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Post by funkyodar on Jun 30, 2014 7:23:27 GMT -5
If I'm lucky enough to get the call:
Can ALJs do 4/10 alternative work schedule (where one works 40 hours I in four 10 hour days and is off one day every week) that is offered to other employees? I'm doing it now and love it and if I get an offer to somewhere where I will have to live away for a bit till we all can move it would be great.
I could ask one of the judges in my office but I'm working from home till Thursday.
Again, not expecting an offer, but wanna be as prepared as possible if lightning strikes.
Also, if it is available, any if you ALJs have experience with it? Good? Bad?
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Post by funkyodar on Jun 30, 2014 7:29:44 GMT -5
If it is available, none of the judges in my office use it, by the way.
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Post by moopigsdad on Jun 30, 2014 7:51:24 GMT -5
Funky I am not sure, but I don't think it is available to ALJs. The reason would be that you will need to rely on other staff (hearing assistants, vocational experts, medical advisors, etc.) who may not be working 10 hour days. Therefore, you wouldn't be able to function or hold hearings fully for those 10-hour days when you can't have the other requisite employees or staff work with you, when they only work 8-hour days. Just my opinion, but I hope someone who is an ALJ responds.
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Post by funkyodar on Jun 30, 2014 8:00:08 GMT -5
Possibly MPD. I can see where issues could arise.
But, no judge in my office has more than 3 days of hearings each week. So, on 3 of your 10 hour days you could hold hearings during the same time frames they do and have enough. Then you have an extra 2 hours those 3 days to do instrux etc. Then a 10 hour day at the end of your week with no hearings and you can do your edits, signs etc.
Seems like the big prob would be doing credit time which some report is absolutely necessary to meet goals...
A member pm'd me advising a judge in their office has been doing the 4/10 sched for a looooong time.
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Post by northbend on Jun 30, 2014 8:22:38 GMT -5
Funky, do any of the judges in your office work from home (at all, or much) on the two days/week they don't have hearings?
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Post by funkyodar on Jun 30, 2014 8:40:17 GMT -5
All do occasionally. Only one does every week. And he just works one day at home.
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Post by tmgesq on Jun 30, 2014 8:50:48 GMT -5
Judges can't do 4/10 and work at home at same time (supposedly). It's important to note also that it's not 2 days per week of flexi, it's 8 days per month--so if there are holidays, ur on vacation, or at training for a week you can take the 8 flexi days during the remaining 3 weeks of the month! Conversely if the month has 5 weeks you might get less than 2 days per week on average
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Post by hopefalj on Jun 30, 2014 8:58:17 GMT -5
Judges can't do 4/10 and work at home at same time (supposedly). It's important to note also that it's not 2 days per week of flexi, it's 8 days per month--so if there are holidays, ur on vacation, or at training for a week you can take the 8 flexi days during the remaining 3 weeks of the month! Conversely if the month has 5 weeks you might get less than 2 days per week on average Thanks, tmgesq. Hope you're still enjoying the gig. What are the rules on using credit hours? For instance, if funky becomes judge funky one day, can he effectively do 10 hour days four days a week and then burn those credit hours on the fifth day? Or is that frowned upon as an alteration of the work schedule? |
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Post by owl on Jun 30, 2014 9:10:11 GMT -5
Even if the formalized 4/10 workweek isn't officially available, working 4 10-hour days out of 5 yields 8 hours of credit which can then be used to take the 5th day off.
But being able to consistently take off, say, Monday or Friday (as an ALJ traveling back home on weekends would probably want to do) would depend on being able to schedule a sufficient number of hearings M-Th or Tu-Fri, and there are only so many hearing rooms and so many time slots...
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Post by crab on Jun 30, 2014 9:33:16 GMT -5
Can an ALJ do credit hours out of the gate? I recall reading that they can't telework for the first year - am I remembering correctly?
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Post by hopefalj on Jun 30, 2014 9:42:55 GMT -5
Can an ALJ do credit hours out of the gate? I recall reading that they can't telework for the first year - am I remembering correctly? You're not restricted from accruing credit hours your first year like telework, but I think it might be a little hard to earn them right out of the gate since you won't really be working those first few weeks. Once you get back from FC training, though, I'm not sure why you couldn't earn a few. |
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Post by southerner on Jun 30, 2014 10:06:52 GMT -5
Judges may do 4/10 or other similar schedules, but doing so precludes WAH (work at home). It is not encouraged by management, but doable as newbie judge. I did 4/10 as SA before judgeship and enjoyed and still do. When I became judge initially, the HOCALJ requested I wait a while till experienced before doing 4/10 as he thought being around support staff and other judges would be important in early days. I did so but after 4 months went to 4/10 w/o any problems.
As for WAH, this was not allowed till after 1 year as judge unless prior federal ALJ. HOC has discretion to authorize extra days and practice varies widely.
As to credit hours, they are earnable but limited in quantity and carry over. One can have 28 hours in CH but only 24 may be carried over. If on 4/10 or other limited work, CH is not able to be accrued.
RC (religious comp)is accruable by all. For me and my office, 4 judges accrue RC w/o any problems and we submit a leave slip w/approriate wording and designate all religious holidays (we are Catholic) when we may use it, as well as for Red Mass to open judicial year in October. This is comp and not admin so there is usually not a problem as it is earned and not gifted.
