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Working Remotely

Bellevue School District - Human Resources
Home → Departments → Human Resources → COVID-19: Staff Resources → Working Remotely

Philosophy

The Bellevue School District is committed to supporting employees in their ability to perform the required duties of their positions at the highest level and reflective of the needs of the District. To that end, employees whose primary duties may be performed at work locations outside of the District may perform work without being physically present at a district facility.

This support provides benefit and compliance to trip reduction programs, consistent with state law and local ordinances to reduce single person commutes in personal vehicles as delineated in RCW 70.94.531.

In cases where the school system is closed to in person education, the importance of focusing on serving the needs of students, especially those furthest away from educational justice is paramount to decision-making and delivery of services and support.

Working Remotely – Definitions and Criteria

  1. Working remotely includes but is not limited to performing district duties from; home, work locations associated with business travel such as hotels and conference centers, or other locations not at a school district facility.
  2. No district employees may work remotely for more than 40% of their required work time during a contract year unless during a declared emergency or by specific approval of the immediate supervisor and Human Resources.
  3. Only positions identified that can perform essential duties and responsibilities remotely may be eligible for working remotely.
  4. Positions that provide direct services to students may work remotely if the work location is established in development of programs and strategies for student support, or included in an individual educational plan (IEP) or other plan to provide services to students.
  5. School associated trips such as field trips or approved extended trips for student activities are not considered working remotely and are covered by other district policies and procedures.
  6. Flexibility of hours may be considered for employees working remotely with prior supervisor approval.
  7. Working remotely may be considered due to school or facility closures.
  8. Employees may not work overtime remotely without supervisor approval.
  9. Employees must be available through district issued technology and/or district networks to perform required work, including virtual conferencing and meetings.
  10. Unless under a declared emergency, working remotely must be mutually agreed upon by the supervisor, employee and the appropriate Executive Team member who has oversight of the area of responsibility.

Type of Work

The type of work that may be performed remotely includes the following:

  1. Project-based work such as reports, presentations or analysis where quiet or uninterrupted time may increase productivity.
  2. Technology related work that relies on cloud computing and storage for support of district technology and facility needs.
  3. Work that has a clear workflow that can be controlled and monitored, such as personnel action items, purchasing and financial routing items and other software systems.
  4. Work that has clear objectives set, including time management and completion.

Employee Requirements

Employees who meet the following requirements may be considered for telecommuting:

  1. Employees who have a strong work history, including quality of work, initiative, attendance and other documented attributes.
  2. Employees who are able to work independently with no direct supervision.
  3. Employees are expected to complete a normal workday and normal work hours while working remotely. Any variations must be approved by the supervisor.
  4. Employees must use appropriate leave if the hours worked remotely are fewer than the regular hours worked during the workday.
  5. Employees must continue to reside within the state of Washington while they have been given permission to work remotely. This requirement does not include instances where employees may travel out of state for vacation or other short periods of time.
  6. Employees must be able to return to their designed in-person work location within 72 hours should there be a requirement from the District to provide in-person support and services.

Supervisor Requirements

Supervisors must be able to demonstrate the following for employees working remotely:

  1. Ability to supervise the employee effectively.
  2. Clearly communicated benefit to the department/district as a result of the employee working remotely.
  3. Ability to verify work completion and quality performance of the employee. This includes completion of employee evaluations as required by Policy 5240 (PDF), or the appropriate collective bargaining agreement.
  4. Ability to provide equitable oversight and opportunity for working remotely for employees.

Process for Approval of Working Remotely on a Scheduled Basis

Either the employee or supervisor may initiate the request for working remotely.

  1. The employee understands that working remotely is voluntary and not considered as mandated.
  2. The employee and supervisor must agree to the stated requirements for working remotely.
  3. The employee and supervisor must complete and sign the form requesting approval to work remotely.
  4. The employee is responsible for adhering to collective bargaining agreements (where applicable), and district policies and procedures including but not limited to those related to use of technology, communications and privacy.
  5. The completed form shall be submitted to the Executive Team member who has responsibility over the identified area for approval.
  6. Once approved, all requests will be submitted to Human Resources.
  7. Working remotely agreements are approved for no more than one (1) year but may be renewed yearly.

Process for Approval of Working Remotely on Intermittent or Emergency Basis

Either the employee or supervisor may initiate the request for working remotely.

  1. The employee understands that working remotely is voluntary and not considered as mandated.
  2. The employee and supervisor must agree to the stated requirements for working remotely.
  3. The employee and supervisor must agree in writing (email qualifies) to allow working remotely.
  4. The employee is responsible for adhering to collective bargaining agreements (where applicable), and district policies and procedures including but not limited to those related to use of technology, communications and privacy.
  5. School or building closures, utility outage or other issues may be cause for working remotely to be considered.
  6. Employees may not benefit from additional workdays by working remotely unless specifically required for the employee’s position.

Cross References:

2/24/2020
Revised 10/05/2020

COVID-19: Staff Resources
The Bellevue School District acknowledges that we learn, work, live and gather on the Indigenous Land of the Coast Salish peoples, specifically the Duwamish and Snoqualmie Tribes. We thank these caretakers of this land, who have lived and continue to live here, since time immemorial.