4.0 WORK SCHEDULES .docx

SECTION 4.0 WORK SCHEDULES ARTICLE 4.1 REGULAR HOURS; POSTING SCHEDULED DAYS OFF; AND TIMEKEEPING PROCEDURES Management and the League agree that Management has adopted the partial overtime exemption of 29 United States Code (U.S.C.) §207(k) for employees entitled to receive overtime pursuant to th...

SECTION 4.0 WORK SCHEDULES ARTICLE 4.1 REGULAR HOURS; POSTING SCHEDULED DAYS OFF; AND TIMEKEEPING PROCEDURES Management and the League agree that Management has adopted the partial overtime exemption of 29 United States Code (U.S.C.) §207(k) for employees entitled to receive overtime pursuant to this MOU and that such adoption occurred in 1985. A. Purpose, Term, and Limitations 1. The Flexible Work Schedule (FWS) Plan for sworn employees consists of 12-hour, 10-hour, 9-hour, and 8-hour work shifts. In conjunction with one or more of the aforementioned shifts under the FWS Plan, where necessary, shifts of 8 hours or less may be utilized for training, special events, or a partial-day suspension and the like. For field patrol assignments, the primary FWS shift is 12 hours. 10-hour shifts may be used in a field patrol division as supplemental or overlap shifts, but shall not be used as primary watches to replace the 12-hour shifts. For all other assignments, the primary FWS shift is 10 hours. A 9-hour or 8- hour shift may be used for some assignments when agreed to by the affected employees. Any permanent change in the start time of any shift, or the creation or elimination of a watch, requires the written approval of the Employee Relations Administrator, acting for the Chief of Police, and is subject to meet-and-confer. A request for a permanent change in working hours or elimination of a watch should be submitted on an Intradepartmental Correspondence, Form 15.2, via the chain of command to the Employee Relations Administrator. Each request shall include a specific missionbased need and rationale along with supporting documentation. Justification for such a change may include, but is not limited to: service to the community, sustained change in calls for service, safe deployment, cross-over, emerging crime trends, heightened threat levels, population shifts, and workloads. 2. The League agrees that Management has no obligation to meet and confer in advance of discontinuing FWS. However, the Department agrees to notify the League at least two DPs in advance of implementation of such a change 22 MOU24-22 in order to allow the parties to discuss the proposed scheduling system and meet and confer over the impact of that Management decision on employees. Additionally, it shall be the sole discretion of Management to modify the FWS. However, if the modifications involve changes in hours and other terms and conditions of employment, Management shall meet and confer with the League. Management will not discontinue a portion (one or more Areas) of FWS while the remaining portion continues. 3. In the event of a decision to modify or discontinue the FWS, Management agrees to notify affected employees one DP in advance. Notification shall be made by the last Friday of the DP prior to the DP at the end of which the FWS will be modified or discontinued. Under such circumstances, the current change of watch policy for patrol and traffic division personnel shall be reinstated if changed to accommodate the FWS. 4. All provisions of this MOU that are created solely for and specifically apply to the FWS shall be null and void if the FWS is terminated. Should Management provide additional benefits to employees in relation to the FWS, such benefits, whether specified or a practice, shall not be continued unless mutually agreed upon by Management and the League. 5. All provisions of this Article that are not inconsistent with the provisions of Article 4.2 shall apply to detectives specified therein. B. Work Hours 1. Each employee shall normally be compensated for 160 hours in each 28- day DP including holiday time, depending on the shift the employee is assigned to work, and shall normally be entitled to regular days off. Note: There may be occasions when an employee may not have used benefit time and/or worked the required hours for the 160 hours of compensation, due to leave without pay, suspension, etc., wherein the employee may be compensated for less than 160 hours in each 28-day DP. 2. Each employee shall be in actual attendance on duty a minimum of 8, 9, 10, or 12 hours per shift every scheduled workday, depending on the shift the employee is assigned to work. Each shift shall constitute hours worked for the purpose of computing regular days off and any benefits which accrue on an hours-worked basis for each employee. a. For employees working the 8-hour shift, each employee will generally be scheduled to work 19 days consisting of 8-hour shifts totaling 152 hours in a DP. Employees working the 8-hour shift shall have holidays scheduled pursuant to days off in lieu of a holiday as specified on the annual deployment calendar. 