At the community held on the Newberg campus Friday afternoon, President Robin Baker announced that the four-day work week policy will be reinstated beginning Nov 1. In addition, a telecommuting option is also included as an alternative to the four-day work week.
Similar to the trial policy from this summer, the following guidelines apply:
1.   This policy applies only to full-time staff and administrators.
2.   All offices need to be covered from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
3.   Supervisor approval is required for employees to work four 10-hour days. The supervisor’s decision to allow or disallow an employee to work a four-day work week should not be based simply on personal preference. Instead, the following factors should be taken into consideration: nature of the person’s duties, potential service disruption to customers during their absences, employee’s performance, other(s) as determined by the supervisor
4.   If approved, employees may choose to take off either Monday or Friday, coordinating with others in the department who are also working four days.
5.   Departmental and cross departmental meetings should be scheduled Tuesday through Thursday.
6.   Overtime is only paid for hours worked over 40 in a week, not over eight in a day.
7.   Weeks that include a holiday will be a standard, five-day work week for all employees.
8.   Employees may be required to work a standard five-day work week to provide adequate coverage when coworker(s) are on vacation or ill, or to cover special events (such as Genesis) that will necessitate more complete coverage for particular areas within the university.
Not every department or regional site will be able to participate. Participation will be decided by the department head in consultation with the VP, taking into consideration the factors outlined in No. 2 above. If a supervisor determines that a four-day work week arrangement or fifth day of telecommuting is not working out satisfactorily, he or she may require an employee or employees to resume the five-day work week schedule.
Telecommuting as an alternative to a four-day work week:
Some employees’ job duties and/or workload may not make it practical to work a four-day work week. These employees may choose to work four days on site and telecommute the fifth day via computer and telephone with their supervisor’s approval. The same guidelines that apply to the four-day work week will apply to telecommuting the fifth day with the exception of No. 7 above. Additionally, it is the university’s expectation that telecommuting will not occur with children in the home with the parent/employee.
