FAQ - Staff Remote and Flexible Work Policy

 At DePauw, a Flexible Work Arrangement is an alternative arrangement or schedule to a typical work day or week. For consistency of service and support to students and colleagues, official administrative office hours are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., when most department and program offices are required to be open. Although not every position at DePauw lends itself to remote work, many positions lend themselves to alternative or temporary schedules.  Under DePauw’s Staff Remote and Flexible Work Policy,  Flexible Work Arrangement can be: 

Alternative Schedules: permit an employee’s regular work schedule to vary from official office hours, while still working the same number of required hours. 

Temporary Arrangements: allow adjustments in schedule to offset the weekend and/or after-hours work necessary for some positions, or short-term adjustments for occasional instances necessary for a temporary circumstance (i.e., urgent situations, home appointments, etc.)

Remote and Hybrid Work Agreements: involve working from a remote or satellite location either all or part of the time on a regular, defined basis. 

Surveys have found that an important factor correlating with employee commitment and loyalty was recognition by the institution of the importance of personal and family life and support for these responsibilities. There are also significant organizational benefits that can be derived from these arrangements. Flexible work options can improve staff morale, increase productivity, reduce absenteeism and turnover, enhance customer satisfaction and improve competitiveness for job candidates.

An area may want to extend its open office hours to provide better customer service, allow employees to better manage personal responsibilities and work schedules, better manage office space, reduce the number of days employees are in the office, match employee work hours to peak customer volume, promote employee carpooling, reduce office space needs, and increase opportunities for cross-training.

Both types of employees are eligible for Flexible Work Arrangements when feasible and suitable for the position and area. Supervisors need to keep the Fair Labor Standards Act in mind when considering or implementing Flexible Work Arrangements for non-exempt (hourly) employees, since they are eligible for overtime if they work more than 40 hours in a work week.

Full-time and part-time employees may apply for a Flexible Work Arrangement; however, there are certain positions that cannot accommodate a Flexible Work Arrangement.  Some positions require employees to be on campus at all times in order to effectively perform their job functions and some positions may not have as much flexibility to accommodate shift changes.  Factors to be considered by the employee and supervisor include operational needs of the area, customer and colleague support and service requirements, work/life balance of the employee, benefit to the university, and employee productivity.

Yes. An employee interested in a remote work arrangement should complete an Agreement for Remote Work Arrangement form. Alternative Schedules and Temporary Arrangements should be approved by a staff member’s direct supervisor and do not require a written, signed agreement. When business operations permit, and the work of other team members is not compromised, the University encourages supervisors to accommodate staff in these instances.

Alternative Schedules and Temporary Arrangements should be approved by a staff member’s direct supervisor.  For remote arrangements, upon receipt of the Agreement for Remote Work Arrangement form, the supervisor receiving the request will discuss the request with the employee.  The supervisor will then consult with their divisional vice president. A divisional vice president must approve any remote work arrangement in the respective division, in consultation with the employee’s supervisor and/or area leader.

If approved by the vice president, the agreement will be reviewed by Human Resources.

Generally, a Flexible Work Arrangement may be available to an employee who has completed a University orientation and a 90 day period of on-campus employment (except for certain positions that are eligible for fully remote).  

Remote arrangements must be reviewed for effectiveness after the first three months and at least annually thereafter, based on parameters set by the divisional vice president, as part of the employee’s evaluation process; a remote staff member’s performance must meet or exceed job requirements. 

It is important to remember that the work of the University and the area must not suffer as a result of employees using flexible work options. There will be events or meetings that cannot be scheduled around a flexible or remote schedule and employees may be required to attend. The employee and supervisor should discuss and determine what those needs are and the supervisor should define expectations for on-campus presence. The schedule for non-exempt employees would have to be adjusted so that overtime would be avoided.

Many areas have peak times when everyone needs to be in the office during regular business hours. Supervisors can require specific days that everyone should be in the office or suspend Flexible Work Arrangements during peak times.

Yes.  Those with existing remote work arrangements should complete a Remote Work Arrangement Agreement with their supervisor.  A divisional vice president must approve any remote work arrangement in the respective division.  

The supervisor (or the University) can terminate or amend the agreement based on a number of reasons, including operational changes, staffing changes, leadership changes, performance, etc. If the Flexible Work Arrangement is terminated or amended, notice of changes will be provided to the employee at least 10 working days prior to effective changes.  If the Flexible Work Arrangement is terminated for performance reasons, the arrangement may be terminated immediately.

Yes. Since every job, employee, and situation are different, it cannot be assumed that the same decision is appropriate for two otherwise similar positions. Supervisors know the operations of their areas best and are responsible for final decisions on how to get the work accomplished. Supervisors have the authority to approve or deny an Alternative Schedule or Temporary arrangement, or to postpone consideration for a request to another time.

Remote work arrangements are not a substitute for ongoing dependent or child care; staff must make or maintain such dependent care arrangements during agreed-upon work hours. It is understandable that unplanned dependent care issues may arise during regular work hours on occasion that require adaptation; in these situations, staff and supervisors should work together for a solution. 

 At this time, we are only implementing a Staff Remote and Flexible Work Policy.  Job sharing is not a part of the program.