23 MOU24-22 b. For employees working the 9-hour shift, each employee will generally be scheduled to work 17 days consisting of 9-hour shifts totaling 153 hours in a DP. For timekeeping purposes, each employee assigned to work a 9-hour shift shall be scheduled for 7 hours of holiday time each DP. c. For employees working the 10-hour shift, each employee will generally be scheduled to work 15 days consisting of 10-hour shifts totaling 150 hours in a DP during the DPs with one scheduled holiday. It shall be Management’s discretion to determine the DPs during which an employee must work 14 or 16 10-hour shifts. Employees working the 10-hour shift shall have holidays scheduled pursuant to days off in lieu of a holiday as specified on the annual deployment calendar. For timekeeping purposes, during any DP when an employee is scheduled to work 14 or 15 days, the employee shall be scheduled for 10-hour holidays. d. For employees working the 12-hour shift, each employee will generally be scheduled to work 13 days consisting of 12-hour shifts totaling 156 hours in a DP. For timekeeping purposes, each employee assigned to work a 12-hour shift shall be scheduled for 4 hours of holiday time each DP. Note: Any detective or sergeant participating in the Supervisory Cross-Training Program pursuant to Manual Section 3/763.68 shall work the FWS of the entity to which he or she is loaned. e. The parties recognize that as a result of changing shifts during the year, an employee on the FWS may be slightly over or under the number of holiday hours granted to employees who are not on a FWS. Variations in the number of holiday hours based on changing shifts are not grievable or arbitrable. 3. During any DP when holiday hours are to be scheduled for employees working the 12- and 9-hour shifts, such hours shall be scheduled on the last regularly scheduled day off. 4. During the term of this MOU, the “No Code 7” program in effect on the date of implementation of this MOU shall be continued. 5. During the scheduling of days off, employees assigned to a 12-hour shift should not be assigned to work more than four consecutive days, and should not be assigned to single days off, unless requested by the employee. 24 MOU24-22 6. During the scheduling of days off, employees assigned to a 10-hour shift in a patrol or traffic assignment should not be assigned to work more than five consecutive days, unless requested by the employee. This restriction should not apply towards extended periods of training or special details which surpass the five day limit. 7. Employees assigned as dog handlers shall be entitled to 20 hours of onduty time or cash compensation at the rate of straight time per DP for the purpose of feeding and care of a City-owned dog. The parties agree that 20 hours is a reasonable estimate of the amount of time required in a DP for the off-duty care and feeding of a City-owned dog. An employee with the responsibility for the feeding and care of more than one City-owned dog shall be entitled to 30 hours of on-duty time or cash compensation at the rate of straight time per DP. This time shall count as hours worked for purposes of overtime computation. C. Modification of Watch Hours 1. The below provisions regarding working hours do not preclude Management from adopting different scheduling if workload or emerging crime problems mandate such adjustments, provided the adjustments are within the hours as specified herein. In preparing a DP work schedule, Management may assign employees to work hours other than the employees’ regular watch hours for prescheduled events such as training, special events (i.e., May Day, holiday parades), community meetings, and administrative meetings. Following the posting of the DP work schedule, if it is necessary to adjust an employee’s scheduled days off or day off in lieu of a holiday, it shall be the employee’s option to work the assignment on an overtime basis or adjust their work schedule. Any adjustment of scheduled days off or a day off in lieu of a holiday requested by the employee is subject to Management approval. 2. Following the posting of the DP work schedule, Management may temporarily adjust an employee’s start of watch, either earlier or later, by up to 3 hours unless Management and the employee mutually agree to a greater adjustment. However, if management temporarily adjusts such schedule without 10 hours’ notice, the employee shall be compensated at the overtime rate for the adjustment period. Example: After posting of the work schedule, an employee’s start of watch is adjusted by three hours. However, the 10 hour notification requirement was not met by the Department. Due to not meeting the notification requirement, the employee shall receive the overtime rate for the adjusted period. 