Temporary Staff

Note: This category does not include graduate service assistants, whose working hours are regulated by the Graduate School and the Office of Human Resources.

Part-time/temporary staff are employed according to divisional need. Part-time/temporary staff have specific work hours and will be compensated only for actual time worked during those hours. Part-time/temporary staff must record time spent on the job using the biweekly Attendance and Leave Time sheet as directed by the UGA business office.

Timesheets are to be completed by the employee and forwarded to the supervisor for approval from their GroupWise e-mail account. The supervisor is to forward the approved time sheet to the payroll service account. Timesheets are due by 9 a.m. of the Friday after the pay period ends, unless otherwise noted. Timesheet submission changes will be communicated to all staff from the UGA business office.

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Classified Staff

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) protects classified staff. UGA classified staff are employed for 7.5 hours (plus 30 minutes or 1 hour lunch) each day or 37.5 hours per workweek; lunch and break times are prescribed by federal law and may not be “worked through” to shorten the work day. Staff shall perform assigned duties within that time or be on approved leave.

Work in excess of the normally scheduled workweek can be authorized by the appropriate supervisor (director or vice provost) only if the immediate supervisor requests the staff member to work additional hours for a special project/event, or if the staff member requests permission from his/her immediate supervisor and is authorized by the appropriate director. Staff will receive compensatory time for hours worked over 37.5 and up to and including 40 hours. Compensatory time must be used within the next biweekly pay period. Work in excess of 40 hours is considered paid overtime and cannot be authorized.

Agreements to adjust a work schedule for a period of days to accommodate personal needs (temporary “flex time”) must be made in advance and approved by the supervisor and director, subject to review by the vice provost.

Classified staff are to use the Attendance and Leave Time sheet to report their bi-weekly time. Timesheets are to be completed by the employee and forwarded to the supervisor for approval from their GroupWise e-mail account. The supervisor is to forward the approved time sheet to the payroll service account. Timesheets are due by 9 a.m. of the Friday after the pay period ends, unless otherwise noted. Timesheet submission changes will be communicated to all staff from the UGA business office.

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Professional/Administrative Staff

Professional & Administrative (P&A) staff members, who are exempt from FLSA provisions, are expected to maintain a minimum standard workweek of 37.5 hours. When seasonal demand or special projects require additional time, P&A staff members are expected to extend their working hours as necessary to complete such projects. The determination and assignment of regular working hours for P&A staff remain with the directors, subject to review and approval by the vice provost, and will ordinarily be set within the normal workweek of the division.

Supervisors are required to track and report P&A assignments that frequently result in either a short workday or a workweek in excess of the 37.5-hour standard so that position descriptions and assignments can be adjusted for equity and efficiency. P&A staff members should expect that occasional workweeks will exceed the average length although the press of other business will not permit an adjustment to keep to the average, and unlike classified staff, P&A staff do not receive compensatory time. When circumstances frequently require a P&A staff member to work more than the standard workweek, the director may offer or permit temporary adjustments to maintain work equity among the staff. This flexible allowance must be made with due consideration for the overall work of the division. When a staff member must regularly work more than the standard workweek, other things being equal, the director will begin the process of review of the position and work assignments.

If a P&A staff member frequently arrives late or leaves early so that his or her average workweek falls below the standard, the director should begin the process of review of the position and work assignments. UGA may also charge the staff member’s absences to annual, sick or other leave with the approval of the director, subject to review by the vice provost.

Professional and administrative staff are to use the Record of Leave form. The Record of Leave is to be completed and forwarded to the supervisor for approval from their GroupWise e-mail account. The supervisor is to forward the approved Record of Leave to the payroll service account. Record of leave is due to the service account no later than five days after the month ends.

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