Office of Budget and Finance

Inclement Weather or Other Emergency Closing FAQ

These FAQ’s are intended to be a guide to employees on the UTK campus.

Staff working in departments with an approved emergency closing plan, should consult with their supervisors. The plan for individual departments must be approved by the appropriate Vice Chancellor and the Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration.

Q1. What is inclement weather?

A1. Inclement weather includes any kind of extreme weather, usually snow or ice, which might create hazardous driving conditions or significantly impair the normal operations at UTK

(‘University’). Inclement weather may require the university to be closed. In the event of an official closure, all academic classes and administrative offices are suspended and only certain employees are required to maintain a normal work schedule to provide necessary services. In these instances, time off from work will be compensated as unscheduled administrative closing leave. This FAQ also pertains to the treatment of unscheduled administrative closing leave granted to affected employees in other isolated emergency-related situations, for example building specific chemical spills or fires, flooding, HVAC issues, etc.

Q2. Who determines if the university is closed or classes are cancelled due to inclement weather?

A2. The Chancellor, or her/his designee, will send a communication announcing that classes have been cancelled or that services or operations are being suspended due to inclement weather and include the official hours of closing.

Q3. How might the university respond to incidents of inclement weather?

A3. The university obtains information from the National Weather Service (NWS) that can focus directly on the main campus and provide reliable information about weather conditions and when/how they will affect us. The state of road conditions is obtained from local agencies. Based on these reports, generally, there are three possible responses to incidents of inclement weather:

• Delayed opening – the university publicly announces the specific time at which it will open.
• Early dismissal – the university ceases all academic classes and regular business operations at a publicly announced time.
• Closure – all day and evening classes are cancelled and all offices and regular business operations are closed for the entire day.

Once the decision to close the university has been made, only employees who are required (or who have supervisor approval) should report to or remain at work. The specific hours of suspended operations will be recorded as unscheduled administrative closing leave. The decision to close the university will generally be made on a workday-by-workday basis.

Q4. What are the methods of communication that will be used to communicate with students, faculty and staff in the event of a delayed opening, early dismissal or closing?

A4. Notice will be timely given to the local media for broadcast to the general public and communicated by other electronic means such as:

Website: http://www.utk.edu/status/

UT Alert – Text messaging and email (Click here – https://www.utk.edu/utalert/ to sign up) Twitter

Facebook

Q5. Who qualifies for unscheduled administrative closing leave?

A5. Regular part-time and full-time employees in an active pay status who are scheduled to work during the inclement weather event shall be excused from work and granted unscheduled administrative closing leave, not to exceed the hours scheduled to work or the specific hours of suspended operations whichever is less.

Please note: When an employee does not work during the period of closing, hours worked while the campus is open, if any, combined with unscheduled administrative closing leave should not exceed the hours normally scheduled to work. In no event should the appropriation of unscheduled administrative closing leave increase the total hours in the work week for an employee who does not work during the period of closing. EXCEPTION: Non-exempt regular employees who are required (or otherwise have supervisor permission) to work during an official close to perform critical functions are compensated for the hours actually worked and receive unscheduled administrative closing leave for the number of hours the campus was officially closed during their normally scheduled work hours.

Q6. How do I record my time when unscheduled administrative closing leave has been granted?

A6. In IRIS, use an unscheduled administrative closing absence type (UAC1, UAC2 or UAC3) as appropriate. Additional guidance is provided in the chart below.

Situation	Employee Group	How to Code Time
Campus is closed all day (only non-exempt employees are eligible for overtime)	Regular Full-time/Part-time Non-exempt Employees who are required (or have supervisor approval) to report to work	Record actual hours worked and record unscheduled administrative closing leave for the number of hours the campus was closed during normally scheduled work hours (e.g., 8 hours regular time plus 8 hours unscheduled administrative closing leave)
Regular Full-time/Part-time Non-exempt Employees who do not report to work	Record unscheduled administrative closing leave for employee’s normal work schedule (unscheduled administrative closing leave should not exceed the hours normally scheduled to work)
All Other Non-exempt Employees including student or temporary employees (who do not report to work)	Will not be paid for time campus is closed. NOTE: Action required in IRIS to record unpaid absence for monthly non-exempt employees

Campus is closed a partial day (only non-exempt employees are eligible for overtime)	Regular Full-time/Part-time Non-exempt Employees who are required (or have supervisor approval) to report to work prior to campus opening (delayed start) or are required (or have supervisor approval) to remain at work after campus has been officially closed	Record actual hours worked plus record unscheduled administrative closing leave for hours worked while campus is closed
Regular Full-time/Part-time Non-exempt Employees who do not remain at work/do not report prior to campus opening	Record actual hours worked plus record unscheduled administrative closing le a v e for hours the campus is closed during employee’s normal work schedule (total should not to exceed the hours normally scheduled to work)
All Other Non-exempt Employees including student and temporary employees who do not remain at work/do not report prior to campus opening	Record actual hours worked. Will not be paid for time campus is closed. NOTE: Action required in IRIS to record unpaid absence for monthly non-exempt employees

• If an employee does not report to work when the university is officially closed for a partial day/delayed opening, the employee should record unscheduled administrative closing time for the hours the campus is closed during the employee’s normal work schedule and must record either annual leave or unpaid absence or with supervisor permission make up the time lost within the affected work week for the hours the campus is open during the employee’s normal work schedule.
• Any official closing within a period of an employee’s annual, sick, or other leave with pay is recorded as unscheduled administrative closing.