25 MOU24-22 Insufficient notification formula: 3 hours x 0.5 straight time = Submit overtime report for 1.5 hours straight time. Even when the 10 hour notification period is met, when management and the employee agree to an adjustment period greater than three hours, the employee shall be compensated at the overtime rate for any period in excess of the three hours. Example: The 10 hour notification requirement is met and the employee and the Department mutually agree to an adjustment period of five hours. Since the adjustment period is two hours more than the normal three-hour period, the employee shall be compensated at the overtime rate for the extra two hours. Formula for more than 3 hour adjustment: 2 hours over normal adjustment period x 0.5 straight time = Submit overtime report for 1.0 hour straight time. When the Department does not meet the 10 hour notification requirement and adjusts the employee’s schedule by over 3 hours, the employee will be entitled to compensation using a combination of both formulas. Example: After posting of the work schedule, an employee’s start of watch is adjusted by five hours. However, the 10 hour notification requirement was not met by the Department. Due to not meeting the notification requirement and the adjustment period being over 5 hours, the employee will be compensated at the overtime rate for all five hours. Three (3) hours of compensation come from the improper notification period. The additional 2 hour compensation will come from the adjustment period being over the standard 3 hour adjustment. Both criteria being present: 5 hours x 0.5 straight time = Submit overtime report for 2.5 hours straight time. Exception: The limitation on the adjustment of work hours shall not apply to Metropolitan Division; surveillance units; Special Investigation Section; Senior Lead Officers (SLOs) and Narcotics Division personnel deployed as Mobile Field Forces (MFFs); and personnel involved in the protection of dignitaries, city officials or employees, or other reasonable tactical operations that must be carried out on short notice. Note: When employees are deployed as Mobile Field Forces (MFF) and are required to respond to Area stations and then report to an MFF with a vehicle or other equipment, unless already on duty, the beginning of the 26 MOU24-22 watch shall be the time when the employee checks out the required equipment (e.g. police vehicle, radio, patrol rifle) from their work site to respond to the MFF location or staging area in a City vehicle. 3. Employees assigned to a FWS who appear in court outside or partially outside a regularly scheduled work shift, and as a result do not receive adequate rest, will be allowed to adjust their scheduled shift start time, subject to the approval of the employee’s watch commander, so that all or a portion of the court attendance is considered regular work hours and not overtime. Such adjustments shall not be used for the purpose of avoiding overtime compensation. Alternatively, at the discretion of the watch commander, and after considering the impact on the division’s ability to adequately deploy personnel and accomplish its mission, the employee may be allowed to use compensatory time off, vacation hours or unpaid leave. Note: Employees who work extended end-of-watch (overtime) and as a result do not receive adequate rest, may have the following pre-scheduled workday changed within the DP, subject to the approval of the employee’s watch commander. 4. When an employee is assigned to temporarily work a shift of fewer hours than his or her regular scheduled shift (such as being assigned to training), the employee shall consult with their Watch Commander or Unit Officer-InCharge, and depending on the operational needs of the Area or Unit, the remaining time shall be spent completing other Department-related duties. If approved by the Watch Commander or Officer-In-Charge, the employee may utilize compensatory time off (CTO) or vacation hours in lieu of working the remaining hours of the assigned workday. D. Posting of Deployment Period Work Schedules DP work schedules shall be posted by noon on the second Wednesday before the start of the DP. E. Change of Shift, Rotation 1. Generally, shift rotation shall be conducted so it is effective at the beginning of a DP. 2. All change of shift requests shall be based upon the current change of watch policy except as otherwise specified herein. When requesting a change of shift, employees shall list those shifts desired, in order of preference. Choice of shifts will be granted based on availability and then in the order of preference listed by the employee. If more than one employee of the same rank and paygrade requests a specific shift, and there are not enough 27 MOU24-22 available positions on the desired shift, priority will be given to the employee with the most time on his or her present shift. If both employees have the same time on the shift, preference will be given to the employee whose request was received first by Management. In case both requests were received by Management at the same time, seniority as a sworn employee of the Unit will prevail. Sergeants I shall rotate within their respective ranks. Police Officers assigned to a basic car should rotate only within their assigned basic car to ensure basic car integrity and continuity. Exception: In order to effectively schedule for optimum coverage and with consideration for the Ideal Basic Car plan, under the FWS, SLOs and supervisors may not exclude a shift of choice. However, the commanding officer of a geographic patrol division may allow the Sergeant I with the most seniority, based upon time as a sworn Department employee, to exclude a shift of choice. The division commanding officer may assign employees from one basic car to another to meet the needs of the division and the community they serve. 