Guidance on Maxiflex Work Schedules 

A maxiflex work schedule is a type of flexible work schedule (FWS) established under 5 U.S.C. chapter 61, subchapter II, that, when combined with other workforce flexibilities (such as telework), provides great flexibility to employees who need to address the demands of work, caregiving, and other personal responsibilities. Maxiflex work schedules also support agency continuity of operations and mission achievement.

Note: This fact sheet provides guidance on maxiflex work schedules and premium pay authorized under title 5, United States Code. This guidance does not apply to employees covered by alternative work schedules or premium pay under other legal authorities.

Flexible Work Schedules Overview

An FWS allows a full-time employee to complete an 80-hour biweekly basic work requirement by determining their own schedule within the limits set by the agency. An FWS consists of workdays with (1) core hours and (2) flexible hours. Core hours refer to the designated period(s) on specified days when all employees must be at work (unless an absence during those hours is specifically approved). Flexible hours are the part of the workday when employees may (within limits or "bands") choose their time of arrival and departure. Within limits set by their agencies, employees under an FWS may select and alter their work schedules to better fit personal needs and help balance work, personal, and family responsibilities. As a minimum requirement, an FWS (including a maxiflex work schedule) must have at least 2 core hours on each of 2 workdays within a biweekly pay period.

When implementing or changing an FWS, agencies must review any applicable collective bargaining agreements and satisfy relevant collective bargaining obligations. Please note that since bargaining unit employees may participate in an FWS only to the extent provided for in a collective bargaining agreement, agency heads must negotiate the establishment of an FWS for these employees.

For more information on FWS and other types of alternative work schedules, please see the FWS fact sheet and the Handbook on Alternative Work Schedules. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s website has additional information on work schedules.

Maxiflex Work Schedules Overview

A full-time employee under a maxiflex work schedule must have a basic work requirement of 80 hours in a biweekly pay period. (The agency head determines the number of basic work requirement hours in a biweekly pay period for a part-time employee.) Agencies must establish flexible hours and core hours for maxiflex work schedules.

Core Hours. Core hours refer to the designated period(s) on specified days when all employees covered by the approved FWS must be working unless an absence during those hours is specifically approved. Agencies may designate the number of core hours each week to meet their mission needs and are not required to have core hours on every workday. However, agencies may choose not to establish core hours on each workday, thus providing maximum flexibility for employees. Because of the absence of core hours on one (or more) of the normal workdays, an employee may work fewer than 10 days in a biweekly pay period under a maxiflex work schedule. If an employee cannot work during established core hours, they must (1) account for missed core hours (if permitted) with leave, credit hours, or compensatory time off or (2) with agency approval, work the core hours at another time (within the same workday) or on another day within the pay period.

Flexible hours. Sometimes referred to as flexible time bands, these are hours during which an employee may choose to vary their starting or stopping times (or times of arrival to and departure from the work site) consistent with the duties and requirements of the position. An agency may establish limitations on when basic work requirement hours may be performed—for example, the days of the week on which an employee may perform such hours and limits on the number of such hours on a given day.

Sunday and Holiday Premium Pay. An agency may choose not to establish flexible time bands or permit an employee to work on certain days, such as Sundays and holidays. If an agency allows an employee to complete basic work requirement hours by working on Sunday, the employee generally would be entitled to Sunday premium pay under 5 U.S.C. 5546(a)—a 25 percent premium for up to 8 hours in a daily tour that includes Sunday hours. If an agency allows an employee to perform holiday work within the employee’s basic work requirement, the employee generally would be entitled to holiday premium pay under 5 U.S.C. 5546(b)—a 100 percent premium for up to 8 hours in a daily tour on a holiday. (See also 5 CFR 610.111(d).)

Note: An employee may earn Sunday premium pay and/or holiday premium pay only during nonovertime hours. (See definitions of Sunday work and holiday work at 5 CFR 550.103.)

Maxiflex Work Schedule Scenarios

The following scenarios are illustrative, and agencies may devise other types of maxiflex work schedules under their internal FWS policies. These scenarios can be applied to an employee who works at an agency worksite on all workdays during the biweekly pay period, an employee under a telework arrangement where an employee works at an agency worksite some days and teleworks other days during the biweekly pay period, or an employee who is a remote worker and does not work at an agency worksite during the biweekly pay period.

