TST Work Expectations & Policies

CATEGORIES

Work Schedules:

WORK SCHEDULES (Team Core Hours)

See Classified Staff Policy #309.0 and UHAP Policy #2.06.03

Core hours:

Each team must develop its own set of core hours, which are the hours during which the majority of their customers would expect them to be available for service.  Team core hours specify the latest acceptable starting time and earliest acceptable departure time.

Individual Work Schedules:

Each individual’s work schedule (during which the employee’s normal work will be done) must be approved by the team leader.  

Flexible Work Schedules:

Subject to approval by the team leader, flexible work schedules may be used to address an employee’s need to accommodate car pools, childcare, or other family arrangements; scheduled service desk duties;  exhibit set-up;  search committee meetings; cross-functional team work; and faculty meetings that may take place outside the employee’s normal work schedule.  

Alternate Work Schedule:

Working At Home

Working at home (or from anyplace off campus) is not an option offered by the Libraries/CCP.   Any exception to this policy (for instance, a short term “reasonable accommodation” for an ADA-determined disability) must be negotiated with the team leader and approved by HROE and Cabinet, as well as by University HR.  These negotiations must include a full description of the work to be done, the duration of the work-at-home assignment, and also reliable ways to measureable the outputs/outcomes associate with this work.

TST WORK SCHEDULE POLICY: The "work week" in TST is Monday through Friday between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Staff (with concurrence from work team) will designate a specific, consistent schedule that they will be in the office, e.g., 8-5 (with 1 hour lunch), 9-5 (no lunch), 6-4 (no lunch, Mon.-Thurs.). Whichever schedule is used staff members will adhere to presence at work during core hours. Core hours for all TST staff are 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Deviations are allowed for flex time to accommodate work flows if the work team agrees with the change a week in advance.

1. Exempt employees may be asked to work more than 40 hours per week in order to meet job requirements, without receiving compensatory pay or time off. In TST,   some examples of work that could require additional hours beyond 40 are: to meet deadlines; to complete type 1 or type 2 reference transactions; to do file loads; to maintain acceptable turnaround times; or, to meet other library customer needs. There is work in TST and throughout the library that requires at least 40 hours from every full time employee. There is no situation where staff can expect to work   fewer than the hours for which they are paid outside approved leave time.        

2. The work team or TST as a whole will define how scheduling is determined when the workweek exceeds 40 hours for an individual or team. If the team is unable to reach a decision, the work team leader is responsible for determining the work   schedule.       

3. Exempt employees do not accrue compensatory time. With their team's approval,  they may adjust their schedule if the volume and quantity of work permits.   Negotiating the work schedule with the team should occur at least one week in advance that it is known that the workweek will exceed 40 hours. Any adjustments  should occur within the pay period if possible. Work schedule adjustments, or flexible schedules, are defined as any work time that falls outside of the regular,    predetermined, work schedule.      

4. In the case of an exception or unexpected event [burst pipes], the individual must contact their Work Team Leader or Team Leader. The Work Team Leader/Team Leader will inform the team of the individuals change in work schedule and how the staff intends to fulfill their work schedule for the week. The individual should not leave a message.

 

Outlook Calendar use:

USE OF OUTLOOK CALENDAR

In order to facilitate the scheduling of meetings, employees of the Libraries and Center for Creative Photography MUST use their Outlook Calendars to record known meetings, absences, and other commitments during their normal work week.

 

Overtime/Comp. time for Classified Staff:

OVERTIME/COMPENSATORY TIME FOR CLASSIFIED STAFF

See Classified Staff Policy #311.0

Overtime compensation for non-exempt Classified Staff employees is subject to the provisions of this policy and the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), as amended.

EXEMPT STAFF:

Employees at pay grade 22 and above and appointed personnel are exempt from, not limited to, the 40 hour week. They also are not eligible for compensatory time off. There are instances, however, when flexible work hours may be permitted to accommodate, for example, an exempt staff employee who worked an excessive number of hours in a prior work week or who routinely works more than 40 hours in a work week.

For TST Work Week details see section on Work Schedule

NON-EXEMPT STAFF:

Employees below pay grade 22 may not work more than 40 hours per week unless they are paid cash overtime or given compensatory time off.  If a person is part-time, he/she must work more than 40 hours per week before compensatory time off goes into effect. This is US. Labor Law!!!! Not a Library or University policy.

It is the intent of the Library to compensate you for the hours that you work. Non-exempt staff is limited by law to working no more than 40 hours per week without overtime compensation. Any time beyond this must be approved in advance as per the policy in place in your team. There will be, however, exceptions which arise. For example, individuals should not simply leave a customer because the end of the work period has arrived or abandon a time sensitive project because a work team leader is not available to approve overtime. Teams need to establish procedures for notifying a work team leader or team leader about overtime worked as soon as possible and need to plan on how to use the compensatory time within the same pay period if possible.

In order to report overtime to your Accounting Assistant, please submit an exception report initialed by your work team leader or team leader.

"Overtime compensation shall be the exception rather than the rule. Overtime shall be used after other alternatives have been fully explored, such as rescheduling of priorities, balancing workload peaks, offsetting excess hours with reduced hours later in the work week and revising the work period so that weekend work can be performed at straight time."

 

Leave Policy:

TRACKING USE OF LEAVE:  Each team will set up a process for central tracking of leave taken and leave reported.  

 

 

Break Period:

BREAK & LUNCH PERIODS

The University gives units the discretion to establish and permit rest periods.  The work schedules of individual employees, including meals and breaks, are a team concern and must be arranged so that they will not interfere with the work of the team or with service to our customers.  

Breaks:  The University's policy for non-exempt employees is that employees may take a paid rest period of up to 15 minutes each four-hour work period.  Non-exempt employees may combine the two fifteen (15) minute breaks and take a half-hour, but not combine their breaks for a longer lunch (1-1/2 hr.) period.  Since rest periods are paid time, each is considered time worked for the purpose of reporting work hours.

Lunches:  Employees may choose to take an unpaid meal period; no one may be denied a meal period.

Staff may choose not to take a meal break and may instead take their break period (one-half hour for full-time employees) as a meal break.

 

CLASSES:                                                                                                                                                         

PERMISSION TO ENROLL IN UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA CLASSES

Enrollment in classes eligible for release time:

Enrollment in classes not eligible for release time:

                 

FEDERAL FAMILY & MEDICAL LEAVE ACT OF 1993:

FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE (FML)

See Classified Staff Policy #218.0 and UHAP 8.04.06

The Library follows the University policies regarding the granting and/or assignment of Family Medical Leave for a qualifying medical condition that requires absences of three days or more.

COMPASSIONATE TRANSFER OF LEAVE (CTL)

See Classified Staff Policy #201.1 and UHAP 8.02.04

Compassionate Transfer of Leave is a benefit for employees.  A benefit that must be paid by the Library when all accrued Vacation, Sick Leave and compensatory time has been exhausted and the employee is on Family Medical Leave.  

EXTENDED LEAVE OF ABSENCE

See Classified Staff Policy #212.0 and UHAP 8.04.01

Related to Medical Reasons:

When all Family Medical Leave is exhausted, and the employee is unable to return to work (certified by a physician), the employee can request an Extended Leave of Absence, not to exceed 12 weeks after the Family Medical Leave period, and seek approval for such an absence from the team leader and the dean. Compassionate Transfer of Leave will not be automatic and requires the approval of team leader and the dean.

Leave that Benefits the Library:

On rare occasions, Extended Leave of Absence may be granted for research or personal development that benefits the library.  Extended Leave of Absence may also be granted for temporary relocation of spouse or family emergency.

