Policy

Alternate work arrangements are designed to enhance productivity and meet the operational and functional needs of a unit or Core. Such arrangements are available to full-time employees in certain positions to perform their job responsibilities from an alternate work location or to have an alternate work hour schedule (hereinafter Alternate Work Agreement). Alternate work arrangements must be aligned with operational needs and mission requirements. Not all College positions lend themselves to alternate work arrangements; therefore, recommendations in support of Alternate Work Agreements will be made on a case-by-case basis by the unit supervisor/manager with approval from the Core Vice President.

Reason for Policy

To clarify and describe alternate work arrangements and Alternate Work Agreements.

To Whom Does the Policy Apply

All full-time staff

Related Documents

Procedure 466: Alternate Work Arrangement

Alternate Work Agreement

Contacts

People Operations and Employee Resources Department

Procedure 466: Alternate Work Arrangement

Revised: October 2023

I. Overview

The purpose of alternate work arrangements  is to support a schedule for full-time employees in certain positions to perform some or all of their job responsibilities from an alternate work location or to have an alternate work hour schedule. Alternate work arrangements must be aligned with operational needs and mission requirements. An Alternate Work Agreement must be in place prior to the start of any alternate work arrangement. Not all College positions lend themselves to alternate work arrangements; therefore, recommendations in support of Alternate Work Agreements will be made on a case-by-case basis by the unit supervisor/manager.

II. Approval Authority and Conditions

The approval authority for Alternate Work Agreements is the Core Vice President.

All terms and conditions of employment remain unchanged during an Alternate Work arrangement except those addressed by the Alternate Work Agreement.

Exempt employees are not covered by the overtime and record keeping requirement of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Therefore, there is inherent flexibility in work scheduling for them. Even though the law allows this latitude, exempt staff members still need to discuss specific scheduling arrangements with their supervisors and obtain their written approval.

Alternate Work Agreements may not be approved for longer than 12 months. Supervisors/managers must evaluate the effectiveness of alternate work agreements prior to recommending approval for renewing the Agreement for an additional period of time.

There may be occasions where an employee may be more productive in completing a particular work assignment or specific project from an alternate work location for a day. In this instance, an Alternate Work Agreement is not required. Rather, the unit supervisor/manager may approve an Occasional Alternate Work Arrangement. Any such Occasional Alternate Work Arrangement shall be documented in writing between the employee and unit/supervisor/manager.

An Alternate Work Agreement will not be approved for the purpose of teaching classes during the employee’s standard work hours for which a salary is already received and the employee is being additionally compensated to teach.

III. Changes to Existing Alternate Work Agreements

Any full-time employee who has an existing alternate work schedule in place prior to the 2023 revision of this procedure, would like to request a change to their existing alternate work schedule, or would like to establish a new alternate work schedule, must complete an Alternate Work Agreement, secure a recommendation from their unit supervisor/manager, secure approval from their Core Vice President, and file the Alternate Work Agreement with People Operations and Employee Resources (POERD) through their POERD Business Partner.

IV. Types of Alternate Work Arrangements

a. Flextime allows for flexible scheduling arrangements that permit variations in starting and departure times, but does not alter the total number of hours worked in a workweek. All flextime alternate work arrangements must conform to the overtime, record keeping and break provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the applicable bargaining unit contract. An Alternate Work Agreement must be completed for any flextime arrangements.

To ensure that the unit supervisor/manager and employees have a mutual understanding of the specifics of the flextime Alternate Work Agreement and schedule therein, employees must complete a written application when the flextime is more than a two week period. Any modifications in the schedule may be made only with the prior written consent of the unit supervisor/manager. Some of the possible variations of flextime are:

• fixed starting and departure times that are selected periodically; and
• variable starting and departure times that can vary daily.

Regardless of the schedule assigned, a staff member must work the total standard number of hours each workweek (35 or 40). Alternate schedules may involve the need for staff to be present on campus or accessible on specific days or during specific core hours each day or days of the week.

