Remote work

Remote work guidelines

Overview

UITS follows the university’s remote work policy HR-06-80. The university’s position is that in-person work is the default and is encouraged, and that remote work requires approval.

UITS specifics on the policy are:

• Staff requesting one to three (1-3) days/week of remote work will need approval from their manager and their director.
• Staff requesting four to five (4-5) days/week (fully remote work) will need approval from their manager, director, AVP/officer, and vice president. These requests will be scrutinized to ensure there is a very compelling reason and benefit to the university and the staff member.
• Staff requesting out-of-state remote work require approval from a senior executive officer or that official’s delegate, in consultation with the Office of the Vice President for IT and University Counsel, IU Human Resources, and the Office of the University Controller.
• Staff requesting out-of-country remote work will first require UITS leadership approval (manager, director, AVP/officer, and vice president) and then, only a senior executive officer, in consultation with University Counsel, is authorized to approve and only if it is mission critical.

Applying

Staff wanting to request some form of a remote work arrangement (RWA) are required to fill out the request form available via One.IU.

Additional guidance

Criteria for remote work

IU’s default is a return to full-time, in-person work. Criteria for determining eligibility for remote work as stated by HR-06-80 are:

• Requests for remote work as an accommodation for a disability will be addressed through the university’s accommodations request process.
• Remote work is not a substitute for child, elder, or other dependent care.
• Staff working remotely are responsible for ensuring their Internet connectivity is adequate to support remote work.
• Remote work privileges may be revoked due to insufficient connectivity.

Additional UITS criteria:

• People leaders will determine some job categories must be in person for some fraction of the time, up to and including full time. This can be based on the nature of the work and the constituency served.
• People leaders may set limits on the number of days staff can be remote each week, in order to set a minimum level of in-person interaction. 
• People leaders may make in-person attendance for some meetings and events the default, even for remote employees.

Goals

Staff interested in working off campus should discuss this with their supervisors to assess if doing so is feasible within their job function as it supports IU’s mission. In this conversation, they should also discuss and set SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely) goals that can be used in the periodic evaluation of remote work agreements.

Place and space

HR-06-80 states that remote employees will share office or desk space if they have occasion to work in person.

Within UITS:

• Staff working in person full time and flex staff working four days a week in person will be given preference on office or desk location.
• Flex staff working three days or fewer in person and remote staff may need to share desks or offices or use a desk hoteling system.
• Full-time remote staff will not have an assigned workspace. 
• All of this may change over time and is dependent on space.

Training

UITS requires that:

• Staff working remotely take the LinkedIn Learning course “Remote Work Foundations.”
• Managers of remote workers take the “Leveraging Virtual and Hybrid Teams forImproved Effectiveness” and/or “Managing Skills for Remote Leaders.”
• All UITS employees (staff and people leaders who are part of remote work agreements) will need to show their supervisors the certificates they have earned by taking the course.