FAQ: Working at NIH

The NIH Training Center has identified and mapped training courses to competencies at various proficiency levels. The Competency Training Map aids employees in researching training courses that will help them reach their target proficiency level for a given competency. However, taking a class does not guarantee that employees will attain the desired proficiency level. It is the ability to perform tasks/activities related to their job responsibilities that demonstrates the level of proficiency attained. Training can only aid employees in developing competencies. There is not a specified number of classes that an individual needs to take in order to meet a competency proficiency level.

NIH has developed competency models in some of the most common roles performed across ICs. These roles consist of competencies that fall within the following areas: non-technical, technical, leadership & management, and executive level proficiencies.

Non-technical competencies represent the sets of knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors that apply to all NIH employees. Technical competencies are occupation-related competencies that apply to all employees within a specific business area. The leadership & management competencies apply to all employees with supervisory responsibilities in administrative occupations. The executive level proficiencies are based on OPM’S Executive Core Qualifications for the Senior Executive Service (SES). 

The suggested competency models provide guidance on the expected performance needed by NIH employees in different occupational areas.

The interview guide serves as a tool that supervisors can use to understand if and how interviewees have demonstrated key behaviors associated with particular competencies. Past performance may be a good predictor of future performance in a similar situation.

Most interview guides include a number of questions related to each competency. Interviewers may choose questions they think are appropriate for the candidate, job or organization.

Yes. When putting in future leave requests, you must enter the start and end times for the actual hours you want to take leave.

Ensure that there are core hours established for the employee’s SAC. If not, establish core hours and then try again.

If the employee’s SAC does have core hours established, make sure the hours listed in the Biweekly Distribution of Biweekly Basic Work Requirements at the bottom of the Tour of Duty page have been cleared out prior to going to the employee’s timecard on the “Timecard” tab and clearing it out as well.

Yes.  You can submit multi-day leave requests that are within the same work week by entering the start/stop times and the appropriate range of dates.

Note that multiple weeks of leave should be entered as separate leave requests for each week (e.g. 11/30/2015 - 12/04/2015 and 12/07/2015 - 12/11/2015). A single request for leave from 11/30/2015 through 12/11/2015 would result in leave being requested for the weekend days in addition to the week days.

During core hours, an employee must be working or on leave. They can be working in the office or at an approved telework location, but they cannot be flexing their schedule to be off. This means that if an employee was previously on a Compressed Work Schedule in which they had Tuesdays off but they are now on Maxiflex and the office has core hours on Tuesdays, the employee must work or be on leave during those core hours.

Yes.  When putting in future ad-hoc telework requests, you must enter the actual hours you want to telework. To request a full day of ad hoc telework, two requests must be entered in ITAS. The first request is before your meal period, and the second request is after (e.g. 12/03/2020 from 8am to noon and 1pm to 5pm). 

Core hours impact an employees’ leave in several ways. Employees may find that they do not need to take as much leave on Maxiflex because they are able to work additional hours throughout the pay period. Conversely, an employee may not simply record one hour of leave on a day that they have a core hour from 10 am - 11 am. That is because employees on Maxiflex must record a minimum of two hours of work or leave each day that has core hours.  Therefore, an employee’s combined hours of work and leave for the day must equal no less than two hours.  If an employee will be out of the office for an extended period of time, i.e. a full week, a Leave Approving Official may request that the employee record 8 hours of leave per day.

An employee is not entitled to night differential for voluntarily working flexible hours between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.

If an employee voluntarily works before 6 a.m. or after 6 p.m. while on a Maxiflex Work Schedule, they are not entitled to night differential.

Yes.  Maxiflex, like all other work schedules, is subject to supervisory approval based on organizational work requirements such as duties of the position, office coverage, or participation in collaborative projects.

Employee participation is an employment benefit and not an entitlement. Bargaining unit employees may participate in Alternative Work Schedules only under the terms provided in a negotiated agreement.

Yes. During core hours, employees must be in a working status or on leave. Working status includes time in the office as well as time teleworking for those employees on an approved telework agreement.

