Work Schedules

State employees are expected to be at work on time. A full-time employee shall be required to work 37 ½ hours per week (some employees regularly work 40 hours a week) unless specified otherwise by the Appointing Authority or the Statutes. The typical workweek runs Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. till 4:30 p.m., with time off each day for lunch. (KRS 337.355) You are also entitled to rest breaks, according to KRS 377.365.

Agency managers have discretion in deciding what work hours best meet the needs of particular work place. If you work in a state hospital or correctional facility, for example, you may work a different shift than you office counterparts. Your lunch period may be less than an hour if it is necessary for staff to rotate to provide continuous coverage. In some units, employees must all take their rest break at the same time; in others, the work demands a staggered schedule. These are agency management decisions, so long as the agency complies with applicable laws.

Another area of discretion is flextime scheduling. An agency may offer some or all its employees the opportunity to design their own work schedules. Usually, agencies operating under flextime require that their employees work certain “core” hours during each day to ensure that there is a steady flow of work during the peak hours when services are most needed.