ARTICLE 8

HOURS OF WORK

Section 1. Work Week

The work week for full-time regulars shall be forty (40) hours per week, eight (8) hours per day within ten (10) consecutive hours, provided, however, that in all offices with more than 100 full-time employees in the bargaining units the normal work week for full-time regular employees will be forty hours per week, eight hours per day within nine (9) consecutive hours. Shorter work weeks will, however, exist as needed for part-time regulars.

[see Memo, page 312]

Section 2. Work Schedules

A. The employee's service week shall be a calendar week beginning at 12:01 a.m. Saturday and ending at 12 midnight the following Friday.

B. The employee's service day is the calendar day on which the majority of work is scheduled. Where the work schedule is distributed evenly over two calendar days, the service day is the calendar day on which such work schedule begins.

C. The employee's normal work week is five (5) service days, each consisting of eight (8) hours, within ten (10) consecutive hours, except as provided in Section 1 of this Article. As far as practicable the five days shall be consecutive days within the service week.

Section 3. Exceptions

The above shall not apply to part-time employees and transitional employees.

Part-time employees will be scheduled in accordance with the above rules, except they may be scheduled for less than eight (8) hours per service day and less than forty (40) hours per normal work week.

Transitional employees will be scheduled in accordance with Section 2, A and B, of this Article.

Section 4. Overtime Work

A. Overtime pay is to be paid at the rate of one and one-half (1 ½) times the base hourly straight-time rate.

B. Overtime shall be paid to employees for work performed only after eight (8) hours on duty in any one service day or forty (40) hours in any one service week. Nothing in this Section shall be construed by the parties or any reviewing authority to deny the payment of overtime to employees for time worked outside of their regularly scheduled work week at the request of the Employer.

C. Penalty overtime pay is to be paid at the rate of two (2) times the base hourly straight-time rate. Penalty overtime pay will not be paid for any hours worked in the month of December.

D. Penalty overtime pay will be paid to full-time regular employees for any overtime work in contravention of the restrictions in Section 5.F.

E. Excluding December, part-time flexible employees will receive penalty overtime pay for all work in excess of ten (10) hours in a service day or fifty-six (56) hours in a service week.

F. Wherever two or more overtime or premium rates may appear applicable to the same hour or hours worked by an employee, there shall be no pyramiding or adding together of such overtime or premium rates and only the higher of the employee's applicable rates shall apply.

G. Overtime Work Transitional Employees

Transitional employees shall be paid overtime for work performed in excess of forty (40) work hours in any one service week. Overtime pay for transitional employees is to be paid at the rate of one and one-half (1 ½) times the basic hourly straight-time rate.

When an opportunity exists for overtime for qualified and available full-time employees, doing similar work in the work location where the employees regularly work, prior to utilizing a transitional employee in excess of eight (8) work hours in a service day, such qualified and available full-time employees on the appropriate Overtime Desired List will be selected to perform such work in order of their seniority on a rotating basis.

Section 5. Overtime Assignments

When needed, overtime work for regular full-time employees shall be scheduled among qualified employees doing similar work in the work location where the employees regularly work in accordance with the following:

A. Two weeks prior to the start of each calendar quarter, full-time regular employees desiring to work overtime during that quarter shall place their names on an "Overtime Desired" list.

B. Lists will be established by craft, section, or tour in accordance with Article 30, Local Implementation.

C. 1.a. When during the quarter the need for overtime arises, employees with the necessary skills having listed their names will be selected in order of their seniority on a rotating basis.

b. Those absent or on leave shall be passed over.

D. If the voluntary "Overtime Desired" list does not provide sufficient qualified people, qualified full-time regular employees not on the list may be required to work overtime on a rotating basis with the first opportunity assigned to the junior employee.

E. Exceptions to C and D above if requested by the employee, may be approved by local management in exceptional cases based on equity (e.g., anniversaries, birthdays, illness, deaths).