Scenario 1

Flexible Hours: Monday through Friday, 6:00 am to 10:00 pm

Core day/hours: Wednesdays, 10:00 am to 2:00 pm (excluding a 30-minute unpaid meal break)

The agency allows employees to elect to work a maxiflex work schedule. An employee can complete the 80-hour biweekly work requirement in less than 10 days.

The agency bars employees covered by the maxiflex work schedule from performing work on a holiday without approval. A full-time employee will receive holiday pay for 8 basic work requirement hours on the holiday during which no work is performed. The agency cancels core hours that fall on a holiday.

An employee participates in the agency’s maxiflex work schedule and typically their work schedule begins at 10:00 am and ends at 6:30 pm, Monday through Friday, completing an 8-hour workday without the need to take leave or other time off.

Is night pay authorized? No. The employee does not earn night pay for any hours worked after 6:00 pm because there are at least 8 hours available within the agency’s established flexible time bands (6:00 am to 10:00 pm) that may be worked outside of the nighttime hours (6:00 pm to 6:00 am), and no core hours are required during the nighttime hours (5 U.S.C. 6123(c)). The core hours are 10:00 am to 2:00 pm on Wednesday. Night pay is not payable when an employee on a flexible work schedule has the option to work at least 8 hours during non-nighttime hours on a given day.

Scenario 2 (Expanded Flexible Hours and Night Pay)

Flexible Hours: Monday through Friday: 11:00 am to 11:00 pm

Core days/hours: Tuesday and Thursday, 2:00 to 5:00 pm (excluding any 30-minute unpaid meal break)

The agency bars employees covered by the maxiflex work schedule from performing work on a holiday without approval. A full-time employee will receive holiday pay for 8 basic work requirement hours on the holiday during which no work is performed. The agency cancels core hours that fall on a holiday.

An employee participates in the maxiflex work schedule and elects to work from 12:00 noon to 8:30 pm each day to complete an 8-hour tour of duty (after taking into account a 30-minute unpaid meal break from 3:00 to 3:30 pm).

Is night pay authorized? Yes. However, not all nighttime hours will generate night pay. Normally, an employee is entitled to night pay for the hours worked between 6:00 pm and 6:00 am, but for employees with a flexible work schedule, night pay is based on whether the employee was required to work nighttime hours to complete 8 basic work requirement hours in a workday. In this scenario, the agency’s maxiflex work schedule does not have more than 8 hours available for an employee to complete their 8-hour tour of duty during non-nighttime hours between 6:00 am and 6:00 pm

Taking into account a 30-minute unpaid meal break and the maxiflex work schedule’s earliest tour of duty start time of 11:00 am, an 8-hour day would require an employee to end their workday at no earlier than 7:30 pm There are 1.5 hours of work that must occur at night (between 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm) that the employee is required to work in order to complete an 8-hour tour of duty. The employee does not have an opportunity to complete their 8-hour workday during non-nighttime hours as the 11:00 am to 6:00 pm period (including a 30-minute unpaid lunch break) will only account for 6.5 hours of work, not the required 8 hours. The employee in question chose to start work at 12:00 noon and to end work at 8:30 pm (including a 30-minute unpaid meal break); thus, while the employee had 2.5 hours of nighttime work, the employee was only required to work 1.5 night hours to complete 8 hours. Therefore, the employee earns night pay for 1.5 night hours.

Scenario 3 (Monday through Saturday Maxiflex Work Schedule)

Flexible Hours: Monday through Saturday, 5:00 am to 12:00 midnight

Core day/hours: Thursdays, 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm

The agency bars employees covered by the maxiflex work schedule from performing work on a holiday without approval. A full-time employee will receive holiday pay for 8 basic work requirement hours on the holiday during which no work is performed. The agency cancels core hours that fall on a holiday.

An employee participates in the maxiflex work schedule but is unable to work Monday through Wednesday because of personal obligations. Due to the flexible time bands, the employee can complete the 80-hour biweekly work requirement on Thursday through Saturday without needing to take leave or other time off.

Is night pay authorized? No. The employee does not earn night pay for any hours worked during nighttime hours (6:00 pm – 6:00 am) because there are at least 8 hours available to be worked in the flexible time bands outside of the nighttime hours and no core hours are required during the nighttime hours.

Note: If an agency chose to make Sunday hours available under a maxiflex work schedule, an employee generally would be entitled to 25 percent Sunday premium pay for up to 8 hours of their basic work requirement based on electing to work flexible hours during a daily basic tour of duty that begins or ends on Sunday. (See 5 U.S.C. 5546(a) and 5 CFR 610.111(d).)