 

 

HOLIDAY:

UNIVERSITY HOLIDAYS & LIBRARIES/CCP HOLIDAY SCHEDULES

Employees of the Libraries and CCP are granted time off from work with pay for each holiday designated by the University. The University normally designates ten holidays each year:

 

University policies on holiday leave:

Libraries & CCP Policy on Winter Break Closure:   The University winter break closure guidelines DO NOT apply to the Libraries.  Main, SEL, and CCP do not close during the period between Christmas and New Years Day.   Employees who wish to take time off during this period may used accrued vacation leave, subject to the approval of their team leader as described above in this document.

 

 

LEAVE WITH PAY:

PROFESSIONAL LEAVE POLICY (Library Leave)

Professional Leave is granted to both Classified Staff and appointed personnel for the purpose of professional development and is limited to 24 days of Professional Leave per Fiscal Year (FY), which begins on July 1. Those hired after July 1 will receive a pro-rated number of days at two per month remaining in the fiscal year.

 

 

ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVES:

ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE WITH PAY

See Classified Staff Policy #208.0 and UHAP 8.03.01

Employees with a regular schedule of work may be granted an Administrative Leave with Pay for the following reasons:

                    

PERSONAL LEAVE OF ABSENCE WITHOUT PAY (LWOP):

LEAVE WITHOUT PAY (LWOP)

See Classified Staff Policy #209 and UHAP 8.04

Leave Without Pay (LWOP) is NOT automatic when an employee exhausts Sick and Vacation Leaves.

 

PROFESSIONAL LEAVE:

PROFESSIONAL LEAVE POLICY (Library Leave)

Professional Leave is granted to both Classified Staff and appointed personnel for the purpose of professional development and is limited to 24 days of Professional Leave per Fiscal Year (FY), which begins on July 1. Those hired after July 1 will receive a pro-rated number of days at two per month remaining in the fiscal year.

 

SICK LEAVE:

SICK LEAVE POLICY (INDIVIDUAL OR FAMILY)

See Classified Staff Policy #201 and UHAP Policy 8.02.01

The purpose of Sick Leave is to provide a continuation of salary or wages to eligible employees whose absences from work meet the requirements of the University of Arizona Sick Leave policy.

Employee Illness/Injury:

Eligible employees may be granted Sick Leave when they are unable to perform duties because of:

Serious Illness or Death within an Employee's Immediate Family, Established Household or In Primary Care Situations:

Serious Illness in the family:  An eligible employee may be granted Sick Leave when absence is the result of serious illness or communicable disease within the employee's immediate family, established household, or in situations which place primary responsibility for care on the employee.

Death in the family:  An eligible employee may use Sick Leave to cover absences related to the death of family members who are not covered under University of Arizona Classified Staff HR Policy 208, Administrative Leave with Pay, #5, or Section 8.02.02 (Appointed Personnel) Bereavement.  Employees may use up to three days of accrued Sick Leave for this purpose and two additional days to attend or arrange funeral services out-of-state.

Sick Leave for Probationary Regular Classified Staff:

A probationary Regular Classified Staff employee is eligible for Sick Leave during the initial probationary period under the following conditions:

 

 

STAFF DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES (including brown bag lunches):

The question of whether a staff development opportunity is considered work time has been raised. Teams need to decide how they will handle this. The issue is not the lunch hour. Individuals should decide if they need to or want to take advantage of an opportunity and they and the team (or team leader or work team leader or Cabinet) work out what happens with the time. People need training and need to grow and learn but it needs to be in a context of how this will help them do work better AND taking responsibility for what happens to the work.

 

VACATION:

VACATION LEAVE POLICY

See Classified Staff Policy #200.0 and UHAP Policy 8.01

Accrual and Use of Vacation Leave:

Appointed Personnel:   Appointed personnel accrue 22 days of vacation per year.

Classified Staff

Approval and Use of Accrued Vacation Leave:

Earned Vacation Leave:  Vacation leave is an earned benefit, and each employee has a right to use earned vacation time as he or she sees fit, subject to the conditions described below, and also to conditions which may appear in individual functional team policies.