3. At the discretion of the commanding officer, employees may be loaned to another shift for no less than one DP to provide vacation relief as necessary to maintain adequate coverage on all shifts. Attempts will be made to fill such loans on a voluntary basis. 4. Requests for exceptions from rotation or a specific assignment as a result of a bonafide emergency or hardship situation shall be considered on a case-by-case basis. Any decision by the commanding officer shall be based on the current needs of the division, and such decision shall not be grievable or arbitrable, but may be presented to the Dispute Resolution Committee. Should an employee be loaned to another shift to meet divisional needs, including vacation relief, the loan period shall not be counted as time on the original shift. If an employee is activated to military duty exceeding one DP, the time of military activation shall not be counted as time on the original shift. The commanding officer may make an exception to this policy when it is in the best interest of the Department, the division, or individual employee to do so. Specialty assignments or units shall be exempt from the change of shift rotation, and their hours shall be set by their commanding officer. Note: Specialty assignments may include, but are not limited to, the following: Vice, Special Enforcement Units, Special Problem Units, Gang Intervention/Enforcement Teams, Subpoena Control Officers, complaint officers, school and juvenile car officers, and special task forces. 28 MOU24-22 F. Involuntary Reassignment (Bumping) The “bumping” policy as specified in Section 3/222 of the 2019 2nd Quarter Department Manual shall remain in force during the term of this MOU. G. Timekeeping Procedures – Hours Worked 1. A record of regular duty hours and overtime hours worked shall be maintained in accordance with Department procedures. Under no circumstances shall hours worked be recorded or maintained in an informal manner commonly known as “white time” or in a manner inconsistent with established policies and procedures. To do so is considered misconduct. Any employee maintaining such a system and any employee allowing his or her hours worked to be maintained in an unauthorized manner may be disciplined. 2. All payroll timekeeping for FWS shall be by the “positive” timekeeping method (i.e., hour-for-hour). 3. This system shall be used to track all hours worked and leave time, including absence without pay, bereavement, family illness, injury on duty, jury duty, leave without pay, military leave with or without pay, preventive medicine, relief from duty, sick time, suspension, overtime off (one and onehalf time), overtime (straight time), vacation, and workers’ compensation. All hours worked, benefit hours and other absences shall be recorded on a daily basis. 4. In the event that leave time, suspensions or other absences result in an employee being absent for a portion of a workday, the employee is obligated to work the remaining portion of his/her workday on that date or another day within the same DP. Example: For an employee on the 12-hour shift, two days of suspension would be equal to 16 hours and would require the employee to be off for one workday (12 hours) plus four (4) hours of the next workday. Additionally, the employee would be obligated to work eight hours of the second workday. A similar example would apply to the 10-hour shift employees. At the discretion of the concerned commanding officer, and after considering the impact on the division’s ability to adequately deploy personnel and accomplish its mission, the employee may use accumulated overtime or vacation hours in lieu of working the remaining hours of his/her workday. (See Appendix I for Time Conversion Chart). 29 MOU24-22 5. Fiscal Operations Division must verify the actual hours of work for each employee on the FWS immediately following the end of a DP. Validation of timekeeping will be achieved by producing a record of the hours worked for the involved employees and forwarding this record to each concerned commanding officer for certification. Any discrepancies noted will require payroll adjustments, whether the hours worked are over or under those required to be worked during that specific DP as specified in Article 4.1. 