2423 (GCEE) Remote Work Policy
Purpose
The Milford School District considers remote work to be a viable, flexible work option when both the employee, their essential job functions are suited to such an arrangement, on occasions such as inclement weather or unforeseen building closures. A temporary remote work arrangement may be appropriate for some employees and job titles, but may not be for others. Working remotely is not an entitlement, it is not a district wide benefit, and it in no way changes the terms and conditions of employment with the Milford School District. The Remote Work Policy set forth below does not supersede any existing collective bargaining agreement in full force and effect.
Procedures
Remote work can be working from home for a short-term project, or set schedule working away from school for a predetermined period of time. Either an employee or a supervisor can suggest working remotely as a possible work arrangement. An employee’s performance when working remotely will be monitored in the same manner as all employees at their assigned school or office. Any remote work arrangement made will be temporary and on a trial basis and may be discontinued at any time at the request of either the employee or the Milford School District. Temporary remote work arrangements may be approved for circumstances such as inclement weather, special projects, or other unusual or personal circumstances. These aforementioned arrangements are approved on an as-needed basis only, with no expectation, implied promise or inference of continuation.
Authorization to work remotely will be determined by and is at the sole discretion of the Superintendent or Superintendent’s designee.
Eligibility
Before entering into any remote work agreement, the employee and their supervisor, with the assistance of the Human Resources Department as needed, will evaluate the suitability of such an arrangement, taking into consideration an employee’s essential job functions and responsibilities. Final approval of the arrangement will be made by the Superintendent or Superintendent’s designee. Employees approved to work from home must be available by telephone, email or video conferencing to the same extent that they would be during an on-site work day.[1]
Evaluation of employee’s performance while working remotely will include regular interaction by phone, video conference and email between the employee and the supervisor, and possible weekly meetings to discuss work progress and problems. The supervisor will evaluate the arrangement and make recommendations for continuance or modifications. Evaluation of employee performance while working remotely will be consistent with that received by employees working on-site in both content and frequency but will focus on work output and completion of objectives rather than on time-based performance.
Short-term arrangements may be made for employees on family or medical leave to the extent practical for the employee and the District and with the consent of the employee’s health care provider, if appropriate.
Equipment
On a case-by-case basis, the Milford School District will determine, with information supplied by the employee and the supervisor, the appropriate equipment needs for each remote work arrangement. Equipment supplied by the organization is to be used for business purposes only and will be maintained by the District. An employee, while working under the provisions of this policy, must use a District owned device exclusively, for work purposes. Upon termination of employment, all District property will be returned to the District. Equipment supplied by the employee, if deemed appropriate by the organization, will be maintained by the employee. The Milford School District accepts no responsibility for damage or repairs to employee-owned equipment.
The employee will establish an appropriate work environment within his or her home for work purposes. The Milford School District will not be responsible for costs associated with the setup of the employee’s home office, such as remodeling, internet access, furniture or lighting, nor for repairs or modifications to the home office space.
As outlined in the Milford School District’s Acceptable Use Procedures, a system administrator or other authorized District staff member may, at any time and without advance notice to staff, monitor, access, modify, remove, review, retrieve and or disclose the subject, content and appropriateness of any and all information stored or transmitted on District technology resources, including information that may have been deleted, but still exists on the system.
Security and Confidentiality
Consistent with the District’s expectations of information security for employees working at the office, in accordance with the Milford School District’s Acceptable Use Policy, employees approved to work remotely will be expected to ensure the protection of proprietary information accessible from their home office. Steps include the use of locked file cabinets and desks, regular password maintenance, and any other measures appropriate for the job and the environment. Any removable storage (flash drives, DVD-R, etc.) must be securely stored when not in use.
All computer equipment which will be used to access district information must comply with the following requirements:
- Be kept in a secure location.
- Used solely for accessing district data. Shared home computers are not allowed.
- Be up-to-date with antivirus and malware protection.
- Be up-to-date with all operating system and application software patches. Computers that are unable to run up-to-date operating systems or patches cannot be used.
- Use complex passwords.
- If wireless, must be connected to a secure wireless network.
- Have a software and/or a hardware firewall correctly configured and running.
- Be available for IT to inspect and verify adherence to software and hardware security requirements.
An employee who is approved to work from home shall recognize and respect confidential information acquired in the course of employment regarding individual student safety, education, health, and personal information of students and their families as well as information acquired about personnel. Employees need to be cognizant of others in their work space at home and consider confidentiality when talking with students, parents and/or staff via telephone, email and video conferencing.
Safety
Employees are expected to maintain their home workspace in a safe manner, free from safety hazards. Injuries sustained by the employee in a home office location and in conjunction with his or her regular work duties may be covered by the company’s workers’ compensation policy. Employees working remotely are responsible for notifying the supervisor of such injuries as soon as practicable. Employees are responsible for filling out the Employee’s First Report of Injury form and submitting this to their supervisor and Human Resources within three (3) calendar days after you reported such injury to your supervisor. The employee is liable for any injuries sustained by visitors to his or her home worksite.
Remote work is not designed to be a replacement for appropriate child care. Although an individual employee’s schedule may be modified to accommodate child care related needs, the focus of the arrangement must remain on job performance.
Time Worked
Employees working remotely, who are not exempt from the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act, will be required to accurately record all hours worked using the Milford School District’s time-keeping system. Hours worked in excess of those scheduled per day and per workweek require the prior approval of the employee’s supervisor. Failure to comply with this requirement may result in the immediate termination of the remote work agreement by the District.
Additional Considerations
The employee must determine any tax and or legal implications under IRS, state, and local government laws and/or restrictions of working out of a home based office.
Adopted: July 18, 2022
[1] For example: An employee, who works between the hours of 8am-4pm during a normal business day, must make themselves available during this same time period.