San Francisco teachers will be paid for full-time work but only be required to work four hours a day during the coronavirus closures, according to a labor agreement approved this week.

The part-time work schedule was also adopted by other districts across the state, including Los Angeles, San Diego and Oakland, although many others continue to require teachers to work a full day, which is typically up to 7.5 hours.

The labor agreements outline working conditions during what is an unprecedented and instantaneous shift from brick-and-mortar schooling to a distance-learning model for the state’s 6.2 million students and 318,000 teachers.

State and local officials have said schools are essential services, providing not only an education, but also meals and other support to students and families.

Yet the San Francisco teachers union officials said the shortened workday recognizes that the pandemic is affecting everyone.

“There are many educators who are also taking care of their own children, as well, as parents and other relatives, and their own health,” said Susan Solomon, president of the United Educators of San Francisco. “There may be challenges in their households if two or more adults are working from home, meaning there are limits in terms of physical space, sound and internet bandwidth, for example.”

Administrators and other staff in the district will continue to work full-time schedules, officials said.

“This agreement reflects the recognition that providing instruction while sheltering in place is not the same for teachers as providing instruction while schools are open,” said Superintendent Vincent Matthews. “We understand that teachers are working under very different conditions while schools are closed. Many have family members, including young children, whom they are caring for during the regular workday.”

Some agreements, including those in San Francisco and Los Angeles, took weeks to hammer out, a contentious negotiation that ultimately resulted in district officials capitulating to union demands, including the shortened work hours.

Other districts, including Fremont, have yet to finalize an agreement nearly five weeks after shuttering schools.

In San Francisco, the deal also provides financial support for teachers’ internet access and phone use and requires teachers to check their work email at least once a day. In addition, teachers are not required to use live video to provide distance learning or adhere to set hours.

“As educators work to implement distance learning, flexibility and grace for all will be crucial,” the agreement says. “Considering the personal challenges (e.g., members’ own childcare/family concerns/needs), presented by (shelter-in-place orders), bargaining unit members shall not be required to maintain a prescribed daily schedule throughout the emergency school closure.”

School board President Mark Sanchez noted that limiting teachers’ hours acknowledges the personal challenges everyone is facing right now.

Even so, “most teachers are working more than that,” Sanchez said.

In Oakland, the agreement was more specific than San Francisco’s, requiring a maximum of two hours of instruction per day, live or recorded, and two hours of flexible time for planning, grading, office hours, meetings or other activities.

The labor agreement also dictates that teachers not be “mandated to sit nor be on screen for more than 90 consecutive minutes at a time for ergonomic and vision safety.”

In a YouTube video about the conditions, the union said the agreement included some “big wins” for teachers.

The deal recognizes that teachers need flexibility and that many do not use technology to a large degree, said Chaz Garcia, chief negotiator for the Oakland Education Association, which represents the teachers.

The four-hour day is a minimum, she said, and is “protective of people’s emotional well-being and state of trauma.”

“It is critical at this point to protect everybody involved,” Garcia said. “We have members who have two kids who are also in school, and you have to allow for that.”

Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker