As recently announced, beginning Jan. 4, 2027, the standard flexible work arrangement (FWA) will be four days onsite and one remote day per week until further notice.
Also, all existing schedule exceptions will be reviewed, and any staff member whose schedule exception is not renewed will have until Jan. 4, 2027, to adopt the 4:1 schedule.
Supervisors: Managing Your Staff's Flexible Work Arrangements
The university's baseline standard for staff is either a fully in-person schedule or a hybrid schedule with four days onsite and one day remote each week.
The Office of Human Resources is in the process of reviewing and updating content on this page so additional changes may be forthcoming.
On this page:
- Supervisor Responsibilities
- Assessing Flexible Work Arrangements
- Exception Approval Process
- Flexible Work Arrangements for Job Advertisements
- Flexible Work Arrangements for New Hires
- Flexible Work Arrangements Related to Disability or Medical/Health Accommodation
- Communicating Flexible Work Arrangements
Supervisor Responsibilities
Decisions regarding flexible work arrangements are based strictly on operational and business needs and will be determined by the supervisor and leadership.
As a supervisor, you are responsible for:
- Communicating the work arrangements and expectations to your team
- Assessing work arrangements on a regular, annual basis and adjusting as necessary
The standard 4:1 posture emphasizes that in-person collaboration should be at the center of our daily interactions and is fundamental to our university's success. However, the posture is still hybrid, so you still need to manage your team with that in mind. This includes making adjustments to meeting structure and assessment of work. Your HR business partner is available to assist with any part of the process, including unique and complex situations with an individual's work arrangement. For non-staff requests, please reach out as follows:
- Faculty requests: Office of Vice Provost for Faculty
- Student requests: Student Worker Services
Assessing Flexible Work Arrangements
As noted, requests for exceptions to the 4:1 standard must be based strictly on operational and business needs. The following steps outline the process for considering which FWA may be suitable.
- Review the 2027 Flexible Work Arrangements Guidelines (coming soon) to become familiar with the types of arrangements available. Additionally, the Flexible Work Arrangement Decision Tree [pdf] can help to ensure you are requesting the arrangement that best fits your department's needs.
- When considering an exception, supervisors will bear a heavy burden of proof to demonstrate that denial will cause critical operational disruption. You must consider the stakeholder impact (students, team, partners, vendors), financial and talent market factors, employee performance, role responsibilities, how the employee will remain engaged with with campus, team equity considerations and evidence that service and performance will not be degraded by the exception.
- For complete remote work arrangements or hybrid work arrangements less than four days in person per week, the following approvals are needed:
- Academic units: next-level supervisor, department head, dean, and the Flexible Work Arrangements Committee
- Administrative units: next-level supervisor, department head, vice president and the Flexible Work Arrangements Committee
- The request and subsequent approvals will be facilitated in Workday. While Workday will manage the workflow and approval process, you should discuss the request with your college/division leadership before submitting in Workday.
- Once decisions are finalized and required approvals are received, the staff member will receive a Workday notification of their approved Flexible Work Arrangement. An agreement will be delivered to the staff member's Workday inbox for review and acknowledgement.
Exception Approval Process
There are some positions which may be appropriate to be done completely remotely, or hybrid with less than three days in person per week. These positions must be approved by the Flexible Work Arrangements Committee. All requests must be submitted in Workday. The Flexible Work Arrangement System Guide [pdf] (update coming soon) will take you through the process step-by-step.
To submit a position for consideration in Workday:
- Coordinate with your employee to submit a request on their behalf in Workday using the Flexible Work Arrangement process.
- After the request is submitted, you as the manager will be required to provide additional information about the request.
- After additional information is provided, the request will route for approvals in Workday.
Please direct any questions or concerns about this process to your HR business partner.
Flexible Work Arrangements for Job Advertisements
For remote work advertising requests, the hiring department must complete a Job Advertisement Flexible Work Arrangement (FWA) Request Form [pdf] explaining the business case for advertising remote work in the job posting and send it to their HR business partner (HRBP). After the HRBP reviews the form, the HRBP will share with the Flexible Work Committee for review and approval. This must happen prior to posting the job or updating an existing job posting.
Flexible Work Arrangements for New Hires
Requests for new hires to work completely remotely or telecommute across state lines require approval of the Flexible Work Arrangement Committee before an offer can be extended.
Supervisors should work with their HR business partner and HR recruiter to coordinate approval of a complete remote work agreement or interstate hybrid telecommuting arrangement for a new hire via a FWA Pre-Hire Request Form - U.S. Remote Locations/Interstate Hybrid Telecommuting (Faculty and Staff) [pdf]. If approved, the remote work/telecommuting agreement will be included in the offer letter and entered in the FWA framework by an HR generalist as part of the hiring process.
Flexible Work Arrangements Related to Disability or Medical/Health Accommodation
FWAs related to a disability or medical/health accommodation should not use the exception approval process. Instead, staff should use the Request for Accommodations Form. For more information, please visit the Accommodations webpage.
Communicating Flexible Work Arrangements
Hybrid Roles
- Once the Flexible Work Arrangement has been approved and the corresponding Flexible Work Agreement has been fully acknowledged in Workday, you should schedule a meeting with the employee to set clear expectations regarding their schedule, work space and role responsibilities.
- Remind the employee that their primary work location is a CMU work location, and there may be times that they are expected to be on-site on days when they otherwise would be telecommuting.
- Discuss core business hours. Is there a need and possibility for flexibility of work hours (e.g., flexible shifts due to child care needs, commute, etc.)?
- Discuss how the employee will engage with team members/customers who may be working in a different environment. Does the employee have the tools to effectively engage with a distributed team or stakeholders (e.g., webcam, headset, access to conference rooms, virtual collaboration tools, etc.)?
- Make a plan to regularly evaluate the current work arrangement's effectiveness at least annually if not more frequently. Please consult with your HR business partner if there are concerns about the current arrangement.
In-Person Roles
- Schedule a meeting with the employee to communicate the on-site work arrangement.
- Discuss core work hours and expectations for on-site work.
- Discuss how the employee will engage with stakeholders who may be working in a hybrid or remote work arrangement, if applicable.
- Make a plan to regularly evaluate the current work arrangement's effectiveness at least annually if not more frequently. Please consult with your HR business partner if there are concerns about the current arrangement.
Remote Roles
- Once the Flexible Work Arrangement has been approved and the corresponding Flexible Work Agreement has been fully acknowledged in Workday, you should schedule a meeting with the employee to ensure the employee understands expectations.
- Review the university's Business and Travel Expense Policy.
- Discuss core business hours. Is there a need and possibility for flexibility of work hours (e.g., flexible shifts due to child care needs, commute, etc.)?
- Discuss how the employee will engage with team members/customers who may be in a different environment. Does the employee have the tools to effectively engage with a distributed team or stakeholders (e.g., webcam, headset, access to conference rooms, virtual collaboration tools, etc.)?
- Make a plan to regularly evaluate the current work arrangement's effectiveness at least annually if not more frequently. Please consult with your HR business partner if there are concerns about the current arrangement.