TITLE: IPS Telecommuting Procedure

NUMBER: HUM130

EFFECTIVE: 1 APR 2014

REVIEWED: 24 MAR 2015

PURPOSE: To provide guidelines to Institute personnel regarding working at a remote location, usually at home, on a short‐term basis. All informal telecommuting arrangements are made on a case‐by‐case basis with approval from the employee’s supervisor and executive director. It is the executive director’s responsibility to inform the assistant vice president and IPS human resource officer if the need for the arrangement exceeds one day or is regularly recurrent.

PROCEDURE:

The University of Tennessee System Policy (HR0480) defines telecommuting as “a work arrangement approved by the supervisor in which employees work for at least part of their work hours at remote locations, usually at home, using computers and other telecommunications equipment to carry out their responsibilities.” The objective of this procedure is to help establish work schedules which accommodate both the business needs of the Institute and the needs of the employee.

This procedure applies to Institute personnel under any of the following conditions:

1. The supervisor determines that uninterrupted time is beneficial for creative, repetitive, or highly detailed work.
2. When it would be beneficial to both the Institute and the employee to make productive use of the employee’s time while he or she is temporarily at a remote location, usually at home, for personal reasons.
3. The employee is taking time off in accordance with the Family and Medical Leave Act. Within HR0338 (UT System FMLA policy), under Types of Leave, employees are allowed to take family and medical leave intermittently or on a reduced schedule basis. This use is subject to a doctor’s release on restrictions from work if the leave is based on a medical issue of the employee.

Guidelines

1. The nature of the work should lend itself to telecommuting.
2. The work to be accomplished should be clearly defined in writing in advance by the supervisor and employee.
3. The length of telecommuting time should be determined by the supervisor and employee. It can be as small as several hours and same day requests should only be approved on an exceptional basis.
4. Employees must have or should be able to obtain needed telecommuting equipment.
5. While telecommuting, any time spent during regular work hours on non‐Institute related activities should be accounted for as leave.
6. Telecommuting shall not adversely affect the delivery of customer service, employee productivity, or the progress of individual or team assignments.
7. The telecommuting arrangements may be withdrawn at any time, if in the supervisor or executive director’s opinion it is no longer in the best interest of the Institute to continue.
8. This procedure is not intended to substitute for or impact the IPS procedure on inclement weather.

Resources:

Related Policies:

University of Tennessee System Policy HR0480, Work Schedules

University of Tennessee System Policy HR0338, Family and Medical Leave