How it works
What Weekshape works out, and how
Everything on a request comes from what you enter. The code does arithmetic and dates; it does not judge whether your employer should say yes.
The two-week plan
Patterns repeat every two weeks (a 9/80 needs two weeks to add up), so every plan is drawn as week 1 and week 2, Monday to Sunday. Each working day runs from your start time for your paid hours plus your unpaid break. On-site and home days come from the days you tick.
Hours and 40-hour weeks
Paid hours are added up for each Monday-to-Sunday week and for the two weeks together, then compared with your current week. A week over 40 paid hours is flagged.
Why: under the U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act, employees who are not exempt are paid overtime for hours over 40 in a workweek. A workweek is a fixed, regularly recurring 168 hours that may start on any day and at any hour, and each workweek stands on its own (hours are not averaged over two weeks). That is why employers who offer a 9/80 usually start the workweek halfway through the 8-hour Friday (the alternate short day): 4 hours of that day fall in each workweek, so both workweeks come to 40 hours. Some states also count overtime by the day; California, for example, counts it after 8 hours in a workday unless an alternative workweek has been adopted. Sources: 29 CFR 778.105, 29 CFR 778.104, DOL Fact Sheet #23, California DLSE overtime FAQ.
Core hours
If your team has core hours (when everyone is expected to be available), each core day of your plan is checked: a day off, a start after core hours begin or a finish before they end is listed with the time someone else would need to cover. Weekshape assumes your break can be taken outside core hours.
Long days and commute
Days over 10 paid hours are flagged. If you give your one-way commute, the time saved is the drop in on-site days times two trips times your minutes.
The trial
A trial runs for the weeks you pick from your start date: it ends on the start date plus the weeks, less one day. Check-ins fall every 14 days before the end, and the review is on the last day.
What Weekshape is not
Not legal advice, not HR software and not a job board. Your employer’s policy and your contract decide what is possible. Weekshape is independent and not affiliated with any employer, staffing firm or company named FlexWork or Flex Work.