(Revised 8/92)

 

Government Code Section 11020 requires all State agencies to be "open for the transaction of business" from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. every day except Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. The legal holidays are listed in Government Code Sections 6700 through 6709.

 

Any State agency or administrative unit may stay open at other times, as long as the rules and laws and labor agreements about employee hours of work are not broken.

 

There must be full public access during the required pen hours. Department directors and other managers must assign staff to respond to citizen needs during the legal open hours. Even with staggered work hours, flex-time and other similar arrangements, it is not necessary to budget more positions in order to meet the need for full public access. Skeleton staffing at information centers and coordination of telephone lines for answering service should permit adequate response. During the legal open hours, the public should not be told that the office is closed, that they must call again, nor that they must return on another day.