Type of Policy
Academic
Policy No
2.10
Last Revised:
Review Date:
Policy Owner
Human Resources
Contact Name
Kevin Merkel
Contact Title
Sr Director, Payroll Services and Total Rewards
Contact Email
kevin.merkel@ohr.gatech.edu
Reason for Policy

The purpose of this policy is to provide consistent guidance regarding emergency and/or inclement weather closing.  As with all policies, not every situation can be anticipated or covered.  Any situation that is not specifically addressed in this policy will be handled on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of the President or Institutional Leader.

Policy Statement

Emergency conditions like the weather, declared state of emergency, safety, or other situations may require the Institute to declare the campus closed.  When the Institute is declared closed, all academic classes, administrative offices or other functional areas are suspended and only essential services are maintained. 

In accordance with Board of Regents Policy (Section 8.2.7.7), in the event of inclement weather or any emergency which requires the absence of employees, the President or Institutional Leader of a unit in the System may declare leave with or without pay.  Employees whose job responsibilities require that they work during hazardous or emergency weather conditions in order to maintain critical institutional functions, e.g. public safety or facility employees, information technology or employees with critical health and safety responsibilities, may be designated as ‘essential personnel’ by their organization. 

Essential personnel will be expected to maintain a normal work schedule unless specifically excused.  Essential Personnel who are required to report to work during inclement weather or other emergency closings may receive Campus Closed Pay for their regularly scheduled hours.  Designated Essential Personnel refusing to report to work may be subject to the Institute’s Progressive Discipline Policy 5.13.

Scope

Entities Affected By This Policy

All U.S. based campuses of the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Who Should Read This Policy

All U.S. based campuses of the Georgia Institute of Technology.


Notification:

Faculty and staff can find out about campus closures and Tech’s weather response in several ways:

  • An alert will be sent via the Georgia Tech Emergency Notification System (GTENS).
  • Updates will be shared on the Georgia Tech homepage, www.gatech.edu
  • A pre-recorded message will be placed on the main campus information line, 404-894-2000, noting the status of the campus.
  • Information will be shared via social media. Updates will be posted to Twitter at @gtpdalerts and @georgiatech, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/gtemergency and www.facebook.com/georgiatech
Policy Terms

CCD: The payroll code entered on a timecard to represent Campus Closed time for employees not working during the closure.

CCE: The payroll code entered on a timecard to represent Campus Closed time worked by essential personnel during the closure.

Non-Exempt Employees: bi-weekly paid (hourly time reporters).

Exempt Employees: Monthly paid employees who do not report hours worked, no special procedures or time reports are necessary as a result of closure.

Essential Services or Personnel:  Departments should create and maintain a list of services and employees who are considered essential to running critical functions within their operations in the event of a declared emergency.  This list is to be updated on at least an annual basis, employees should be notified that they are on the list.  The list of essential personnel should be housed in the Georgia Tech Police Department Office of Emergency Preparedness.    

If a supervisor decides an employee must remain on campus between work shifts (e.g., sleeping or resting in designated areas), the employee will be compensated for the total hours spent on campus during the closure.  

Non-exempt employees who are designated as essential and required to work during scheduled campus closings may be paid at the straight-time rate and Campus Closed Essential (CCE) for all hours actually worked during the inclement weather or other emergency closing.

Students: Certain designated student workers’ services are relied upon during campus closure periods.  Students working during campus closure times will receive pay at the special events rate.

GTRI Employees: GTRI employees should refer to directions from the GTRI News Source.

GT Satellite Campuses: Campuses that are geographically located outside the greater Atlanta Metro Area.  Please refer to communications and directions from these sites.

Procedures

The decision to close the Institute will generally be made on a workday by workday basis.  Once there is a decision to close the Institute, only those employees previously designated by the Institute as “essential personnel” to oversee the critical functions during an institutional emergency are required to report to work if notified.  All other employees are to either stay home/away or to leave their work area as soon as practicable after the notice is made.  Non-essential employees who report to work during unscheduled closings, without authorization, pose an unnecessary liability risk to the institution.

If the President or Institutional Leader designates the emergency and/or inclement weather closing as paid, then the following guidelines may apply to “essential” bi-weekly employees required to work during the closing.

The decision to close a campus will generally be made on a workday by workday basis.  Campus closure decisions are made on a workday by effective period basis. The use of Campus Closed time worked (CCE) will only be applicable through the end of the period a campus is closed.

Nonessential Non-exempt employees: Will use campus closed time (code CCD) to list time that would have been worked had the campus been open for business. The CCD code is used on timesheets when campus is closed and time is paid.  Unscheduled leave (Campus Closed Time) is not counted as hours worked in the calculation of overtime pay.  Non -exempt employees will be compensated in compliance with FLSA regulations and the Georgia Tech workweek and overtime policy for all hours actually worked over 40 in a work week. Campus closed time is pro-rated for part time employees.