6. When an employee is expected to be absent for one or more DPs for vacation, injured on duty, sick, family leave pursuant to state and federal law, workers’ compensation or other no pay status, that employee’s work schedule shall be converted to a five-day/40-hour work week at the beginning of the DP following receipt of such information, or, if known prior to the DP in which the absence will occur, at the beginning of the DP in which the absence begins. H. Violations of Timekeeping Procedures Management agrees to take immediate action to correct any violations of timekeeping procedures and to impose discipline as appropriate. ARTICLE 4.2 DETECTIVE HOURS All provisions of Article 4.1 shall apply to detectives specified herein unless otherwise modified by this Article. Purpose Detective hours provide coverage on nights and weekends to effectively provide detective investigative services of all kinds at all hours, seven days a week, according to the needs of the Department and the community. Definition of “Detective” As used in this Article, “detective” shall mean sworn personnel assigned to detective functions that are in the police officer rank, detective rank or sergeants participating in the Supervisory Cross-Training Program as specified in Manual Section 3/763.68. For the purpose of this Article, police officers assigned to school cars are not “detectives” unless they are temporarily assigned to other detective functions. C. Watches, Assignment, Staffing Levels 1. There are two primary watches for detectives: Day and PM. At the discretion of Management, employees may be assigned from one detective function to another on the same basic watch to meet the needs of the specific 30 MOU24-22 detective function and the community. Except as otherwise provided for in Paragraph G of this Article, assignments to watches will be made by civil service rank and paygrade and subject to maintaining the specific detective function’s operational integrity/coverage. 2. Management shall specify and post the staffing of the Day and PM watches by rank and paygrade pursuant to Paragraph D of Article 4.1. The first priority in staffing determinations shall be officer safety. Staffing for all watches shall include provisions for adequate supervision and investigative expertise. Commanding officers shall ensure that daily staffing of PM watch includes a minimum of one detective supervisor. 3. The staffing level of detectives in any division assigned to PM watch in any given DP is determined by the commanding officer, who may adjust the number as needed from DP to DP. However, the number of detectives assigned to PM watch in any given DP should not be determined arbitrarily, capriciously, or punitively, but should be determined with a realistic expectation that such deployment will achieve reasonable operational objectives. Management agrees that in each command where detectives are assigned, the commanding officer will reasonably assess the need for the number of PM watch detectives deployed each DP, with a view to avoid over-deploying detectives on PM watch. 4. At the discretion of the commanding officer, employees may be loaned to another watch for no more than two DP’s to provide vacation, transfer, or other relief as necessary to maintain adequate coverage on all watches. D. Work Hours 1. The below provisions regarding working hours do not preclude Management from adopting different scheduling if workload or emerging crime problems mandate such adjustments, provided the adjustments are within the hours as specified herein for Day watch and PM watch start times. Note: Hours of work are defined in Article 4.1. Detectives assigned to Day watch are expected to have various start-ofwatch times. Day watch start-of-watch time will generally be 0600 to 0830 hours. Employees may request an earlier start-of-watch time with the approval of the concerned commanding officer. Employees shall be given notice of 30 days before being assigned a different start-of-watch time, including when previously approved by the commanding officer to start earlier than 0600. PM watch start-of-watch time will generally be 1600 to 1800 hours. Employees may be assigned a different start-of-watch time with the approval of the concerned commanding officer. 31 MOU24-22 2. Juvenile Car Officers shall not be assigned to work a 12 -hour shift. E. Modification of Watch Hours, PM and Weekend Deployment Stability of Hours: Management and the League recognize that particularly on PM watch, adjusting a detective’s work hours after the posting of the work schedule should only be done when reasonably necessary to accomplish operational needs, but should not be done arbitrarily, capriciously, or punitively. Management may consider individual requests for temporary exclusion from a change of work hours based on an individual’s personal hardship or emergency. F. Scheduled Holidays and Holiday Premiums Detectives may be expected to provide at least minimal coverage for all Day and PM watches on the following holidays and will receive holiday premium compensation in accordance with Article 7.3: Note: Operational needs may require a detective to work on one of the above scheduled holidays. In such cases, approval to work on one of the above scheduled holidays shall be obtained from the Detective Commanding Officer prior to working on that day. G. Permanent PM Watch Positions 1. Commanding officers shall staff the PM watch with sufficient personnel to ensure deployment of two detectives assigned to permanent PM watch positions. The Chief of Detectives shall approve any increase or decrease in the deployment of detectives assigned to permanent PM watch positions. 