Scenario 4 (Holiday)

Flexible Hours: Monday through Friday: 6:00 am to 10:00 pm

Core day/hours: Thursdays, 10:00 am to 2:00 pm (excluding a 30-minute unpaid lunch break)

The agency bars employees covered by the maxiflex work schedule from performing work on a holiday without approval. A full-time employee will receive holiday pay for 8 basic work requirement hours on the holiday during which no work is performed. The agency cancels core hours that fall on a holiday.

The agency limits employees to no more than 10 basic work requirement hours on any workday.

An employee participates in the agency maxiflex work schedule. In a particular biweekly pay period, this employee completes their 80-hour basic work requirement in 9 days by working more than 8 hours on some days. In addition, in this particular biweekly pay period, there is a Federal holiday.

Is holiday paid time off authorized? Yes. When a holiday occurs, a full-time employee on a maxiflex schedule is entitled to 8 hours of pay on a holiday when the employee does not work. (See 5 U.S.C. 6124.) The employee may not receive holiday paid time off for more than 8 hours even if the number of hours the employee might typically have worked on a day that is designated as a holiday exceeds 8 hours. The employee must account for any additional hours the employee typically works on the 8-hour holiday and would either need to take leave (or other time off) or work additional hours during the biweekly pay period to ensure the employee has a 40-hour workweek.

Note: If the agency’s policy had allowed an employee under the maxiflex work schedule to choose to perform holiday work within the employee’s basic work requirement, the agency would generally be obligated to pay a 100 percent premium for up to 8 hours of holiday work. (See 5 U.S.C. 5546(b) and 5 CFR 610.111(d).) For further information, please see OPM’s Federal Holidays - Work Schedules and Pay fact sheet.

Scenario 5 (Split Core Hours on the Same Workday)

Flexible Hours: Monday through Friday: 6:00 am to 8:00 pm

Core day/hours: Tuesdays, 10:00 am to 11:00 am and 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm

The agency bars employees covered by the maxiflex work schedule from performing work on a holiday without approval. A full-time employee will receive holiday pay for 8 basic work requirement hours on the holiday during which no work is performed. The agency cancels core hours that fall on a holiday.

An employee participates in both the agency’s maxiflex work schedule and telework program. The employee is required to take a 30-minute unpaid meal break during the workday. The meal break must occur outside of the designated core hours (10:00 am to 11:00 am and 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm) on Tuesdays. The employee typically works Tuesday through Friday each week, beginning the workday at 8:00 am and completing the workday at 6:30 pm The employee does not perform work on Monday.

Is night pay authorized? No. The employee does not earn night pay for any hours worked during nighttime hours (6:00 pm – 6:00 am) because there are at least 8 hours available to be worked in the flexible time bands outside of the nighttime hours and no core hours are required during the nighttime hours on Tuesdays. Night pay is not payable when an employee on a flexible work schedule has the option to work at least 8 hours during non-nighttime hours on a given day.

Scenario 6 (Mid-Day Break)

Flexible Hours: Monday through Saturday: 5:00 am to 11:00 pm

Core day/hours: Tuesdays, 11:00 am to 1:30 pm (excluding a 30-minute unpaid lunch break)

The agency bars employees covered by the maxiflex work schedule from performing work on a holiday without approval. A full-time employee will receive holiday pay for 8 basic work requirement hours on the holiday during which no work is performed. The agency cancels core hours that fall on a holiday.

An employee participates in both the agency’s maxiflex work schedule and telework program. In a particular biweekly pay period, the employee reports to the agency worksite on a Thursday at 7:00 am. The employee works until 12:00 noon and needs to attend an appointment at their child’s school at 2:30 pm. Since Thursday contains no core hours, the employee is able to depart the worksite (without needing to take leave or other time off) at 12:00 noon and complete the remainder of the workday later by teleworking. The employee begins teleworking at 7:00 pm and completes the workday at 11:00 pm.

Is night pay authorized? No. The employee does not earn night pay for any hours worked during nighttime hours (6:00 pm – 6:00 am) because there are at least 8 hours available to be worked in the flexible time bands outside of the nighttime hours and no core hours are required on Thursdays. Night pay is not payable when an employee on a flexible work schedule has the option to work at least 8 hours during non-nighttime hours on a given day.

