The University "Working from Home" policy allows a professional & technical staff member to work from home for periods of time under certain conditions which are described below.

 

The opportunity to work from home is not an entitlement or a right, and can only occur by formal agreement (the Agreement) between the University and the staff member.  Either the supervisor or the staff member can initiate discussion about formalising a Working from Home Agreement, but unless both parties ultimately agree an employee cannot be directed to work from home and the University is under no obligation to approve a request from an employee to enter into a working from home arrangement.

 

The University, when asked to approve a working from home request will consider issues such as:

Positions which may be considered inappropriate for home based work include those:

 

The duties to be performed while working from home should be clearly detailed and formalised in the Agreement prior to commencing the work arrangement.

 

 

A record of hours worked at the home based site must be maintained.  These hours will be within the staff member’s normal span of hours.

 

Overtime may be worked provided the overtime is approved by the supervisor in advance.  No meal allowance is applicable to overtime worked at the home based site.

 

 

The University must ensure that the work site conforms with acceptable Occupational Health and Safety standards, and the staff member working from home is aware of the need to maintain a safe working environment.

 

 

The University must ensure

Maximum Period of Time for Working from Home Agreements

 

The amount of time spent weekly working from home needs to be negotiated and agreed, but rarely should it be a full time working from home arrangement.

 

A home based work site agreement will generally be for a maximum of 6 months in the first place, after which time it will be reviewed.

 

 

Before the University will approve a Working from Home Agreement the staff member must comply with requirements set out in the Agreement.

 

The Agreement once signed by the Head of School/supervisor and Dean/manager shall be forwarded to the Director Human Resources for confirmation that all conditions have been met.  Until this confirmation has been received from the Director Human Resources, the Working from Home Agreement will not be regarded as approved.

 

 

A pro forma Working from Home Agreement that details the terms and conditions that will apply to employees and the University is provided in the Working from Home Agreement or in RTF.