College Hybrid Work Policy

Effective: August 1, 2022 (start of transition), August 22, 2022 (implementation date)

Supersedes: Any flexible work arrangements put into place before July 31, 2022

Applies to: Classified and University Staff, College of Engineering and Applied Science

Guidance contact: CEAE HR, ceashr@colorado.edu

Summary

This policy outlines the hybrid work modalities for University and Classified staff. Work modality requirements for faculty shall be determined by the appropriate department chair or program director and are not covered in this policy.

To aid supervisors and staff, here are the main takeaways from this policy:

• The standard and default work modality for all CEAS University and Classified Staff is to work 16 hours per week in-person, plus attend all mandatory meetings. The other 24 hours can be worked remotely.
  • 16 hours equates to 2 days per week, while allowing flexibility to stretch this time over several days.
  • Employee schedules that align with this standard modality do not need to be documented in a Work Agreement Form.
  • Employee schedules that differ from this standard and default modality require a Work Agreement Form to be filled out at the time of hire, and/or when changes are made to the employee’s normal schedule.
  • Employees who voluntarily choose to work more than 16 hours in-person do not need to fill out a Work Agreement Form.
• Employees and supervisors determine the normal schedule for in-person/remote days and can make adjustments as needed.
  • Specific details of staff schedules are managed at the unit level. Short-term adjustments to schedules do not need to be approved by CEAS HR.
• Student- and public-facing offices must have a continuous in-person presence during CU Boulder operating hours (8 a.m. – 5 p.m. M-F). Units providing support services to public-facing offices must have an in-person presence to meet the needs during CU Boulder operating hours.
• All CEAS employees are expected to be available during “core” working hours of 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., excluding lunch.
  • Staff are expected to be working, whether in-person or remote, during these times to provide consistency for colleagues and the people they serve.
  • With supervisor approval, staff may flex hours outside of the “core” to accommodate their personal schedules, ensuring an 8-hour workday.

Introduction

The College of Engineering and Applied Science (CEAS) encourages a culture that enhances the student experience, increases engagement and retention, supports the health and wellness of our community, builds trust and productivity, and maintains responsible stewardship of resources. Staff drive our CEAS culture and community, and staff engagement and belonging are essential to achieving our mission.

To embrace the expansive demographics of the workforce and the increased competition for qualified employees, it is important that the college provides options for alternate schedules and work-from-home arrangements that can enhance existing salary and benefit packages, better meet business needs, assist with recruitment and retention, improve productivity and creativity, and accommodate a continually changing workforce.

The College of Engineering and Applied Science has defined our working arrangement options to ensure optimization of role-specific duties, while also meeting the needs of employees and units.

Campus Guiding Principles 

The following Guiding Principles were adopted by the CU Boulder campus and provide criteria against which unit decisions must be assessed. The optimal work environment should:

• Advance the mission of the campus and affected units
• Enhance and not detract from the student experience or research and creative work
• Include planning for impact on diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Include planning for impact on sense of place, community, and affinity
• Increase/maintain hiring, engagement, and retention
• Support the health and wellness of our community
• Support responsible stewardship of resources
• Cultivate a work culture built on trust and productivity

Staff Standards of Practice (as announced by campus leadership on May 25, 2022)

• Student- and public-facing offices must have continuous in-person presence during CU Boulder operating hours.
  • Units providing support services to public-facing offices must have an in-person presence to meet the needs during CU Boulder operating hours.
• Public-facing offices/departments — CU Boulder is a public university that is open to all people to visit or conduct business. Public-facing includes offices or units that work directly with people (inclusive of but not limited to students, employees, families, guests, donors, etc.) on either an appointment or walk-in basis. In order to support our residential academic and research missions, the majority of the university and its functions are public facing.
• Public-facing offices need to be open and provide services in person at minimum during standard business hours of the university (8 a.m.-5 p.m. during the academic year; 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. during the summer).
• If an office or unit has a reception area, that area must have someone present unless there is another method by which a visitor can announce their presence (bell/buzzer).
• Individual departments may have administrative time the first hour of the day and not have open doors, but phones, chats and emails should be available for support.
• Units with employees in similar roles may authorize different work modalities from one another so long as the service expectations defined above are met.