Yes, a supervisor may change an area’s work schedules and arrangements to accommodate organizational needs. Area wide scheduling is not considered a Flexible Work Arrangement.  

The employee should discuss this with the supervisor at least 30 days prior to the date for which they want to change or terminate the previous schedule. The supervisor may or may not be able to approve the request immediately, depending on the needs of the area.

The employee and the employee's new supervisor should discuss the situation and determine if the employee's current Flexible Work Arrangement is appropriate for the new position and area. For Remote Work requests, the employee would have to complete a new Remote Work Arrangement Agreement form and have it approved by the new supervisor and divisional vice president. 

It will likely take 1-3 weeks for the request to go through the evaluation, review and approval process. It may take longer depending on individual schedules.

It is strongly recommended that all employees allow a minimum 30-minute lunch break.

Yes. You can forward a University line using the Metronet Portal or you can use the MetroNet Go app to call from and/or answer your office phone.  If you have questions, please contact the helpdesk at 765-658-4294 or helpdesk@depauw.edu

Hybrid remote work, such as one day a week, allows staff to maintain ongoing in-person contact with their teams, while full-time remote work makes those connections more challenging to maintain. You’ll want to be sure to be on campus whenever required, such as for important meetings or occasions, and to touch base with your co-workers.  Make sure that everyone knows how to get in touch with you during business hours and off hours if they have an urgent matter.

No. If a schedule is being adjusted for a one time (temporary) or short term (i.e., less than one month) -- not ongoing -- basis, your supervisor has the authority to assign these Temporary arrangements.

You can develop an alternative schedule, in conjunction with your supervisor, on a term-by-term basis to meet this need. 

If the employees' requests are similar in terms of their ability to continue to meet job requirements, seniority and performance may be factors in determining which request to approve. The supervisor may ask the employees for input into a solution that would enable the employees to meet their individual needs as well as the needs of the area.

While supervisors may change work schedules and arrangements to accommodate the needs of the area, changing a schedule to accommodate others is not advised. Consult with your HR Team for additional guidance.

Only if the needs of the area are being met with an employee working on a weekend.

If employees work at home as part of an established Remote Work arrangement, then supervisors should set up a structured system for evaluation and management. Performance measures should be agreed upon and then monitored. Communication is very important for those working at home.  

All employees are expected to meet required performance standards regardless of where the work is performed. Supervisors are expected to use the same performance review criteria that are already in place for the role. The remote work agreement should detail how the employee's productivity and performance will be evaluated. If the employee is accomplishing goals and objectives and meeting deadlines, and meeting attendance and other job expectations (regular communications, etc) satisfactorily, those are effective measures of performance.

If the area has regular meetings onsite, the remote employee can be required to attend those meetings, either in person or virtually.  Common work days where everyone on a team is expected to be in the office may also be part of an area's protocol.

Yes, that can happen. The remote work agreement should clearly define the hours the employee is expected to be available to others in the area and customers.

Yes, in very rare instances. Payroll will need advance notice of this type of a request as we may need to register as an employer in the state to withhold appropriate state taxes.  

It is necessary to make sure you communicate with the team and consult stakeholders when new working arrangements are introduced. Part of good management practice is to ensure employees are treated consistently and that they are not overloaded with work as the result of a Flexible Work Arrangement with another employee -- remember, a flexible or remote work arrangement should not negatively affect the ability of an area to fulfill its mission. Where there is a worry that colleagues may find the Flexible Work Arrangement unfair, supervisors, at the planning stage, should meet with the area to define work parameters and develop a system to manage the area’s work schedule. For example, it would be useful to agree to procedures for the following:

• Methods of briefing staff - e.g. on new tasks, progress, continuing tasks

• Methods of dealing with forwarding - e.g. calls from the office, urgent correspondence, other correspondence

• Assessing performance - how and when this will be done

• Scheduling meetings - how and when they will be scheduled and how meetings will be conducted.  For example, will it be required for the flexing employee to meet in person or virtually.

• Discussing problems relating to the Flexible Work Arrangement - how and when these will be dealt with.

Please have a conversation with the employee and explain why the Flexible Work Arrangement won’t work for this particular instance. You can also try to determine an alternate solution. If a compromise can be made, then try it. HR can assist you when needed.

Alternative Schedules may be approved by a staff member’s direct supervisor and do not require a written, signed agreement. When business operations permit, and the work of other team members is not compromised, the University encourages supervisors to accommodate staff in these instances.

Tracking vacation, sick leave and holidays is the responsibility of the employee and their supervisor.  There is no adjustment to sick or vacation accrual rates as long as regular hours worked remain the same.

When a non-exempt employee takes sick or vacation time they must indicate the hours they were regularly scheduled to work.  For example if a non-exempt employee is regularly scheduled to work four 10-hour days each week and is sick on one of the scheduled days, they must indicate 10 hours of sick time.

If a holiday falls on a day you are already scheduled to be off work, you will be scheduled for an alternate day to take the University holiday. Example: If your alternate work schedule is Tuesday-Saturday and the holiday falls on Monday, you can take a day off at another time in the same pay period.  If you're scheduled to work remotely, University holidays should be observed as if you were working on campus. 

For non-exempt employees, overtime rate is paid for any hours over forty (40) in a week. 

Contact your HR team at 765-658-4181 or hr@depauw.edu