Public Service Commission

Department Overview

Branches

Compressed Work Week

More Information on Flexible Work Arrangements

A Compressed Work Week (CWW) is a way to change your hours of work over a two-week basis. You work longer days than your normal 7½ or 8 hours, and then take a predetermined day off in the same two-week period. Employees who don’t mind working the longer hours find this a useful schedule when they want to consolidate their personal activities into one day, or when they simply want an extra day off on a regular basis.

Who is eligible?

Regular full-time indeterminate employees
Full-time term employees
Full-time seasonal employees

What is it?

A Compressed Work Week (CWW) provides you with the opportunity to work your regular hours over a two-week basis in either eight or nine working days instead of 10 working days.
You work a little longer on your working days, and use the extra time you’ve worked to regularly take a day or two off every two weeks.
This scheduling is a longer term arrangement which requires the agreement of the other workers in your work area and the concurrence of your deputy minister or designate.

Examples:

If your schedule is normally 7½ daily hours of work, you may take:

one compressed day in every two-week period and work 8.33 hours on a daily basis spread over the other nine working days, or
take two compressed days in every two-week period, and work 9.38 hours on a daily basis spread over the remaining eight working days.
Days off are taken at the rate of 8.33 or 9.38 hours, as the case may be.

If your schedule is normally 8 daily hours of work, you may take:

one compressed day in every two-week period and work 8.9 hours on a daily basis spread over the other nine working days, or
you may take two compressed days in every two-week period, and work 10 hours on a daily basis spread over the remaining eight working days.
Days off are taken at the rate of 8.9 or 10 hours, as the case may be.

Requirements:

Your extra day(s) off, “your compressed day(s)” should be the same day(s) every two weeks (eg. every second Tuesday, or every Monday).
Designated paid holidays (e.g. Canada Day or Labour Day) are all paid at the level of your position’s normal daily hours (e.g. 7½ or 8 hours), so you will need to work the extra time for the holiday sometime during the two-week pay period in which the holiday occurs to ensure your biweekly pay is not affected.
The majority of your colleagues in your work area must agree to your revised work schedule, since arrangements may need to be made to cover for the days you are off.
You and your supervisor will want to make sure that operational requirements can be met and that all approvals are in place.
All provisions of the collective agreement must still be met.

Things to Consider:

There is no impact on pay, insured benefits or pensionable time.
When your compressed day off falls on a designated paid holiday (e.g. Canada Day or Labour Day), an alternate day is taken in the two-week pay period as agreed between you and your supervisor.
Overtime is calculated as time over and above the agreed upon work hours (i.e. time worked over and above the 8.33 hours).
If you are developing a schedule, you will need to consider the operational requirements of your work unit. Work with your co-workers to ensure there is coverage for all days of the week. Volunteering to cross-train and assisting in the delivery of your program will ensure a smooth transition on your compressed days off. Everyone should ensure that their proposed compressed days off do not overlap with one another: different days of the week should be chosen in order to minimize the reduced coverage.

Where to Get More Information:

See article 15.04 of the YG/PSAC Collective Agreement (2007-2009) [2.6 MB]

Contact Information - Flexible Work Arrangements

Talk to your supervisor, call your Human Resource branch or contact:

Staff Relations Branch
Public Service Commission

Phone: 867-667-5253
Email: Pat.Gillespie@gov.yk.ca