CEAS Guiding Principles 

The CEAS hybrid work arrangement has been shaped by the following principles, which we believe help the entire CEAS community enjoy continued success while also fostering a healthy work life balance.

• Support the college’s mission to generate new knowledge in engineering and related fields, and to equip students from diverse backgrounds to become leaders and citizens responsible for the betterment of individuals and society.
• Maintain and elevate a positive work culture of collaboration, creative problem-solving, inclusion and community.
• Support and encourage an ideal balance between an employee’s working life and private life. Embed flexibility and the opportunity for remote work into our culture and habits to achieve the highest level of productivity.
• Ensure all employees can successfully achieve goals and objectives associated with their positions.

Hybrid Work Guidelines 

• There are many individual variables that may dictate each staff member’s work situation. The following are guidelines to set reasonable expectations and help employees, supervisors and CEAS HR find workable solutions for staff.
• The majority of our staff live in the state of Colorado and will be eligible to work remotely up to 24 hours, or three days, per week (prorated for part-time appointments). Employees and supervisors should work together to develop and/or update appropriate remote work plans.
• Scheduling must take into account that student and public facing offices need to be staffed Monday through Friday with an adequate number of professionals on site.
• As we embrace a hybrid work model, it is important that we continue to promote a sense of community within CEAS. In-person student interactions are requisite to our success. Employees in student facing positions will conduct in-person business with students.
• In addition to these guidelines, unit supervisors should strive to have all their staff on site together at least one day per week for collaboration, teamwork, and engagement.
• We recognize that some staff may have special requests with respect to working arrangements and we will do our best to accommodate those requests. To ensure equity, all health-related requests must go through ADA/FMLA. If any employee needs further information about submitting an ADA/FMLA request, please contact the CEAS HR team.
• An employee’s hybrid work arrangement cannot adversely affect the ability of other staff to perform their jobs.
• Within reason and with advanced notice, staff members may be required to come into the office for unforeseen business circumstance on days that differ from their normal in-person schedule.

Guidance for Supervisors and Unit Leadership 

• Per campus policy, student and public facing offices must be staffed during business hours.
• Staff schedules must include 16 hours per week on-campus time, plus mandatory meetings as needed.
  • 16 hours equates to two-day per week minimum, while allowing the flexibility to stretch this time over several days.
• Common “core” working hours of 10 a.m.-3 p.m., excluding lunch.
  • Staff are expected to be working, whether in person or remote, during these times to provide consistency for colleagues and the people they serve.
  • Staff may flex other hours to accommodate their personal schedules, ensuring an 8-hour workday. At minimum, a 30-minute lunch hour needs to be accounted for.
• Schedules are managed at the unit level.
  • Staff coordinate with supervisors/unit heads to create a typical plan for in-person/remote days, and can flex days with supervisor approval based on employee and unit needs.
• In the event of inclement weather or parking closures during any semester, supervisors work with your employees directly to appropriately adjust schedules to follow campus guidance. 

Differentiated Policy

A Work Agreement Form will be required if an employees normal schedule meets any of the following. All of the circumstances listed below must be approved by the employee supervisor, the department head, and CEAS HR:

• An employee’s typical work modality requires them to work more than the standard 16 hours per week in-person.
• An employee’s typical work modality permits them to work less than the standard 16 hours per week in-person.
• An employee works in a fully remote position.
  • Requests for Fully Remote Work and/or Out of State Work will be considered on a case-by-case basis under the following circumstances:
    • The position is not customer or student facing.
    • The remote work modality does not create inequity within the unit or employee group.
    • Classified staff are required by Colorado’s Constitution to reside in the state of Colorado but may still request to work remotely. These requests will require the same approvals as university staff.

To request a differentiated modality, employees must first obtain approval from their immediate supervisor, who then submits the request. Supervisors email a justification of how the employee can fulfill their role and meet the unit business needs, while continuing to meet the guiding principles of the campus and college to the CEAS HR Manager. Each request will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and must be made a minimum of 30 days before requested schedule change.