2. An employee who accepts a permanent PM watch position may request, after 13 DPs, to move to a Day watch position in the same division whenever there is a vacancy on the Day watch of the same rank and paygrade. Such reassignment may be postponed for one DP to allow for the selection and assignment of a new employee to one of the permanent PM watch positions. 3. In cases where a permanent PM watch position is or is about to be vacant, selection for the PM watch position should follow this order of preference: a. Fill the position with a volunteer from within the division where the vacancy exists. 32 MOU24-22 b. If no acceptable volunteer is available, the position should be filled through an open Department-wide selection process. c. If no acceptable candidate is selected from the selection process, a detective will be reassigned to the PM watch on the basis of seniority, with the senior ranking officers given preference of watch. Provided, however, that the concerned commanding officer is under no obligation to fill a permanent PM watch position by permanent reassignment of an employee from the Day watch based on seniority. The commanding officer or officer-in-charge shall maintain watch seniority information that will be made available to detective personnel. “Seniority” shall mean time in grade and shall be applied to those in the division who have the civil service rank and paygrade eligible to work the assignment. Except for homicide and specialty assignments, when selecting on the basis of seniority, Management may only exclude employees based on personal hardship or an emergency situation. 4. A commanding officer may move or not move an employee from a permanent PM watch position when it is in the best interest of the Department, the division, or the employee to do so. The employee shall be advised of the need for such action. Any dispute shall be resolved by the Dispute Resolution Committee. 5. At the discretion of the commanding officer, employees may be loaned to another watch for no more than two DPs to provide vacation, transfer, or other relief as necessary to maintain adequate coverage on all watches. H. Request for Change of Watch A detective may request a change of watch by submitting an Employee’s Report, Form 15.7, to the commanding officer or officer-in-charge of the detective section, no later than the second Monday of the DP. Such requests shall include the employee’s choice of watch, including assignment preferences and any shift preference pursuant to Paragraph E of this Article and Paragraph E.4 of Article 4.1. I. Specialized Detective Assignments A special Bureau or City detective assignment may be created to work primarily between 1800 and 0600 hours to offer special investigative services or to help reduce the need to deploy PM watch detectives in certain areas. Such an assignment will be instituted and administered only by a commanding officer of Bureau level or higher. 33 MOU24-22 ARTICLE 4.3 SPECIAL EVENTS Each employee assigned to work a special event shall have the employee's work hours established by the guidelines provided in this Article unless the employee is specifically directed by a supervisor to perform work before or after the special event. In those instances, start and end of watch shall be determined by the involved supervisor(s). A. Start of Watch. An employee assigned to an event away from their regular work location shall be permitted to respond to their assigned workplace to retrieve equipment and prepare for the assignment. The employee shall be provided with a reasonable period of on-duty time for transportation to the assignment. If no additional equipment or vehicles are required, an employee may choose to dress at home and report directly to the special event. In this case, the employee’s start of watch will be the assigned report, check-in, or roll-call time. B. Early Report. When an employee is required to report to a specific supervisor or location prior to roll call, start of watch shall be the time the employee reports to the supervisor or location, with consideration of the above transportation provisions. C. Equipment Required. When an employee is required to bring specified equipment, start of watch is generally when the employee checks out the required equipment at a work place. Note: Equipment provided at the event is not considered "required" for the purpose of determining start of watch. Additionally, an employee required to obtain equipment may not be the same employee who is required to return such equipment, e.g., the employee who obtained the equipment is held over to complete a booking and reports, and a supervisor designates another employee to return the equipment to a specific location. Exception: Employees are required to bring a Department radio to the event and will be supplied with fresh batteries at the event. In this case, the employee may elect to take the Department radio home after the employee's last shift and report directly to the special event. Start of watch would either be roll call or early report as specified above. D. Vehicle Required. When an employee, not assigned a take-home vehicle, is required to bring a Department vehicle to a special event, start of watch is when the employee checks out the vehicle. If employees are required to carpool due to deployment needs or specifics of the assignment, start of watch for the passengers shall be the departure time from the assigned division. 