U.S. Code » Title 5 » Part PART III— EMPLOYEES › Subpart Subpart E— Attendance and Leave › Chapter CHAPTER 61— HOURS OF WORK › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— FLEXIBLE AND COMPRESSED WORK SCHEDULES

5 U.S.C. § 6121

Definitions

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For purposes of this subchapter—(1) “agency” means any Executive agency, any military department, the Government Publishing Office, the Library of Congress, the Architect of the Capitol, and the Botanic Garden;(2) “employee” has the meaning given the term in subsection (a) of section 2105 of this title, except that such term also includes an employee described in subsection (c) of that section;(3) “basic work requirement” means the number of hours, excluding overtime hours, which an employee is required to work or is required to account for by leave or otherwise;(4) “credit hours” means any hours, within a flexible schedule established under section 6122 of this title, which are in excess of an employee’s basic work requirement and which the employee elects to work so as to vary the length of a workweek or a workday;(5) “compressed schedule” means—(A) in the case of a full-time employee, an 80-hour biweekly basic work requirement which is scheduled for less than 10 workdays, and(B) in the case of a part-time employee, a biweekly basic work requirement of less than 80 hours which is scheduled for less than 10 workdays;(6) “overtime hours”, when used with respect to flexible schedule programs under sections 6122 through 6126 of this title, means all hours in excess of 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in a week which are officially ordered in advance, but does not include credit hours;(7) “overtime hours”, when used with respect to compressed schedule programs under sections 6127 and 6128 of this title, means any hours in excess of those specified hours which constitute the compressed schedule; and(8) “collective bargaining”, “collective bargaining agreement”, and “exclusive representative” have the same meanings given such terms—(A) by section 7103(a)(12), (8), and (16) of this title, respectively, in the case of any unit covered by chapter 71 of this title; and(B) in the case of any other unit, by the corresponding provisions applicable under the personnel system covering this unit.(Added Pub. L. 97–221, § 2(a)(2), July 23, 1982, 96 Stat. 227; amended Pub. L. 101–163, title III, § 312, Nov. 21, 1989, 103 Stat. 1065; Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title X, § 1041, Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 433; Pub. L. 111–68, div. A, title I, § 1302(1), Oct. 1, 2009, 123 Stat. 2034; Pub. L. 113–235, div. H, title I, § 1301(b), Dec. 16, 2014, 128 Stat. 2537.)Editorial NotesAmendments

2009—Par. (1). Pub. L. 111–68 substituted “the Library of Congress, the Architect of the Capitol, and the Botanic Garden” for “and the Library of Congress”.

1996—Par. (2). Pub. L. 104–106 amended par. (2) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (2) read as follows: “ ‘employee’ has the meaning given it by section 2105 of this title;”.

1989—Par. (1). Pub. L. 101–163 inserted “the Government Printing Office,” after “military department,”.

Statutory Notes and Related SubsidiariesChange of Name

“Government Publishing Office” substituted for “Government Printing Office” in par. (1) on authority of section 1301(b) of Pub. L. 113–235, set out as a note preceding section 301 of Title 44, Public Printing and Documents.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 15 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1988–2025 · leading case: Doe v. United States, 513 F.3d 1348 (Fed. Cir. 2008).
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Doe v. United States, 513 F.3d 1348 (Fed. Cir. 2008). · cites it 3× “5 U.S.C. § 6121 (6). The SSA also allows its employees to receive “compensatory time” in lieu of overtime pay.”
Abbey v. United States, 82 Fed. Cl. 722 (Fed. Cl. 2008). · cites it 3× “See 5 U.S.C. §§ 6121 (4), 6122. The exceptions contained in sections 5543, 6121, 6122, and 6123 do not, however, apply to plaintiffs under the provisions of the Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriation Act of 1996, Pub.”
Whalen v. United States, 93 Fed. Cl. 579 (Fed. Cl. 2010). · cites it 2× “5 U.S.C. § 6121 (6) (“ ‘[OJvertime hours’, when used with respect to flexible schedule programs under sections 6122 through 6126 of this title, means all hours in excess of 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in a week which are officially ordered in advance, but does not include…”
Aletta v. United States, 70 Fed. Cl. 600 (Fed. Cl. 2006). · cites it 4× “See 5 U.S.C. §§ 6121 (4), 6122. A “compressed” schedule is one in which an employee works 80 hours during each two-week pay period, but does so in less than 10 days.”
Doe v. United States, 74 Fed. Cl. 592 (Fed. Cl. 2007). · cites it 3× “Because credit hours are not overtime under 5 U.S.C. § 6121 (6) and cannot be compensated as such, the Court dismisses the credit hours claim for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.”
Abbey v. United States, 124 Fed. Cl. 397 (Fed. Cl. 2015). · cites it 2× “2008) (citing 5 U.S.C. § 6121 (6)). Whereas “credit hours” are defined as hours “in excess of an employee’s basic work requirement,[ 4 ] which the employee elects to work,” id.”
Yanko v. United States, 127 Fed. Cl. 682 (Fed. Cl. 2016). “§ 6103 (Holidays); 5 U.S.C. § 6121 (Flexible and Compressed Work Schedules Definitions); 28 U.”
Blair v. United States, 15 Cl. Ct. 763 (Ct. Cl. 1988). “” 5 U.S.C. § 6121 (7) (1982). In plaintiff’s case, the specified hours in his compressed or AWS were eight ten-hour days in an eighty-hour, biweekly work requirement schedule.”
Austin v. United States, 128 Fed. Cl. 314 (Fed. Cl. 2016). “See 5 U.S.C. § 6121 (5)(A) and (B). But it is clear that section 6103(d) only addresses full-time employees on compressed schedules because section 6103(d)(2) grants agencies discretion to establish certain employees’ “in lieu of’ holidays “other than as provided by subsection…”
Coyner v. United States (Fed. Cl. 2022). · cites it 4× “” 5 U.S.C. § 6121 (4), (6) (defining “credit hours” and “overtime hours” separately); Doe v.”
Abbey v. United States (Fed. Cl. 2015). · cites it 4× “2008) (citing 5 U.S.C. § 6121 (6)). Whereas “credit hours” are defined as hours “in excess of an employee’s basic work requirement,[4] which the employee elects to work,” id.”
Auth. to Permit Part-Time Employees to Work Regularly Scheduled Workweeks of 33 to 39 Hours (OLC 2015). · cites it 2× “5 U.S.C. § 6121 (5)(B). Congress also amended the Act’s definition of “part-time career employment” to state that it includes part-time employment of “32 to 64 hours during a biweekly pay period in the case of a flexible or com- pressed schedule under subchapter II of chapter 61…”
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— 5 U.S.C. § 6121(6) — 1 case
Aletta v. United States, 70 Fed. Cl. 600 (Fed. Cl. 2006). “See 5 U.S.C. §§ 6121 (4), 6122. A “compressed” schedule is one in which an employee works 80 hours during each two-week pay period, but does so in less than 10 days.”
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