Time Reporting

Attendance

When an employee or an Academic Personnel is hired at the University of Florida, he or she accepts the responsibility to work every scheduled day. As a general regulation, you will be considered excessively absent if you reach or exceed the university’s or your department’s guidelines for attendance. Management has the discretion to determine the facts of a specific situation, taking into consideration any extenuating circumstances.

If you must be unavoidably absent from your job (that is, other than planned vacations or personal business times that have been approved in advance), it is your responsibility to let your supervisor know as soon as possible on the first day of absence why you must be absent and when you expect to return. If your anticipated return date changes, keep your supervisor informed.

Please note: A USPS or TEAMS employee who is absent without authorization for three or more consecutive workdays may be considered to have abandoned his or her position and to have resigned from the university.

Lunch

Typically, a lunch break is minimally 30 minutes long; and your lunch break is set by your supervisor. Employees at the university work a variety of schedules and are permitted varying amounts of time for lunch depending upon their regular working schedule. For example, if you work from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, you typically will be scheduled for a one-hour lunch break. If, on the other hand, you work from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, you typically will be provided a half-hour lunch period.

Rest Periods

We recognize that employees work better and enjoy their work more when they are rested and refreshed. During each four hours that you work, you are permitted a 15-minute rest period whenever possible. When an employee goes on rest break, the employee does not need to clock in and clock out since it is considered time worked. During this period, we encourage you to leave your workstation and relax. Your supervisor will advise you of particular arrangements necessary for breaks in your department. Rest-period time may not be accumulated for later use-that is, to extend your lunch hour, arrive late, or leave early. You also may not combine breaks to allow a half-hour break, or prolong a lunch period during an eight-hour shift.

Working Hours

For full-time employees, the university’s normal work schedule is a five-day, 40-hour week. Most of our employees work this schedule with minor variations. Employees who work less than full-time will work the number of hours proportional to their FTEs. Where we must maintain continuous operation, additional work shifts are scheduled.

Time Worked 

Each supervisor is responsible for ensuring that the following time-worked regulations be observed:

1. Non-exempt employees must account daily for all hours in the workweek, as each starting and stopping time occurs, using the time-reporting method selected by their department.
   Exempt employees along with Academic Personnel typically do not need to report time worked; however, exempt USPS employees may account for all hours worked in the workweek where regular or special compensatory is earned.
2. The time and leave reported by non-exempt employees must be approved by the appropriate supervisor. Departments may wish to establish internal procedures to document supervisory/employee relationships for purposes of time-record management and authorization.
3. In computing the workweek, time off charged to any type of leave or holiday is not considered to be hours worked for purposes of overtime pay.
4. All employees and Academic Personnel must report all leave used including leave without pay within the pay period in which the leave was used. If not able, leave taken must be reported before the end of the following pay period.
5. Regardless of the amount of leave originally approved for an employee or an Academic Personnel to use (including some types of administrative leave) an employee or an Academic Personnel only may be charged with or granted the amount of paid leave necessary to bring the employee to his or her normal workweek not to exceed 40 hours. See the “Leave Policies” section of this handbook for details about administrative leave.
6. Non-exempt employees are encouraged to leave their workstations during their regularly scheduled lunch periods.
7. Non-exempt employees should not begin work before the established starting time nor should they work beyond the established quitting time unless specifically authorized by their supervisors. University of Florida policy prescribes that supervisors be present during their employees’ working hours so that they may verify hours worked.
8. USPS and non-exempt TEAMS employees may not take work home from the workstations to be completed after hours unless allowed under the university’s remote work location policy.
9. Employees and Academic Personnel who falsify any type of university document, including time-worked cards, applications for leave, etc., shall be subject to dismissal.

Flextime

Flextime is a work option when an employee of the university works an approved alternate work schedule that enables completion of the traditional 40 hours per week in fewer or more than five full workdays.

Breastfeeding on Return to Work 

The U.S. Department of Health recognizes the importance of breastfeeding infants. In fact, they support and promote the practice of breastfeeding as being healthy for both the child and the mother.

The University of Florida, as one of the leading universities in the country that promotes work/life balance for all its employees, is initiating a new policy to support and encourage breastfeeding upon return to work. Therefore, departmental administrators are encouraged to make appropriate accommodations to allow employees who have made this healthy choice to breastfeed their infants the flexibility and privacy to perform activities such as pumping breast milk.

Upon returning to work after the birth of a child, nursing mothers may request an area to pump breast milk in the workplace during normal business hours. Since this activity requires a private location and short periods away from their duties, supervisors should make every effort to support their employee’s request. Supervisors are encouraged to allow these employees the ability to flex their schedules during this transition.

Employees who need assistance are encouraged to make appropriate arrangements with their supervisor to ensure that normal business activities are not severely disrupted and their assigned tasks are completed as expected.

Please note that this policy does not extend to permitting infants in the work place.

For further assistance, contact Employee Relations at (352) 392-1072 or EmployeeRelations@hr.ufl.edu.

Daylight Savings 

An employee who is on duty in an eight-hour shift during which the change to daylight savings time takes place should be paid for a full eight hours, even though the employee works only seven hours due to the time change.

To compensate the employee correctly, the employee would report one hour of administrative leave by using the “900-Administrative Leave – ADMIN” time reporting code in Elapsed Timesheet; however, the employee’s department needs to make a notation in the department’s file.

An employee working an eight-hour shift during which a change from daylight savings time to standard time occurs, will be paid nine hours due to the time change.

Interviews for University of Florida Positions

Time spent on interviews for UF positions, including travel time, should be considered time worked, if it’s during the employee’s or Academic Personnel’s normal work schedule.

Official University of Florida Travel

If an employee or an Academic Personnel is required as a result of University of Florida employment to attend a meeting or conference, or otherwise work at an out-of-town location, such attendance or work, including travel time to out-of-town meetings, conferences, and work locations, whether or not such travel occurs during the employee’s normal work schedule, is considered time worked. Please discuss specific situations with UF Benefits at 392-2477.

When a non-exempt (hourly) employee is in official travel status, time spent in travel may result in total hours for the week exceeding 40, in which case the employee is in overtime status and must be compensated according to standard overtime policies.