Advance approval:  Use of vacation must be approved in advance by the team leader (or dean, in the case of team leaders), and must be taken at times deemed appropriate by the Library.

Approval considerations:  Individuals should plan their vacation with their teams/team leaders, taking into account, for example: team projects and priorities, peak work periods for all customer services provided by the team, the need for fill-in-behind for vacant positions or colleagues on Family Medical Leave, the impact on other members of the team and the strategic work of the teams to which the employee is assigned.

Sick Leave and its impact on Vacation Leave:  Approval for vacation should also take into account the available Sick Leave balance, so that a staff member does not move into a leave without pay status.

Use-Or-Lose:  All staff and appointed personnel are encouraged to take accrued vacation at regular, personally beneficial intervals, and to not accrue so much vacation that they are forced to take it or lose it. The maximum allowable carry-forward into the next "anniversary year" is one-and-one-half times your yearly accrual rate (based on anniversary date, years of service, and FTE).

Performance problems and earned leave:  When a team leader recognizes that the performance of an employee is suffering because of extensive sick or vacation leave, s/he must begin immediately to coach the employee constructively about the impact of extended absences on work performance.  Once this coaching has begun, the team leader has the right to deny approval for vacation, sick leave, or leave without pay, if the employee's performance is suffering because of extensive absences.

 

 

 

  

GENERAL TST WORK RELATED EXPECTATIONS:

CONDUCTING PERSONAL BUSINESS DURING WORK TIME:

Employees are expected to conduct personal business outside of the workplace as much as possible.

Personal business is defined as activities other than those that are a part of one's work or service responsibilities to the Library and University including functional work, cross-functional work, LFA, SGA, other appointed committees. Examples of personal business include such activities as volunteer work for non-library and non-university groups, fund-raising activities (selling cookies, etc.) for non-library and non-university organizations, and scheduling personal appointments.

The following guidelines are alternative ways to deal with the issue:

Take responsibility for the length of time you will spend on personal business activities during work hours. Let business associates, family, friends, and others know that you have a limited amount of time at work for personal business. Do not give out your work telephone number unless it is absolutely necessary.

Try to use your lunchtime for personal business, especially when it includes multiple activities and requires more than a few minutes of your time. Work time spent on personal business can usually be made up at the end of the workday.

Whenever possible, let your work team leader and other team members know that you will be needing extra time for personal business activities or an emergency, so that allowances can be made for exceptions.

Conduct all personal and work-related business within your work area in a quiet, non-distracting manner.

 

VOLUNTEERING::

Definition: Volunteering includes self-identifying for library-wide cross-functional teams (e.g. SLRP, Action Plan Teams, P.I. Teams, etc.), choosing to stand for election to governance organization offices or to selection teams, and other activities that are optional. This expectation does not include appointments to priority library-wide teams made when one has not self-identified. Those appointments are covered by the Guidelines for Appointment to Library-Wide Cross-Functional Teams, Project Implementation Teams, Process Improvement and Restructuring Teams issued by Cabinet on March 24, 1999 (F:\CABINET\Cabinet Shared\Apptguid.doc).

Guidelines:

  1. We expect that all TST members will be involved in library-wide cross-functional or governance work at some time. These are important activities that support library priorities and goals as well as individual development and learning. Individuals who want to self-identify for library-wide cross-functional teams or governance roles need to consult with their work team to determine if the work team can support them before they self-identify. The individual and the work team need to first consider the criteria for membership and whether the individual meets the criteria, then assess whether or not the work team can support the possible appointment and maintain acceptable quality standards and performance measures including turnaround times.
  2. We expect that individuals and work teams will negotiate in good faith when considering opportunities for volunteering. If the individual and work team is unable to resolve the issue, they may seek training in negotiation or facilitation support.

 

COMMITTEE WORK:

UNIVERSITY COMMITTEE WORK

In general, the Libraries encourage employee participation on University of Arizona committees.