work hours for federal government

[Anonymous]

Hi, I know there are a lot of people who say federal government employees don't work enough, but for the rest and or anyone willing to answer my question - I'm wondering what are the hours for most federal government jobs - is it 9 am to 5 pm or is it 8 am to 5 pm?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I've worked at 3 federal agencies and 8:30am - 5pm is the most common, with a 30 minute lunch. My current agency has a 45 minute lunch (why they get to force that on you, I have no idea) so standard hours are 8:30a-5:15p.

That said, most people have the flexibility to set their hours to be a bit earlier or a bit later than that. So if you wanted to start at 9a, you'd end the day at 5:30. Some offices are more flexible than others, so you might be able to find a position where 6:30 - 3 is approved, but that's pretty rate IME.

[Anonymous]

It varies from agency to agency. Some are strictly 9-5, others allow flexible schedules, like 7-3, or have core hours, like 9-2pm, where you must be at work during those times, but can work the rest of your 8 hours around them. Either way, full time employees are required to work 40 hours, and are required to take a 30 minute or 1 hour lunch, as directed. There are some flexible schedules that let you work longer on some days to earn a day off a pay period, etc.

[Anonymous]

Neither. Most federal government employees work a flexible schedule which means that you can choose several different work schedules and work a different schedule every day as long as you work 8.5 hours. Some federal employees work 10 hour days and then have an extra day off; some come in very early in the morning in order to have their later afternoons free when the kids come home from school.

Some agencies have "core hours" that have to be covered. It depends on the agency. There is no rule that covers the entire federal government.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've worked at 3 federal agencies and 8:30am - 5pm is the most common, with a 30 minute lunch. My current agency has a 45 minute lunch (why they get to force that on you, I have no idea) so standard hours are 8:30a-5:15p.

That said, most people have the flexibility to set their hours to be a bit earlier or a bit later than that. So if you wanted to start at 9a, you'd end the day at 5:30. Some offices are more flexible than others, so you might be able to find a position where 6:30 - 3 is approved, but that's pretty rate IME.

I'm 9:12. My agency allows 0600 start time, and I know of several others that do and a few that force a 0900 start.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Neither. Most federal government employees work a flexible schedule which means that you can choose several different work schedules and work a different schedule every day as long as you work 8.5 hours. Some federal employees work 10 hour days and then have an extra day off; some come in very early in the morning in order to have their later afternoons free when the kids come home from school.

Some agencies have "core hours" that have to be covered. It depends on the agency. There is no rule that covers the entire federal government.

That hasn't been my experience at any of the three agencies where I've worked. You have to pick your hours at the beginning of your appointment and generally stick to it. I can't have an 8am start time and decide one day that I feel like coming in at 9:30am instead. That's called maxi-flex and the majority of fed employees certainly do not have that. Compressed work schedules are more common though, with alternate Fridays off.

[Anonymous]

If every federal government employee in DC kept the same work hours, roads and systems of transportation would be overwhelmed.

[Anonymous]

The largest agency I worked for had Maxiflex with 30,000 employees. The smallest one I work for now has a mandatory 8:30 start time because gliding flex is too "administratively burdensome" for it with 1800 employees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've worked at 3 federal agencies and 8:30am - 5pm is the most common, with a 30 minute lunch. My current agency has a 45 minute lunch (why they get to force that on you, I have no idea) so standard hours are 8:30a-5:15p.

That said, most people have the flexibility to set their hours to be a bit earlier or a bit later than that. So if you wanted to start at 9a, you'd end the day at 5:30. Some offices are more flexible than others, so you might be able to find a position where 6:30 - 3 is approved, but that's pretty rate IME.

I'm 9:12. My agency allows 0600 start time, and I know of several others that do and a few that force a 0900 start.

I've heard of that, but I've only seen 6am start as an option when you're on AWS, so your hours would be 6a - 3:30p with one day per PP off. I've also seen 9:30am as the latest possible start time at most places.

[Anonymous]

My office lets you start anytime after 6 am and have an 8,9, or 10 hour work day. We get a 30 minute unpaid lunch so you have to be there 8.5, 9.5 or 10.5 hours. You are not premited to leave early even if you skip lunch if you have been there more than 6 hours.

[Anonymous]

My H is a fed and his unit isn't allowing the AWS any more - it used to be that most people would work 8-5:30, half hour lunch, and would get every other Friday off. I believe now, most of them are working 8-4:30 or 9-5:30, but they will allow 7-3:30 with approval, so long as not too many people on a team are working those hours. So it really varies a lot from agency to agency and office to office.

[Anonymous]

It definitely depends. I worked at an agency that core hours were 10am-2pm. Employees had to work those core hours and then complete the 40-hour workweek around them.

[Anonymous]

My SIL works for DOJ and does a 7-3 schedule.

[Anonymous]

I work a maxi-flex schedule. I come and leave whenever I want. It just has to be an 8 hour day. I also earn credit hours.

[Anonymous]

Your schedule will really depend on the agency. My agency's hours are 9:00-5:30. A very small number of employees have been able to flex that a bit, but most everyone is expected to be in the office during those hours.

Depending on the job definitely anything GS14-15), you can expect to work more than 40 hours a week, too. My husband routinely works 8:30-6:30, and often later.