Policy Author:
Employee Engagement
Responsible Office – Department:
Employee Engagement
Effective Date of Policy:
April, 2021
Daemen is committed to policies and procedures which support flexibility in the workplace. We recognize that there are circumstances where allowing an employee to work remotely may assist them to balance their work, health issues and/or family or other responsibilities. Remote work arrangements can be occasional, temporary or long term.
The University also recognizes that it is not always appropriate for an employee to carry out part or all of their duties remotely and there are reasons why approval of a remote work arrangement may be refused or limited.
Purpose: The purpose of this policy is to outline the process to enter into a remote work arrangement. The policy and procedures will assist employees and their managers to clearly set in place a remote work arrangement as part of the employee’s overall flexible working arrangement.
Scope: This policy applied to all employees of Daemen University seeking to enter into a regular arrangement to carry out part of their duties remotely for a specified period of time. Each employee’s remote work capability will be assessed on a case-by-case basis to make sure that working remotely is beneficial to our employees and the University.
Conditions Necessary to Establish a Regular Remote Work Situation:
All of the following must be met:
- There is mutual agreement between supervisor, vice president and employee;
- The manager must have a plan for how to monitor for reasonable productivity;
- All or significant components of the work can be done remotely;
- Operational needs of the department are met;
- Employee must provide their own internet access (no public WiFi for security reasons);
- Employee must save documents as a PDF in a shared folder; if a hard copy of a document is required, it must be printed on campus in a secure location;
- Employees must use VPN when required;
- Employees must use their Daemen email for all email correspondence; and
- Employees must use Dialpad.
Either the supervisor or the employee can initiate a request to work remotely. Both must then agree on the establishment of the remote work arrangement, before it can proceed. Unless a position has been established specifically as remote, neither party is compelled or required to accept a remote work situation, nor will there be any repercussions if either party decides not to participate.
Appropriateness of a Remote Work Situation:
Remote work can be used to cover an extended period of time when:
- The employee is recovering from a medical condition but is sufficiently recovered to perform the assignments in a remote situation;
- The employee is caring for a family member (child, spouse/domestic partner, or parent only); or
- The employee and supervisor mutually agree to situations where productivity would be enhanced.
Request Process:
An employee may request a remote work arrangement by completing the Remote Work Request Form. This form requires the following information to be provided:
- A brief description of the work to be accomplished remotely;
- The dates for working remotely and the daily work hours as approved by the supervisor;
- Employee technology requirements;
- Remote work requests must be approved by the following parties:
- VP/Cabinet Member/Dean
- IT
- Employee Engagement
- The Employee Engagement Department will notify the employee of the status of their request, (approved/denied) and a copy of the request form will be maintained in the employee’s personnel file.
Other Remote Work Requirements:
- The employee must complete assigned work according to established procedures and within reasonable and/or determined timeframes;
- Regular feedback and communication should occur between the employee and manager during the remote work arrangement;
- The employee may be required to provide progress reports on a regular basis outlining work completed and work in progress;
- Hours worked (if hourly) and/or time off requests must be processed through the ADP Workforce Now system;
- While working remotely, employees are still required to be in touch with colleagues and other business partners via video conferencing. For this condition, employees are expected to dress professionally.
- Due to state regulations and tax withholding implications, the employee is required to perform their remote work in the primary residence that is on file in ADP Workforce Now. Working from a state other than the state the employee is set up for withholding payroll tax is only permitted for short durations, i.e. less than 30 days. Please check with the Employee Engagement Department for additional information and list of approved states for remote work.
Duration of Remote Work:
All remote work arrangements will be periodically reviewed by the Manager to ensure productivity and operational needs are being met. Periodic reviews may be as frequent as needed, however, each remote work situation must be reviewed by the Manager at least annually. Employees will be provided reasonable notice if there is a need to end the remote work arrangement. Managers must notify their employees in writing of such change and submit a Payroll Status Change Form to the Employee Engagement Department defining the revised work arrangement and date of change along with the notification that was provided to the employee.
Short Term / Occasional Remote Work:
For situations that may require temporary remote work, generally defined as more than 3 consecutive days, a Remote Work Request Form will not be required, but all general guidelines and IT security protocol must be adhered to. Examples of a temporary reason to work remotely include:
- Bad weather;
- Emergencies;
- Employee sickness; or
- Other reasons for working remotely depend on employee’s and manager’s judgement.
Faculty
Faculty will be expected to follow the tenets of this policy as administered by the Office of Academic Affairs, Vice President for Academic Affairs.