All contractual entitlements for lunch and breaks must be adhered to.

b. Telecommuting is a work arrangement between an employee and the unit supervisor/manager whereby the employee may regularly perform work at an alternate work location after full approval by the Unit Supervisor, Manager, and the Core VP.  An Alternate Work Agreement must be completed for any telecommuting arrangements.

Telecommuting allows employees to work away from the College premises on one or more workdays per week and accomplish tasks remotely. Telecommuting arrangements are not intended to allow employees to move outside of commuting distance from the College as they may be required to report to campus at any time. Employees must have the necessary data and technology to facilitate their participation in meetings. If a meeting is being held on campus, the employee cannot expect that a remote option will be specifically set up for them to attend remotely and they must be available to come to campus when needed. Every effort will be made to advise the employee with as much notice as possible when they are required to be physically on campus on a designated telecommuting day.

The employee must also adhere to the following when telecommuting:

• Employee agrees to return to the College all equipment, materials, files (paper and electronic) within 10 business days of terminating any telecommuting Alternate Work Agreement.
• Employee shall be responsible for tax consequences, if any, of a telecommuting Alternate Work Agreement including conformance to any local zoning regulations.
• Employee shall be responsible for keeping their supervisors informed of progress on assignments worked on at an alternate work location, including any problems they may experience while telecommuting. Regular communication with the supervisor is considered vital to the success and integrity of a telecommuting alternate work arrangement.
• Employee shall not duplicate any College owned software.
• Employee shall not use College information or College equipment for personal business.
• Employee must remain accessible (by college extension, e-mail, Jabber, and any other electronic platform the College deems appropriate) during designated work hours, and must be responsive to phone calls placed to their college extension and emails to their @ramapo.edu address during designated work hours.
• Employee shall hold the College harmless for injury caused to others when working from an alternate location. Workers’ Compensation liability insurance for the employee working from an alternate work location shall be limited to a work-related injury(ies) in the workspace. All College procedures with regard to medical treatment must be followed regarding a potential worker’s compensation injury.

V. Procedures for Flextime and Telecommuting

The employee or unit supervisor/manager can initiate the request for alternate work arrangements, either flextime or telecommuting. A written justification prepared by the employee and/or the unit supervisor/manager of the need for an Alternate Work Agreement must be submitted to the unit supervisor/manager. An evaluation of the remote responsibilities should be included in the Alternate Work Agreement request along with a readiness assessment inclusive of the following considerations:

• What routine responsibilities/tasks cannot be fulfilled while working from an alternate work location and how will it impact operations or other people?
• What days of the week will the employee be onsite?
• Are there any special projects or tasks that the employee can advance more effectively while working at an alternate work location?
• What technology will be required to work remotely?
• Employee must provide their phone number and make use of Jabber so that calls to their College phone number are forwarded to them at their alternate work location
• All responsibilities are required to be executed regardless of work location. Employees shall not defer tasks or communication because they are not physically on campus. When an employee is requested to be physically on campus to complete a task, the employee must report to campus regardless of a scheduled flextime or telecommuting day.
• Employees and supervisors will maintain communication throughout the workday to communicate work progress.
• Employee agrees to share their work calendar with their supervisor; failure to do so will result in a termination of the Alternate Work Agreement.

The supervisor and the unit supervisor/manager will determine if the nature of the work performed at an alternate work location is suitable for a particular job or job tasks. The determination and resulting Alternate Work Agreement must meet the operational needs of the College and the department, and enable the employee to complete the job or job tasks associated with their position. All information must be shared with the Core VP before a final determination is made.

The employee and the employee’s unit supervisor/manager, or in some cases the Core VP, must jointly be responsible for determining and documenting:

• how performance will be measured;
• how work will be assigned;
• what the work hours will be;
• how the arrangement will not burden coworkers;
• what the methods for adequate communication during specified hours will be;
• the employee shall come to the primary work site when necessary regardless of the Alternate Work Agreement.

