Remote Work Arrangement Guidelines
Guidelines and eligibility for remote work for staff.
Guidelines and eligibility for remote work for staff.
New Jersey Institute of Technology (“NJIT”) strives to foster a culture to deliver best in class service and policies that empower NJIT’s most valued asset, our people, to lead our pursuit in becoming a preeminent public polytechnic university.
NJIT recognizes that its current and prospective staff value work-life balance through flexible work practices. These flexible work practices support a variety of goals related to productivity, staff engagement and well-being, recruitment and retention, sustainability, service excellence, cost savings, space utilization and the overall enhancement of the employee experience. NJIT seeks to strike the balance between maintaining an unwavering focus on University mission in support of our students with our strategic commitment to being an employer of choice. Accordingly, NJIT is providing Remote Work Arrangement guidelines (“RWA”).
The RWA has five key objectives:
The RWA applies to all staff positions that are eligible according to job descriptions, interaction with colleagues and other departments on campus, and the needs of key stakeholders including students and faculty. Employees are not entitled to, or guaranteed the opportunity to, use a remote work arrangement. RWA are at the discretion of each Vice President or Dean. Disputes regarding the existence or terms of a remote work arrangement may be referred to a designated representative within the Office of Human Resources for final resolution. The RWA does not apply to faculty or instructional staff.
Requests for a remote work arrangement should not be considered when:
Approval of a remote work arrangement should be considered when:
Eligible staff members may request to work remotely by completing an electronic Remote Work Request Form.
The RWA is not a term of employment and no employee should have any expectation that this benefit will continue for their position for any particular period of time. The RWA status for a position can be changed at any time and for any reason.
When working off campus, employees are expected to maintain the same productivity and performance as if they were working in an NJIT work location. Specifically, employees must perform all the duties set forth in their position description, as well as those additional duties that the Department or their manager may assign from time to time.
Managers must clearly communicate and document expectations, including objectives, work assignments and frequency and mode of check-ins. Specifically, managers and employees should consider the following topics:
Employees are expected to be video-ready at all times during their scheduled workday. Video calls may be initiated at any time, and employees are generally expected to be present on camera.
The schedule and timekeeping guidelines remain in effect for RWA employees. Employees must discuss specific scheduling arrangements with their manager and obtain their manager's approval of such arrangements in advance. Employees who are paid hourly must accurately report in the Time Management system all time worked regardless of their work location. A remote work arrangement for an hourly employee should not result in overtime work without the prior written approval of their manager. If you’re overtime eligible you will need to get prior written approval from your manager.
RWA employees must ensure they have a suitable work area in their off-campus work location. In particular, employees must ensure they have the proper IT systems and technology to perform their job duties from the off-campus location.
It is the employee’s responsibility to ensure a safe and healthy work environment. When possible, the employee’s work area should be limited to a separate area of the employee’s home.
In addition to NJIT-issued work equipment (e.g., computer, monitor, keyboard, mouse, headphones, docking station), internet and telephone expenses incurred by employees when working remotely are not eligible for reimbursement. Employees may not submit mileage and/or meal charges in connection with travel to/from an off-campus work location to the NJIT campus.
While working off campus, employees shall be subject to the same accident, sickness and absence reporting requirements as they would be if they were working on campus.
Employment-related accidents or injuries must be reported immediately to the employee’s manager and the Division of Human Resources. NJIT is not responsible for any injury to employees outside their course of work or work hours.
Employees must protect NJIT’s data and information from unauthorized access, disclosure, or damage, and comply with University policies and procedures regarding access, disclosure and/or destruction of official University records. Employees must observe NJIT’s Information Security Policy and other policies concerning protection, storage and retention of NJIT’ records
Employees should direct all questions concerning the RWA to the Division of Human Resources at askTOD@njit.edu.