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Arts and Sciences units/orgs should ensure their employee’s work plans are up to date at all times.  Employees must work with their supervisor(s) to develop and/or update appropriate work modality plans and complete a work agreement form Work Agreement Form | Human Resources | ������ý���� .

Everyone’s needs are not the same, and people’s needs often change over time at different stages of their lives. No longer will one solution work for every employee. Treating employees fairly means giving their needs individual attention and respect. Also, unit business needs must be a priority for all employees as well as the manager. Thus, unit leadership is expected to plan and make these decisions to ensure business needs are met, while also meeting the needs of its employees.  When an employee is requesting a Remote or Hybrid Work Arrangement, the unit’s business needs, manager’s needs and co-workers’ needs all must be considered by both the employee and manager. Recognizing that service needs are dynamic and changing, the College of Arts and Sciences has developed the guidance to allow our units the agency to determine how to address their needs. 

Arts and Sciences college leadership has given each department the agency to make decisions about Work Modality Work Arrangements, within established guidelines, in their units based on what will work best for their business needs. If department leadership does not approve specific requests, employees must adhere to the unit’s expectations.

When business needs are established in advance, managers can work with the team to see how much flexibility is feasible. In some instances, employees may have to temporarily re-arrange their schedules to meet the unit’s needs. In other instances, there may be an agreement for employees to take turns to ensure the unit is covered. If some employees work a compressed work week (e.g. four 10-hour days) their schedules may be organized so that each one works a different four-day schedule in order to ensure 10-hour coverage for all five days of the week. Supervisors are expected to accurately assess the business needs, plan accordingly, and address employees’ failure to ensure planned coverage via performance management and/or corrective action etc.

When there is a climate of trust, employees appreciate the confidence placed in them and perform to meet expectations. In the few instances where performance is questioned, disciplinary action can be taken, or standard work schedules can be reinstated. Flexibility is a partnership with all parties affected. If approached together as a team, Remote Work Arrangements benefit the whole group and can strengthen the trust and cohesion of a team.

The way co-workers communicate and work on projects with an employee who has a flexible work arrangement may change, but the overall workload of co-workers should not increase. Flexibility is a partnership with all parties affected. If approached together as a team, Remote Work Arrangements can be beneficial for the whole group and can strengthen the trust and cohesion of a team.

No. At this time the College of Arts and Sciences does not support out-of-state fully remote work arrangements.

Conference attendance counts as work time. Thus, the expectation is that an employee will monitor communication such that urgent issues are managed. Conference attendance utilizes flexible hours; if conference attendance happens during a day an employee doesn’t normally work, then the employee can “flex” those days.

Within the parameters of an organization’s plan, an individual’s supervisor can deny the request to work remotely or in a hybrid modality; flexibility is not an entitlement. Further the denial is not appealable.

No. Flexibility options first and foremost are designed to meet the needs of the unit functions and ensure optimization of role specific duties, while also meeting the needs of the employee. Flexibility is not a method to enable employees to save their leave; leave rules are still applicable. 

Remote Work Hours or Compressed Work Schedules are standardized as much as possible; thus leave should be planned accordingly. Remote work arrangements are NOT considered off-schedule work hours. The employee is expected to be at their remote work station and prepared to work the entirety of the scheduled remote hours. If an employee is not available to work during their scheduled hours (onsite or remote), they must use their leave to account for the time off. Employees are never expected to work when they are sick, and thus must use sick leave. If there are further questions, please consult with a supervisor and/or the CAS HR team.

This is a nuanced question dependent on employee’s standard work hours, time of year, business needs, type of classification, etc. Please consult with your supervisor and/or the CAS HR team.

Supervisors should address employees if they are doing non-work tasks during scheduled work hours, whether this activity is occurring on or off-site. Supervisors should address employees if they are not available remotely during their scheduled work hours.  Flexible Work Arrangements are not an entitlement and can be discontinued by the supervisor and/or chair/director. Further, concerns must be documented in the employee’s performance management records.

Supervisors should continue to set in-person staff meetings on a regular basis even if employees work different schedules or off-site. There is no reason not to have times when all employees can be scheduled to meet together.

With advanced mobile phones, teleconferencing, email and electronic file sharing, team members can have meetings, work on documents together, and stay in touch in a number of different ways. Technology allows employees who might want to work from home as part of a Remote Work Arrangement to stay connected to their supervisor and colleagues. 

There are many technology options that can be utilized in these situations, for example:

• channel to engage in day-to-day discussion about our work. This will replicate the ability to see each other in person during the normal office day
• Additional University Resources include the following:
  • Voicemail

The intent of this policy is not to interfere with the requirements of the ADA under federal law. To that end, the ADA Compliance unit of the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance (OIEC) assesses all disability related requests. Any disability related request will be referred to the ADA Compliance unit. Please refer to Section VI of the policy or the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance webpage.

We hope that this will not be a reality given all the resources and various options available. However, the business needs are the priority. If an organization determines that an employee is expected to return in an in-person/hybrid capacity and the employee refuses, this scenario would ultimately be handled as a performance/disciplinary matter.

Per the parameters of this policy, an employee will be eligible for remote work option consideration once the employee has demonstrated proficiency in their role, as determined by their supervisor, and have worked a recommended six months in their current position with their current supervisor OR demonstrate proficiency in their role, as determined by their supervisor and supervisor requests an exception (from their upline) to the recommended six months. The employee’s supervisor will review remote work requests and make a determination based on the parameters outlined above. Flexibility is a partnership with all parties affected. If approached together as a team, Flexible Work Arrangements can be beneficial for the whole group and can strengthen the trust and cohesion of a team.

A supervisor’s first step is to determine the needs of the business relative to the role this employee plays. An employee should not be left out of this opportunity solely because they work a part-time schedule; however, the decision must make sense from a business perspective. A front-desk part-time employee, for example, may not be permitted to work remotely, given their role and limited coverage hours, unless coverage can be arranged among the rest of the staff and it does not negatively affect the unit. Please consult with a supervisor and/or the CAS HR team.

This request may be permissible if the combination of the compressed work schedule and hybrid work must meet the business needs, per the supervisor.