34 MOU24-22 E. End of Watch. At the end of the special event, an employee's end of watch will be determined as follows (whether part of a regular work day or as overtime): 1. At the special event if the employee is not required to return equipment and/or a vehicle; or, 2. At the time the employee(s) equipment and/or a vehicle is returned to the designated location; or, 3. When the employee completes other required duties such as arrest, booking, reports, etc. Note: If the special event ends prior to the employee having worked the number of hours that constitutes a working day (shift) for the employee, the remaining time shall be spent completing other Department-related duties as directed by the onduty watch commander or Unit officer-in-charge. If approved by the watch commander or officer-in-charge, the employee may utilize compensatory time off (CTO) or vacation hours in lieu of working the remaining hours of the assigned workday. F. The Department agrees to make a reasonable effort to ensure that employees on fixed post assignments during special events have an opportunity to take a break to attend to their personal needs. Any such break must be approved by a supervisor prior to taking the break. ARTICLE 4.4 TIME OFF FOR ORAL AND WRITTEN PROMOTIONAL EXAMINATIONS AND SEMINARS Oral Promotional Examinations Employees shall be granted reasonable time off with pay for the purpose of taking oral promotional examinations (including advanced paygrade selection) when such examinations are given by the City and scheduled during the employee's normal working period; provided, however, that each employee entitled to such time off with pay shall give reasonable advance notice to the employee's supervisor. Such time off with pay may include travel time. Under no circumstances shall employees be granted overtime or adjusted time for participating in an oral promotional process or travel time related thereto which occurs prior to or after an employee's regular work schedule. If an employee’s participation in multiple advanced paygrade selections becomes excessive during a given period of time and is negatively impacting the work of the unit or section to which the employee is assigned, management may deny on-duty time for such participation. Management may allow the employee to use accrued compensatory time or vacation leave or may require that the employee adjust his or her schedule for that day in order to work the required number of hours. 35 MOU24-22 Note: An employee’s participation in advanced paygrade selections is deemed excessive if participation in the selection process exceeds six times in a four-week period. If extensive amounts of time during on-duty hours are required, the employee’s participation may be deemed excessive without regard to the number of processes involved. In this circumstance, the Employee Relations Administrator shall make the final determination as to whether or not the employee’s participation is excessive. B. Written Promotional Examinations Management agrees that any employee covered by this MOU, who may be assigned to work on a day that a written promotional examination is administered by the Personnel Department, and for which an employee has applied, shall be given priority in the scheduling of days off for that day. In the event that Management is unable, due to deployment needs, to accommodate the requests of all employees who applied to take a written promotional examination, it is the responsibility of each employee not accommodated to arrange with the Personnel Department for a delayed administration of the examination. C. Promotional Preparation Seminars Employees wishing to attend Department-sponsored promotional preparation seminars (including advanced paygrade selection seminars) on a work day may request permission to do so from their watch commander or unit officer-in-charge and should be allowed to attend as long as it does not have a significant impact on the watch or unit’s operation that day. The employee may use accrued compensatory time or vacation leave or may adjust his or her schedule for that day in order to work the required number of hours, if approval to attend is granted. ARTICLE 4.5 FURLOUGHS The City agrees that there will be no mandatory furloughs of Unit employees during the term of this MOU.