You have several options.

• If there are several days left in the pay period, you can work additional hours. You will need to record any time beyond 80 hours as credit hours, if you are eligible.
• You can extend your work day if you have not reached your IC/O’s total hours cap and are within flexible hours.
• You can also take leave to reach 80 hours. If you attempt to record less than 2 hours of leave on a day that doesn’t have additional regular hours, ITAS will present an error message.

Note: If you have core hours on remaining days in the pay period, you must work or be on leave during that time.

Employees are strongly encouraged to enter their projected hours of work on the Certify Timecard page in ITAS at the beginning of the pay period. That information can be updated as often as needed until the timecard is verified at the end of the pay period.

Please review the Maxiflex-specific guidance on inclement weather.

Yes, a timecard can be certified at any time during the pay period. However, it is strongly recommended that you do not certify your timecard until the end of the pay period. Once a timecard has been certified, you can no longer make changes and must request assistance from your timekeeper.

Employees that work in an alternate time zone and are on a Maxiflex Work Schedule are expected to work (or take leave) during the core hours set by their organization, at the time they are occurring in their organization's time zone. They are expected to record their hours of work/leave using their organization’s time zone.

An employee who works 8 or more hours is entitled to a 30-minute, unpaid meal period. If you are required to enter your start and stop times, ITAS will automatically deduct a meal period for you when you enter a total of 8 or more hours. For example, if you enter a start time of 8 a.m. and a stop time of 4:30 p.m. then ITAS will reflect 8 total hours worked. If you are taking an optional meal period when working less than 8 hours, you must reflect this by using a split in your schedule.

Please review the quick reference guide on this topic.

No. You should consult the following for dismissal and closure procedures:

• Baltimore, MD – Follow instructions provided by the Baltimore Federal Executive Board Inclement Weather Advisory or local Baltimore radio and television stations

• Frederick, MD – Follow instructions provided by the Fort Detrick Inclement Weather (Public Affairs Office); call Ft. Detrick 301-619-7611 or toll free 1-800-256-7621, “press *8, 37611#”; TDD 301-619-2293; or tune in to local radio station WFRE 99.9FM

• Research Triangle Park, North Carolina – Follow instructions provided on the NIEHS homepage; the Junctionweb site; or call the NIEHS Voice Response System at 919-541-1919.

• Hamilton, Montana – Follow instructions provided at the Rocky Mountain Laboratories web site; contact the RML Hotline at 406-375-9675, or tune into the local radio station KLYQ 1240 AM in Hamilton.

Your supervisor may grant a reasonable amount of excused absence to a Tier I employee who is unable to report to the worksite or faces a personal hardship. For example, factors such as distance, availability of public transportation, or health/medical limitations may be considered. Tier I employees who cannot report to their designated worksite are expected to continuously update their supervisor on their status and their ability to commute to the worksite during the emergency.

Note: Excused absences is granted on a case by case basis. Case by case considerations include: an employee’s inability to telework due to lack of power or connectivity; equipment failure or unavailability; or lack of available public transportation.

As a Tier III non-emergency employee, you will be granted excused absence when your worksite is closed and you are prevented from working due to the emergency. However, excused absence will not be granted to employees on (1) leave without pay, (2) official travel, or (3) a flexible or compressed work schedule day off.

Telework is voluntary, but a written agreement that outlines expectations is required before an employee can participate in telework.

In rare situations, your supervisor may determine that circumstances justify granting excused absence if you are on a written telework agreement. This could occur, for instance, if power outages or network connection problems prevent telework. If you are required to work and fail to report for work without adequate reason, your supervisor may place you in an absence without leave (AWOL) status, and you may potentially be disciplined for AWOL. Supervisors should contact the OHR Employee & Labor Relations Office for guidance.

Note: Excused absences is granted on a case by case basis. Case by case considerations include: an employee’s inability to telework due to lack of power or connectivity; equipment failure or unavailability; or lack of available public transportation.