Q7. I was on annual leave during the official closing, do I take annual leave or unscheduled administrative closing leave?

A7. Record unscheduled administrative closing leave for the specific hours of official closing. Your approved leave off, in this case annual leave, must be charged for any remaining hours, if the University is closed for a partial day (delayed opening or earlier dismissal). This treatment also applies to scheduled sick leave or other leave with pay during an official closing.

Q8. I work a compressed workweek and have Fridays off. Last Friday, the campus was officially closed. Will I be eligible for unscheduled administrative closing leave?

A8. No. This will be considered your normal day off.

Q9. I work a compressed work week of four ten-hour (4/10) days that includes Fridays. Last Friday, the campus was officially closed for the day. I did not work during the closing. How do I record my time?

A9. If you are scheduled to work on Fridays as part of your workweek, you will record 10 hours as unscheduled administrative closing leave.

Q10. I work a compressed work week of four ten-hour (4/10) days. My schedule is from 8 a.m. – 7 p.m., and I work on Mondays. Last Monday, the campus was officially closed at 11 a.m. I left work at 11 a.m. and did not work during the closing. How do I record my time?

A10. You will record the actual hours you worked in the morning (3 hours) and 7 hours as unscheduled administrative closing leave.

Q11. I work a compressed work week (4/10) that includes Mondays. On Monday, the campus was officially closed until the next day. My normal schedule is from 1 p.m. – Midnight. I am required to work during official closings and I reported to work. How do I record my time card?

A11. You will record your actual hours worked (10 hours) plus you will record unscheduled administrative closing time for the number of hours the campus was officially closed during your normally scheduled work hours (10 hours).

Q12. I work a compressed work week (4/10) that includes Mondays. On Monday, the campus was officially closed from 8 a.m. – 10 a.m. My normal schedule is from 6 a.m. – 4:30p.m. I reported to work at 10 a.m. and worked the remainder of my shift. How do I record my time?

A12. You will record your actual hours worked (6 hours), 2 hours of unscheduled administrative closing leave and 2 hours as annual leave or unpaid absence (or you can make up that time within the workweek with supervisor’s permission).

Q13. I work a five day eight-hour (5/8) work week. My schedule is from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. and I work on Mondays. Last Monday, the campus was officially closed at 11 a.m. I left work at 11 a.m. and did not work during the closing. How do I record my time?

A13. You will record the actual hours you worked in the morning (3 hours) and 5 hours as unscheduled administrative closing leave.

Q14. I work a five day eight-hour (5/8) work week, Monday-Friday. My schedule is from 4 a.m. – 1 p.m. Last Monday, the campus was officially closed from 8 a.m.-10 a.m. I reported to work at my regularly scheduled time and worked during the official close. How do I record my time (I am a nonexempt employee)?

A14. You will record the actual hours you worked that day (8 hours) and 2 hours as unscheduled administrative closing leave.

Q15. I work a five day eight-hour (5/8) work week, Monday-Friday. My schedule is from 4 a.m. – 1 p.m. Last Monday, the campus was officially closed from 8 a.m. – 10 a.m. I reported to work at 10 a.m. and worked until 1 p.m. How do I record my time?

A15. You will record the actual hours you worked that day (3 hours), 2 hours as unscheduled administrative closing leave, and 3 hours as annual leave or unpaid absence (or you can make up that time with supervisor’s permission).

Q16. I am a 75% part-time employee, working 6 hours per day Monday-Friday. My schedule is from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. Last Monday, the campus was officially closed from 8 a.m. – 10 a.m. I reported to work at 10 a.m. and worked the remainder of my shift. How do I record my time?

A16. You will record the actual hours you worked (4 hours) plus 2 hours of unscheduled administrative closing leave.

Q17. Last Friday, the campus was officially closed at noon. With the approval of my supervisor, I volunteered to stay to help finish up some time-sensitive work. I worked my normal schedule of 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. during the closing. I took an hour for lunch at noon. How do I record my time?

A17. You will record your actual hours worked (8 hours) and record unscheduled administrative closing leave for the hours worked while the campus is closed (4 hours).

Q18. I am an exempt employee who is required to work during official closings. Last Monday, the campus was closed the entire day. I worked my normal schedule. How do I record my time?

A18. Exempt employees do not qualify for overtime compensation. You may record unscheduled administrative closing leave but not hours worked.