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Post by moopigsdad on Jun 30, 2014 10:10:47 GMT -5
Judges may do 4/10 or other similar schedules, but doing so precludes WAH (work at home). It is not encouraged by management, but doable as newbie judge. I did 4/10 as SA before judgeship and enjoyed and still do. When I became judge initially, the HOCALJ requested I wait a while till experienced before doing 4/10 as he thought being around support staff and other judges would be important in early days. I did so but after 4 months went to 4/10 w/o any problems. As for WAH, this was not allowed till after 1 year as judge unless prior federal ALJ. HOC has discretion to authorize extra days and practice varies widely. As to credit hours, they are earnable but limited in quantity and carry over. One can have 28 hours in CH but only 24 may be carried over. If on 4/10 or other limited work, CH is not able to be accrued. RC (religious comp)is accruable by all. For me and my office, 4 judges accrue RC w/o any problems and we submit a leave slip w/approriate wording and designate all religious holidays (we are Catholic) when we may use it, as well as for Red Mass to open judicial year in October. This is comp and not admin so there is usually not a problem as it is earned and not gifted. Interesting information about RC southerner. I had no idea it was possible. Am I hearing you right, if you do 4/10 schedule you cannot earn CH at all? I am sorry if I am misunderstanding you. |
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Post by tmgesq on Jun 30, 2014 10:38:20 GMT -5
The new contract allows for 33 CH now instead of 28 but you can only carry over 24 hrs from pay period to pay period. I myself have usually worked enough CH to take off every other Friday--- or lose it bc it's over 24 hrs. You can't work CH while at home if you're a Judge so be aware of that for days you are indeed in the office.
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Post by carrickfergus on Jun 30, 2014 11:55:23 GMT -5
When I was hired, I worked a couple of credit hours each day and drove home (5 hours) each Friday after work and used the previous week's credit hours to take the following Monday off, and drove back to the office that afternoon. This was actually better than 4/10 as it allows for more flexibility. And if you travel for hearings, you can also accrue significant travel comp time. Unlike credit hours, travel comp time is not capped. Using CHs and TC, and some annual leave at times if needed, you can work 4 days a week no problem. Much better than locking yourself into 4/10.
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Post by redryder on Jun 30, 2014 12:28:42 GMT -5
As an ALJ, you can work the alternative work schedules that are available to other staff. However, you will want to check out the culture of the office before deciding if this will work for you. In my office, the ALJ's generally schedule 2 dockets per month, 5 days each docket. Some go to the remote sites and others don't. But given the number of judges in the office (11) there is quite a bit of planning required to make sure everyone has access to a hearing room. A friend of mine worked in an office where the judges never travelled and shared hearing rooms. One had the room for the morning and the other for the afternoon. They held hearings every week. You may have difficulty scheduling enough cases if you are there only 4 days per week. There is no easy answer. Alternate schedules work better in some offices than others.
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Post by funkyodar on Jun 30, 2014 13:38:20 GMT -5
Thanks for all the great info. A lot to think about. Hopefully I have to think about it one day.
Now, I'm interested in how you guys schedule. In my office most have hearings 3 days a week. Every week. One, the one that works from home one day a week, does all his over 2 days a week. Every week.
The mornings and afternoon switchoff is intriguing. And the sched where you do 2 full weeks of hearings then none for 2. Or every other week....
How did you decide? Why?
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Post by southerner on Jun 30, 2014 13:54:09 GMT -5
MPD--if working the compressed schedule such as 4/10, you are precluded from accruing credit hours during work with the following exception (and only one to my knowledge)--on travel docket status, the timekeeper places judges on regular 8 hour day schedule so credit hours are accruable during the two week pay period for those few occasions most of us do engage in travel docket status. When we traveled, it was usually 1-2 weeks at a time, so travel docket for a single day may well be treated differently--always best to ask.
Re travel comp, that is also a good possibility for leave accrual and there is no maximum, but it must be used within 12 months which is usually not a problem, but best to keep track if doing a lot of travel and you do not want to lose leave.
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Post by southerner on Jun 30, 2014 13:59:55 GMT -5
Funky--there are many options to consider and there is also the factor of courtroom/hearing room availability. Some offices assign rooms based on first requested and submitted times and dates. Other have specific hearing rooms based on seniority (as in my office) and newer people just have to deal with what may be available. For me, as I am doing 4/10, I like 10 hearings per day and have 5 or 6 days each month for hearings--occasionally 7 but that is rare. Only one other judge I know does 10 per day and then only for a few months per year, but the system mworks well for me but I realize others have different preferences. Some like to do alternate weeks (week on week off), but you can experiemnt a bit when you commence at an office and see which works best for you.
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Post by southerner on Jun 30, 2014 14:06:45 GMT -5
Another thing--in my office, I give my calendar to scheduler, who works for 3 of us judges. I designate which days I want hearings. I have heard some offices only allow judges to black out dates and not designate specific dates--but not issue for my office. When, as anytime after Thanksgiving till end of year, I want to have days I need for use or lose or blocks or when I may want to take vacation, this works well for me. I can block off 2-3 week stretches as need be just in case and still feel comfortable with hearing numbers overall for the year.
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