Assumptions
- Community Health & Safety is the primary concern and guiding principle
- Return to campus will be phased and must abide by Provincial Government Orders (still in effect) and the Occupational Health Safety Act (OHSA)
- Required Staff will return in phases prior to the return of students and classes to prepare offices, buildings and other areas for the return to campus
Mandate
The mandate of the Carleton University Flexible Arrangements (CUFA) working group is to build a flexible work framework that meets the operational needs of the organization while providing administrative staff members with options that improve work/life balance. This framework will need to address the necessary flexibility required by the gradual return to campus following the pandemic and ongoing flexibility in our ongoing post-pandemic future.
Goals
- Develop a set of shared flexible work arrangement guidelines through consultations with key University stakeholders and benchmarking against other institutions.
- Develop a clear process that documents the commitments and expectations of both the manager and staff members. This includes guidelines for departments to determine that staff have all the skills and resources they need to perform their work.
- Make recommendations on the roles and type of work that qualify for flexible work arrangements.
- Develop a process for approving work arrangements that is equitable, fair, and consistent.
- Work in partnership with the Return to Campus committee and CUSP
Guiding Principles
The Carleton University Flexible Arrangements (CUFA) working group, will develop frameworks for flexible work in accordance with the following principles:
- The operational needs of the organization, and, specifically, its academic needs, will guide all decisions around flexible work arrangements.
- Based on shared guidelines, departments/units will have some input on determining their operational needs. Senior Management (President/VPs/Deans) have final approval on the list of needs of their respective departments/units.
- Flexible arrangements must be reviewed on a regular basis (every 3-6 months) to ensure that the operational needs of the organization are still being met.
- Any adjustments to flexible arrangements will require appropriate notice (minimum 1 month) before going into effect.
- For some roles and departments, the University office hours may limit the flexibility around hours of work. Note that hours of work must also meet all relevant employment standards (e.g., lunch break requirement etc.).
- The process for determining work arrangements will be conducted in an equitable manner.
- Decisions about flexible arrangements will be based on the role and type of work being done.
- Managers and staff members will follow a clear process to document the commitments and expectations of both the manager and staff members.
- Departments will ensure that staff have all the skills they need to perform their work in the environment in which they work.