Scenario 7 (Intermittent Use of Paid Parental Leave)

Flexible Hours: Monday through Saturday: 6:00 am to 11:00 pm

Core day/hours: Wednesday, 11:30 am to 1:30 pm (excluding a 30-minute unpaid lunch break)

The agency bars employees covered by the maxiflex work schedule from performing work on a holiday without approval. A full-time employee will receive holiday pay for 8 basic work requirement hours on the holiday during which no work is performed. The agency cancels core hours that fall on a holiday.

An employee participates in both the agency’s maxiflex work schedule and telework program. The employee has given birth to a child. Following the child’s birth, the employee invoked the Family and Medical Leave Act leave to take 12 weeks of paid parental leave as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 6382.  The employee was authorized to take paid parental leave intermittently over the 12 months following the birth of the child while also teleworking at home during the employee’s recovery.

In this example, the employee plans to intermittently use 40 hours of paid parental leave during the current pay period while working the other 40 hours under the agency maxiflex work schedule. During the first week of the biweekly pay period, the employee takes 40 hours of paid parental leave. During the second week of the biweekly pay period, the employee teleworks on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 9:30 am through 8:00 pm to complete the biweekly work requirement.

Is night pay authorized? No. The employee does not earn night pay for any hours worked during nighttime hours (6:00 pm – 6:00 am) because there are at least 8 hours available to be worked in the flexible time bands outside of the nighttime hours and no core hours are required during the nighttime hours on Wednesday.

Scenario 8 (Remote Work - Same Time Zone as Agency Worksite)

Flexible Hours: Monday through Friday: 7:00 am to 7:00 pm

Core day/hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:30 am to 1:30 pm (excluding a 30-minute unpaid lunch break)

The agency bars employees covered by the maxiflex work schedule from performing work on a holiday without approval. A full-time employee will receive holiday pay for 8 basic work requirement hours on the holiday during which no work is performed. The agency cancels core hours that fall on a holiday.

A remote worker participates in the same maxiflex work schedule as their coworkers who report to the agency worksite. The remote worker may participate in the maxiflex to the same extent as all other eligible employees. This includes flexible starting and stopping times and the ability to complete the biweekly work requirement in less than 10 workdays. In this example, the remote worker works Monday through Thursday each week and typically begins the workday at 8:00 am and completes the workday at 6:30 pm. The remote worker does not perform work on Fridays.

Is night pay authorized? No. The employee does not earn night pay for any hours worked during nighttime hours (6:00 pm – 6:00 am) because there are at least 8 hours available to be worked in the flexible time bands outside of the nighttime hours and no core hours are required during the nighttime hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Scenario 9 (Remote Work - Different Time Zone as Agency Worksite)

Flexible Hours: Monday through Friday: 7:00 am to 11:00 pm (Eastern standard time (EST))

Core day/hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm (EST)

The agency bars employees covered by the maxiflex work schedule from performing work on a holiday without approval. A full-time employee will receive holiday pay for 8 basic work requirement hours on the holiday during which no work is performed. The agency cancels core hours that fall on a holiday.

A remote worker participates in the same maxiflex work schedule as their coworkers who report to the agency worksite. The agency worksite is located in the Eastern time zone while the remote worker is located in the Pacific time zone (i.e., 3 hours behind the agency worksite). The remote worker may participate in the maxiflex to the same extent as all other eligible employees. This includes flexible starting and stopping times and the ability to complete the biweekly work requirement in less than 10 workdays. The agency has designated core hours between 1:30 pm and 3:30 pm Eastern time (10:30 am and 12:30 pm Pacific time for the remote worker) on Tuesdays and Thursdays to ensure the remote worker has some common hours with the employees working at the agency worksite. The remote worker typically starts the workday at 9:00 am (Pacific time) and concludes the workday at 7:30 pm (Pacific time) Monday through Thursday. The remote worker does not perform work on Fridays.

Is night pay authorized? No. The employee does not earn night pay for any hours worked during nighttime hours (6:00 pm – 6:00 am (EST)) because there are at least 8 hours available to be worked in the flexible time bands outside of the nighttime hours and no core hours are required during the nighttime hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Note: Time-sensitive pay entitlements (such as night pay) are generally based on the clock time at the place where the work is performed. For further information on remote work, telework, and hours of work, please see OPM’s memorandum entitled “Guidance on Hours of Work for Telework and Remote Work Employees.”