Policy on Remote Work and Flexible Schedules

Working collaboratively with the Staff Affairs Council, Human Resources has developed a number of clarifications and enhancements to Colgate’s remote work policy, and has created new policy language to guide supervisors in considering flexible schedules.

Remote Work and Flexible Work Schedules

Because Colgate’s model of education values in-person interaction and the foundation of a vibrant academic community, most Colgate employees are required to work in-person on campus. For a limited number of positions, based on the needs of the department and the needs of the employee, along with certain business considerations, remote/flexible work arrangements, in which the bulk of the employee’s work is done off-campus, may be made. For example, some divisions have regional positions for which employees are required to work outside of Hamilton. These arrangements are always subject to review based on the needs of the University.

Employees interested in pursuing remote/hybrid work or flexible schedules should communicate this to their supervisors, who should use the rubric (below) to assess the appropriateness and value of the alternative work arrangement and consult with divisional leadership before making a decision.

Before making any ongoing remote work or flexible work schedules arrangements, departments must submit a proposal related to the business need for these arrangements and submit to their Vice President for approval.

In all cases, the employee must have a satisfactory performance record. The arrangements will be made on a trial basis and may be discontinued at will, and at any time, at the request of either the employee or the University. When the University looks to discontinue the arrangement, every effort will be made to provide the employee at minimum 30 days’ notice, but in some instances 30 days’ notice may not be possible.

Should alternate work arrangements be approved, it is incumbent on both the supervisor and employee to maintain an easily accessible line of communication to ensure responsibilities are being met and that the employee remains connected to the Colgate community.

Remote/Hybrid Work Arrangements

Note: Special arrangements must be made for employees working outside of New York State for any period of time. Permission to allow out-of-state work must be approved by human resources.

Occasional single-day remote work arrangements may be approved by supervisors for positions that do not require an on-campus presence (though these allowances must be provided equally to all similar workers within the department.)

More extensive working-from-home arrangements can only be permitted for positions that are deemed by supervisors and divisional leadership not to require a consistent in-person campus presence. These arrangements will be considered on a case-by-case basis, dependent on the needs of the department and division. Supervisors considering these arrangements should read the rubric provided below (see “Rubric for Remote/Hybrid Work and Flexible Work Schedules”), fill out the questionnaire provided, and send it to Human Resources for review before approving.

In all cases, this arrangement will need to be consistent with job responsibilities and approved by the employee’s supervisor. Any arrangements that are related to personal medical or family care, should be determined in collaboration with Human Resources.

Key points of hybrid/remote arrangements

In general, it is anticipated that if employees are working from home, they will either engage in a full day of work or use benefit time to offset any hours in which they are not working. Employees may be required to provide an account to their supervisor of the work they plan to complete and a log upon completion of any work performed from home that day.
Full-time work is not compatible with supervision or care of young children, and remote work arrangements should therefore not be used as a means of providing childcare or care of a sick child in the home.
Typically, if an employee is not well enough to work, they should not be working from home and should be focused on getting better. Normally, an out of office email reply should be turned on with a message referring senders to someone else. However, hourly employees may, when using sick time, accumulate up to a ½ hour of work a day by checking and forwarding email responses.
Employees who have a home office are required to follow best practices for securing all University owned data and must adhere to the University’s Document Record Retention and Destruction Policy. This includes, but is not limited to, the use of VPN for all data connections, and the use of a safe and ergonomically arranged work space. Employees who are working remotely should consult with Information Technology for guidance on best practices.

Flexible Work Schedule Arrangements

Most jobs on campus require full-day work schedules, 5 days a week, although some departments make use of other schedules. Employees whose work-life balance would be well served by a non-standard work schedule (for example, 4 longer days instead of five days per week) may request consideration of this schedule from their supervisor. Flexible schedule requests can only be accommodated for positions whose function does not require a more standard schedule (for example, positions relied upon by students, staff, or faculty to provide services during business hours.)

These arrangements will be considered on a case-by-case basis, dependent on the needs of the department and division. Supervisors considering these arrangements should read the rubric provided below (see “Rubric for Remote/Hybrid Work and Flexible Work Schedules”), fill out the questionnaire provided, and send it to Human Resources for review before approving.

Key points of flexible work schedules

Flexible work schedules presume that the same amount of work will be performed over different hours and therefore do not affect compensation. (Supervisors and employees may also consider changes to full-time status for employees interested in working part-time where departmental needs allow, but these are not flexible work schedules.)
Regular and consistent communication is critical to the success of a flexible work arrangement. Because flexible schedules may not allow supervisors to observe all of an employee’s work, employees may be required to provide an account to their supervisor of the work they plan to complete and a log upon completion of any work performed outside normal office hours.
Flexible work schedules must be designed with an awareness of the potential for fatigue or flagging attention to detail for employees working longer days. This is especially important for longer-term arrangements (e.g., a continuing 4-day schedule.)

Supervisor Rubric for Remote/Hybrid Work and Flexible Work Schedule Requests

Supervisors who are considering a requested remote or flexible schedule arrangement for a supervisee should answer the following questions, on a scale of 1 (not at all) to 10 (absolutely):

To what extent can this employee’s work be accomplished through this arrangement? (Take into consideration constituencies served, and all potential impacts of absence from the workplace during office hours. If the answer to question #2 is higher than the answer to question #1, use the answer to question 2 here.)
To what extent can the department provide the needed support (including equipment, etc.) to ensure that the employee’s contributions maintain their current level under this arrangement?
To what extent can the University limit any negative impact on other employees in the department resulting from this arrangement? (If there is no likely negative impact, set this at 10.)
To what extent could the University provide a similar arrangement to all similar employees in the department? (If there are no other relevant employees, set this to 10.)
To what extent does the supervisor feel comfortable monitoring the work of the supervisee under this arrangement?
How important is this arrangement to the healthy functioning of the department (e.g., solving space issues, retaining a valued employee, overall morale, etc.)?

The answers to questions 1-5 should all be at 8 or above for a remote work arrangement to be considered. However, a high score on question 6 could offset a lower score elsewhere. Ongoing arrangements supported by supervisors will require approval from divisional vice presidents and from Human Resources.

For a number of reasons, the University is best-served by maintaining a catalog of work arrangements that may result in personnel being away from the office during normal hours (whether this is the result of a remote work arrangement or a flexible schedule.) Human Resources therefore asks that supervisors fill out the form given below for any ongoing arrangement in which an employee will be working remotely or on an altered schedule. This will also allow the University to monitor the level of usage of these arrangements across campus, to ensure they are being made available equitably and that the volume of these arrangements is not having an adverse effect on the University’s academic mission.

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