F. Excluding December, no full-time regular employee will be required to work overtime on more than four (4) of the employee's five (5) scheduled days in a service week or work over ten (10) hours on a regularly scheduled day, over eight (8) hours on a non-scheduled day, or over six (6) days in a service week.

G. Full-time employees not on the "Overtime Desired" list may be required to work overtime only if all available employees on the "Overtime Desired" list have worked up to twelve (12) hours in a day or sixty (60) hours in a service week. Employees on the "Overtime Desired" list:

1. may be required to work up to twelve (12) hours in a day and sixty (60) hours in a service week (subject to payment of penalty overtime pay set forth in Section 4.D for contravention of Section 5.F); and

2. excluding December, shall be limited to no more than twelve (12) hours of work in a day and no more than sixty (60) hours of work in a service week.

However, the Employer is not required to utilize employees on the "Overtime Desired" list at the penalty overtime rate if qualified employees on the "Overtime Desired" list who are not yet entitled to penalty overtime are available for the overtime assignment.

[see Memo, page 314]

Section 6. Sunday Premium Payment

Each employee whose regular work schedule includes a period of service, any part of which is within the period commencing at midnight Saturday and ending at midnight Sunday, shall be paid extra compensation at the rate of 25 percent of the employee's base hourly rate of compensation for each hour of work performed during that period of service. An employee's regularly scheduled reporting time shall not be changed on Saturday or Sunday solely to avoid the payment of Sunday premium payment.

Section 7. Night Shift Differential

A. Effective for the period September 30, 1995, through November 21, 1997, for time worked between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., career employees shall be paid additional compensation at the applicable flat dollar amount at each pay grade and step in accordance with Table 2 attached hereto.

Effective November 22, 1997, for time worked between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., career employees shall be paid additional compensation at the applicable flat dollar amount at each pay grade and step in accordance with Table 3 attached hereto.

As soon as administratively practicable, career employees on the payroll as of November 21, 1995, shall be paid a one-time cash payment equal to twelve cents ($.12) times the number of hours for which each was paid a night shift differential premium during the thirteen (13) accounting periods ending September 15, 1995.

B. Effective for the period July 6, 1996, through November 21, 1997, for time worked between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., transitional employees shall be paid additional compensation at the applicable flat dollar amount at each pay grade in accordance with Appendix B, page 305 attached hereto.

Effective November 22, 1997, for time worked between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., transitional employees shall be paid additional compensation at the applicable flat dollar amount at each pay grade in accordance with Appendix B, page 305 attached hereto.

As soon as administratively practicable, transitional employees on the payroll as of June 7, 1996, shall be paid a one-time cash payment equal to twelve cents ($.12) times the number of hours for which each was paid a night shift differential premium during the thirteen (13) accounting periods ending May 24, 1996.

Section 8. Guarantees

A. An employee called in outside the employee's regular work schedule shall be guaranteed a minimum of four (4) consecutive hours of work or pay in lieu thereof where less than four (4) hours of work is available. Such guaranteed minimum shall not apply to an employee called in who continues working on into the employee's regularly scheduled shift.

B. When a full-time regular employee is called in on the employee's non-scheduled day, the employee will be guaranteed eight hours work or pay in lieu thereof.

C. The Employer will guarantee all employees at least four (4) hours work or pay on any day they are requested or scheduled to work in a post office or facility with 200 or more man years of employment per year. All employees at other post offices and facilities will be guaranteed two (2) hours work or pay when requested or scheduled to work.

[see Memo, page 313]

D. Effective June 7, 1996, any transitional employee who is scheduled to work and who reports shall be guaranteed two (2) hours of work or pay. Such work or pay shall not be guaranteed if such employees are directed not to report ahead of the time they were scheduled to report to work.

Section 9. Wash-Up Time

Installation heads shall grant reasonable wash-up time to those employees who perform dirty work or work with toxic materials. The amount of wash-up time granted each employee shall be subject to the grievance procedure.

(The preceding paragraph, Article 8.9, shall apply to transitional employees.)