As recently communicated, Chancellor Angle has encouraged consideration of work schedule flexibility to the extent feasible through the month of July. Opportunities for work schedule flexibility would include a temporary transition to a 4-day, 10-hour daily work week (compressed work week) or telecommuting one day per week.
Although we encourage offering as many staff as possible the option to participate in one of the flexible schedule opportunities, we realize such an arrangement may not be feasible in some areas. Recommended guidelines for establishing and governing flexible work schedule arrangements are provided below.
Unit heads should assess if either of the two options are feasible for staff members based upon factors consistent with determining eligibility for a telecommuting arrangement, which are outlined in the UTC Telecommuting Arrangement Decision Guide and listed below:
• operational needs of your unit,
• essential functions of the position the employee(s) occupies,
• service expectations,
• staffing levels,
• available resources,
• documented work performance concerns, etc.
Employees may request consideration of one of the scheduling options, but approval will be at the discretion of the unit head, in collaboration with college/major unit leaders and division vice chancellors. Any approved arrangement should be considered temporary and can be discontinued at any time by administration based on, but not limited to, the consideration of factors listed above.
Approval of 4-day, 10-hour daily work weeks must include a unit plan for ensuring continued services to campus during days in which employees are off.
All university offices must remain open during their normal operating hours with availability to provide services during the period of flexible scheduling.
Approval of a 4-day, 10-hour daily work week should be documented in writing with individual employees to outline the revised daily work schedule parameters and other expectations. Days of leave recorded for employees with a compressed work week schedule should reflect 10 hours of leave in alignment with their daily work schedule expectations.
When approving a telecommuting arrangement one day per week for employees, supervisors should review the UTC Telecommuting Guidelines with employees and establish a UTC Telecommuting Arrangement Agreement Form to document all relevant details. A copy of final agreement forms can be forwarded to UTCHumanResources@utc.edu for record. All agreements should be approved by unit heads, college/major unit leaders and division vice chancellors before being executed during this temporary period.
Employees are expected to maintain their assigned percent of effort recorded in the official IRIS personnel system while performing work in a telecommuting arrangement. Time not reported as worked during a telecommuting arrangement should be recorded as leave when necessary and approved by the employee’s supervisor, pursuant to UT Policy HR0380 – Sick Leave and HR0305 – Annual Leave.
Sincerely,
Laure Pou
Assistant Vice Chancellor of Human Resources