PACT Charter School

Original Creation Date: December 2020
Last Approved By: PACT Charter School Board of Directors
Last Approved Date: July 11, 2024
Year Reviewed: 2024-2025

PURPOSE

This policy establishes guidelines for employees who are seeking to work from home due to conditions that render working at the physical school site untenable. Such examples could include declared States of Emergency that directly affect the school building, damage, or disaster to the building, or any situation where having the students/staff at school is not possible. State action, board motion, or administrative decision would determine a situation meeting the necessary criteria for this policy.

General Statement of Policy:

PACT Charter School must ensure that student and staff safety is a primary concern while also ensuring that the educational program continues at a quality level consistent with non-emergency operations to the extent realistically possible given any particular emergency situation. 

This policy is not intended for regular use in non-emergency situations. In most cases, it is the stance of PACT Charter School that employees should be present and on-site when possible.

This policy is not intended to supersede relevant state and federal laws regarding employee work conditions such as ADA accommodations or other work considerations as are relevant per established laws and/or bargaining agreements. This is only intended to provide a consistent process and work expectation for employees as a basis of administrative decisions on granting work time away from the building.

Work Expectations for Telework:

1. General Expectations
1. All applicable policies apply even in a telework situation. Employees are expected to follow all handbook policies, school procedures, and other directives as appropriate to the working environment. Employees are not exempt from federal/state workplace laws and are expected to be in compliance as such.
2. It is expected that the employee will have a safe and professional work environment at home that is free from distractions/interruptions. The workspace must have roughly equivalent provisions (internet, phone access, etc.) in order to fulfill job expectations and meet safety conditions that would apply to any office. 
3. Telework employees are expected to uphold PACT Charter School obligations regarding safety of equipment, files, and/or protected information. At no point are employees exempted from FERPA obligations regarding data privacy. PACT Charter School equipment should only be used by the employee and kept secure otherwise.
4. Employees are expected to be reachable during the entire work period. Just as when working in the school building, employees are expected to take PTO when completing tasks (outside of break/lunchtime) that are not work-related. It is expected that employees will attend all regular meetings in a virtual capacity and maintain a regular amount of communication with supervisors, colleagues, students, and parents as appropriate to the position. 
5. When working off-site, employees are representing PACT Charter School and are expected to conduct themselves as such.
2. Support Staff Expectations
1. Hourly Employees are still obligated to approved hourly work conditions. This includes breaks, work hours, overtime, and all similar mandatory requirements. Any deviation from this needs to be pre-approved by the employee’s direct supervisor.

Returning from Telework:

When possible, administration will provide advance notice of at least 3-5 business days that a qualifying event is coming to a close and when it will be expected for telework employees to return to the regular worksite. However, at no time is telework a guarantee and employees may be recalled to work at employer discretion. Employees unable to return to work when expected will be expected to use PTO time for the difference.