Summer policy: because of the lower volume of students on campus in the summer, work modality adjustments are at the discretion of the individual unit supervisor and must still adhere to all necessary coverages as determined by the College and University.

Equipment Provided 

CEAS units may provide all staff with one set of the following IT equipment based on role. Equipment is paid for and tracked by the individual unit. These items may be taken home on remote workdays:

• Laptop
• Docking station (as needed)
• Monitor/s
• Keyboard (ergonomic options available)
• Mouse (ergonomic options available)
• Headset (as needed)
• Webcam (as needed)

Space 

Space allocation across the Boulder campus is governed by campus space guidelines. The guiding principles for space allocation are the following:

• Success: The success of our students, faculty, and staff is paramount. Wise stewardship and thoughtful design of our spatial resources directly and indirectly impact this success.
• Community: Our spatial resources should foster and enhance the sense of community throughout the university.
• Valuable Resource: Space is a valuable, finite resource that will be surveyed, managed, and allocated similar to budgets or personnel. It will be leveraged to achieve university goals and objectives.
• Space Ownership: Space is university property. It is allocated to the college and then to units for the sole purpose of advancing the university mission.
• Efficient Utilization: Space will be used for its intended function. Space utilization surveys will be conducted and spaces that are inefficiently used will be considered for reallocation.
• Monitored/Managed: All space allocations or reallocations will be either monitored or managed. All space allocations will be entered and monitored through the official space management software. Space allocation proposals across organizational units shall be managed by university approved procedures.

To abide by these principles and to operate within the campus space guidelines, CEAS allocated space will be tied to remote work schedules. Currently, the majority of staff share offices, per the Campus Space Guidelines. Staff who choose to work more than 20% remotely (more than 1 day/week at an off-site location) may have an onsite desk in an open office, share an office, or have a hoteling desk, based on college space needs and availability. Employees who have been approved for a hybrid work modality that is mostly remote will be allocated a hoteling space, or a shared workstation in a shared office, when working on-site. Further guidance around space allocation and its connection to remote work may be given by the Campus Space Office, at which point CEAS will update our policy to abide by campus standards.

Parking 

Please visit the Parking and Transportation website for information about activating a parking permit, purchasing day passes, alternate means of transportation, permit costs, etc.

Related Policies, Procedures, Forms, Guidelines, and other Resources 

• CU Boulder Remote Working Toolkit
• Employee Relations Office, Campus HR Remote Working and Alternate Work Schedule Manager Guidance | Human Resources | University of Colorado Boulder
• Americans with Disability Compliance
• Family Medical Leave
• Employee Toolkit Navigating the Family and Medical Leave Act (PDF)

Definitions 

• Alternate Work Schedule: An alternate work schedule refers to any one of a variety of work arrangements different from traditional schedules. For example, different from Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.–5 p.m., on-site work.
• On-Campus Work: Job functions that must be completed or are most effectively completed at an on-campus location. Employees have an assigned workspace at an on-campus site.
• Hybrid: For the purpose of these guidelines is defined as any employee who has access to a campus workspace and works from a hybrid of home and campus offices.
• Local: For the purpose of these guidelines is defined as within driving distance.
• Standard Work Hours: CU Boulder standard hours are 8 a.m.–5 p.m. during the academic year (August-May), and 7:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. during the summer (June-July).

Concerns/Grievance Process 

Prior to starting the college grievance process, please first discuss any concerns related to hybrid work with your direct supervisor. If you are not able to reach an agreeable outcome, or both you and your supervisor feel this needs escalation, please follow the below steps.

• Outreach to a CEAS HR leader via email at CEASHR@colorado.edu.
• Based on the information provided, the CEAS HR leader will schedule a meeting with you to understand the concerns. This conversation will guide next steps as appropriate.

Questions?

If you have any questions or concerns regarding CEAS guidelines, please follow up with your supervisor or with CEAS HR at CEASHR@colorado.edu.

Approved: July 27, 2022 | Updated: October 2025