When possible, the employee’s unit supervisor, manager, or Core VP will provide at least 24 hours advance notice if the employee is requested to come to campus on a previously scheduled alternate work location day. Efforts will be made to advise the employee with as much notice as possible.

Supervisors, managers and the Core VP will determine if the nature of the work performed at an alternate work location or during alternate work hours are suitable for a particular position. This determination/decision of the Core VP is final.

VI. Equipment

The College will provide a computer or other necessary equipment and access to the College’s computer network on an as-needed basis within the limits of available resources. Employees agree, in writing, to replace the equipment or repay the College if the equipment is damaged, lost or stolen. A personal computer may be used but must be evaluated and configured appropriately by the Information Technology Services Department and all up to date antivirus software must be installed. Any software changes must be approved by the Information Technology Services Department.

The College is not responsible for damage or loss to the staff member-owned equipment and, if used, is subject to the College’s right of inspection. There will be no expectation of privacy as to files kept on any computer used during an alternate work arrangement. All files shall be subject to the New Jersey Records Retention Act.

College equipment in any alternate work location shall be subject to the same inventory control and disposal procedures as that in the primary work site.

The employee shall be responsible for bringing equipment to the College for inspection, maintenance and repair. The College will repair, upgrade or replace the equipment unless it is lost, damaged or stolen through the employee’s negligence or abuse.

VII. College/Supervisor Responsibilities

The unit supervisor/manager and employee will discuss and document measurable performance expectations in conjunction with job responsibilities as summarized in the employee’s job description prior to implementing the Alternate Work Agreement.

The supervisor shall set expectations for accessibility and accountability. The employee shall be accessible by college phone extension, email, and any other electronic software or application the College deems appropriate during regular business hours or alternate work hours.

All Alternate Work Agreements will provide that all College policies and procedures, including time and attendance reporting and leave time, continue to apply during alternate work arrangements.

The College will compensate fixed workweek employees as required for hours worked. Supervisory approval for overtime for fixed workweek employees is required in advance and no overtime may be worked without such approval.

Job performance will be measured using established College procedures and performance assessment forms. In addition to usual measures of quality, quantity, and timeliness, the supervisor will consider length of time spent on tasks and appropriate use of resources. Therefore, a weekly accounting of the employee’s work specifying the amount of time spent on each task may be useful during the period covered by an Alternate Work Agreement. The supervisor and staff member should plan together with coworkers how workflow issues will be addressed (e.g. callers, mail, meetings) while the staff member is participating in an alternate work arrangement. Email and voicemail access responsiveness must be maintained as if the employee were working at the college during college business hours.

VIII. Employee Responsibilities

The employee shall assure College equipment and records in the alternate work location workspace are maintained in safe and secure conditions.

The employee shall ensure College equipment is used for College business. The employee’s College e-mail account shall be used for College business only. The employee shall protect against unauthorized or accidental access, use modification, destruction, loss, theft or disclosure of College owned equipment, records or materials. Any loss, damage, or unauthorized access to College equipment, records or materials shall immediately be reported to the unit supervisor/manager.

The employee shall provide a safe and secure workspace in an ergonomically sound manner and hold the College harmless for injury or harm caused from employee’s alternate work location equipment.

IX. Termination of Alternate Work Agreement

The College and/or the employee have the right to discontinue the Alternate Work Agreement with one week’s notice, unless otherwise mutually agreed to, for any reason.

The Ramapo College of New Jersey campus (505 Ramapo Valley Road Mahwah, NJ) is the primary and official work site for Ramapo College of New Jersey employees, with the exception of those hired for specific off campus locations. Remote locations are alternate sites. Unless contractually stipulated, an employee who has been granted a 60%, 80% or 100% Alternate Work Agreement in most instances will be provided with a shared office space.