Work Schedules and University Closings

Policies and Procedures Manual Section 8

For employee equity, Western Michigan University has established campuswide work hours and related work policies that also assure compliance with certain state and federal regulations. These policies are predicated upon the assurance that to accomplish the mission of the University, services essential to students and prospective students are always maintained.

General University schedule

Please see general University schedule in the employee handbook.

Lunch hour

University policy provides for a one-hour lunch period during regular hours, with the following provisions:

  1. Lunch schedules may vary by department and can be adjusted to meet departmental needs.
  2. The length of the lunch period may vary, but a lunch period may not be less than 1/2 hour during approved flextime.
  3. Lunch schedules are set by supervisors to allow offices to remain open during the lunch hour for the conduct of regular business. Exceptions to this policy must have the approval of the appropriate vice president.
    1. With the approval of the appropriate vice president, offices unable to remain open will be closed for lunch between noon and 1 p.m. and will post a sign giving the time the office will reopen.
    2. Offices closed during the lunch hour will display a deposit box for incoming mail.
    3. Offices closed during the lunch hour will place their phones on call forwarding or use voice mail.

Breaks

Please see breaks in the employee handbook.

Flextime

Supervisors may authorize flextime time hours for requesting employees. The supervisor has discretion to approve or deny the request, or cancel or alter approved flextime, to meet departmental staffing needs. All flextime arrangements must adhere to the following requirements and procedures:

  1. All employee flextime requests should be made to the employee's supervisor. All flextime arrangements require supervisory approval.
  2. Employees on flextime must still work their regularly scheduled number of hours in a week.
  3. Between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. offices are staffed to remain fully operational.
  4. Employee on flextime must be scheduled to work during core hours of operation, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
  5. Employees on flextime may arrange to start work between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. and leave work between 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
  6. Lunch period must be scheduled for at least 1/2 hour.
  7. The potential time an office could be open for service is from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Essential services

Offices designated as an "essential service" for students and prospective students must be adequately staffed for normal operations from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Policies governing core hours, flexible hours, and potential time an office could be open also apply to essential service units. The president and vice presidents determine which offices/units are considered essential services and the hours that these offices/units must remain open and operational. Employees must be informed in advance if their department is an essential service unit.

Also see "winter closure" and "emergency or weather shutdown" below.

Paid holidays

General information about paid holidays is located in the employee handbook. Additional information follows:

The University pays non-bargaining employees for eight days away from work for holiday observance. The actual dates are specified and published by Human Resources each year and distributed to all departments for posting. The current holiday schedule for all employees can also be found on the Human Resources website.

Non-bargaining employees receive holiday pay for the following University-observed holidays:

  • Independence Day
  • Labor Day
  • Thanksgiving Day
  • Day after Thanksgiving
  • One day at Christmas
  • One day at New Year
  • Martin Luther King Jr. Day
  • Memorial Day
  1. Eligibility. All benefits-eligible employees (including those still on probation) are eligible for paid holidays, provided they receive pay for the last scheduled work day prior to the holiday and the first scheduled work day following the holiday.
  2. Pay for holidays worked. Employees may be required to work on University-observed holidays. Hourly paid employees who are required to work on a paid holiday are paid their regular pay plus 1 1/2 times their normal hourly rate for any holiday hours worked. Salaried employees are not eligible for additional pay for holiday hours worked.
  3. Holidays that fall on non-working days. If a University-observed holiday falls on a day when a full-time employee is not scheduled to work as part of his/her established workweek, an alternate day off with pay is to be scheduled by the supervisor. However, a part-time employee who is not scheduled to work on a University-observed holiday as part of his/her established work week is not to be given an alternate day off with pay.
  4. Other religious holidays. Employees may use annual leave to celebrate religious holidays on days the University operates under normal business hours.

Winter closure

Please see winter closure in the employee handbook.

Emergency or weather shutdown

The Closure Policy is located on the Western Michigan University policies Web page.

Additional provision: Inasmuch as pay for University closing is a benefit, student employees and temporary employees are not eligible for University closure pay.

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