Essential Non-exempt employees: Each department should have a list of employees designated as “essential” during a campus closed event. These employees should contact their supervisor for work instruction during an event. Essential employees may record regular shift hours not worked during the campus closure as CCD (Campus Closed). If required to work, they will report their regular hours worked as well as CCE (Campus Closed Essential) for the same number of hours worked during the campus closed period.  When an employee, who has not been previously designated as an essential employee, is asked to report to work or to the office during a campus closure, that employee will be paid as an essential employee for all hours worked.  In accordance with FLSA, travel time from the home location to the primary work site is not compensable.

Georgia Tech is a continuous operation and personnel work various hours throughout the 24-hour day.  Employees’ shifts may not align with the start or end of a campus closure. Examples are provided below that provide guidance on reporting hours during the closure period. 

Note: Some situations may be unique.  Members of our payroll team are available to assist with more specific questions. Faculty, staff, and student employees may direct questions to pay.ask@ohr.gatech.edu.

For those employees that are not designated by the Institute as essential personnel; the amount of time to be paid during a campus closure is not to exceed the employee’s regular shift hours in a day (regular and unscheduled closing time combined). 

Campus Closing Leave is equivalent to the employee’s normal shift.  Employees working compressed workweek schedules during periods of unscheduled closings will not be required to take additional leave.

If an employee does not report to work on the day the institution is declared closed for a partial day/delayed opening, the employee should record campus closed time (CCD) for the hours the campus is closed during the employee’s normal work schedule.  The employee may be permitted to make up work time lost within the same pay period or charge the absence period to accrued leave (vacation or sick) for the hours the campus is open during the employee's normal work schedule.

A non-exempt employee who is on an approved accrued leave (vacation or sick) on a day the campus is declared closed may charge time as campus closed time (CCD timecode for non-exempts).  An exempt employee that had previously requested an accrued leave (vacation or sick) on a day the campus is declared closed may change the request in Timeout so as not to lose the accrued leave.

If an employee is absent from duty because of severe weather conditions or other emergencies, during which the institution does not close, may be permitted to make up work time lost within the same pay period or charge the absence period to accrued leave (vacation or sick).  If the employee does not have enough vacation or sick time accrued, the employee will not be paid for the balance of that time and may be placed on leave without pay for the period of absence.

Compensatory time, in lieu of campus closed time, cannot be used for non-exempt (bi-weekly) employees.

When an employee, who has not been previously designated as an essential employee, is asked to report to work or to the office during a campus closure, that employee will be paid as an essential employee for all hours worked. 

Since campus closures are made on a workday by workday basis, the use of campus closed time will only be applicable through the end of the day a campus is closed.  As a reminder, the official work day at the Institute is defined as 12:00am-11:59pm.  For those instances when an essential employee’s shift carries over from one workday into another, the employee will only receive campus closed time for hours worked while the campus was declared closed until the end of the workday. 

Pay Treatment for Bi-weekly Employees

Situation Employee Group How to Code Time
Campus is closed all day Department Designated - Essential Employees who report to work for the full day.

Record actual hours worked (8) hours as REG – Regular and (8) hours as CCE (Campus Closed Essential)

Does time of decision of closing matter? Response. No

Can actual hours and unscheduled hours be greater than 8 hours? Response. Yes, employees should record actual hours worked as REG and the same number of hours as CCE. 
Regular - Benefits Eligible Employees (do not report to work) OR Essential Employees who do not report to work. Record eight (8) hours of CCD (Campus Closed) - unscheduled closings should be designated the same as the employees’ regularly scheduled hours. (pro rated for part time employees)
All Other Employees including student, temporary or casual labor employees (do not report to work) Will not receive paid leave or be paid for CCD (Campus Closed) time.
Campus is closed a partial day Department Designated - Essential Employees who report to work prior to campus opening (delayed start) or remain at work after campus has been declared closed

Record REG for all hours worked.

Also record CCE for hours worked during the campus closed period.
Regular - employees (do not remain at work/do not report prior to campus opening) OR Essential Employees who do not remain at work/do not report to work prior to campus opening

Record actual hours worked while campus is open as REG (Regular) hours worked.

Record CCD (Campus Closed) hours for hours the campus is closed during employee’s normal work schedule.

The total number of actual hours worked plus unscheduled closing hours should equal the employee’s regular shift hours.
All Other Employees including student and casual labor employees (do not remain at work/do not report prior to campus opening)

Record actual hours worked while campus is open.

Will not be paid unscheduled closing time.